Talk Autism by Debbie
Let's talk about Autism. The ups and downs for guiding an individual that is on the spectrum. Let's not forget about the parents and other children during out talks.
Talk Autism by Debbie
From Overwhelm to Ease: Techniques for Anticipating and Mitigating Meltdowns
Ever felt like you're running on fumes while trying to manage your day-to-day responsibilities? We promise you'll leave this episode armed with practical strategies to reclaim some time for yourself and effectively support children on the spectrum during social situations. We'll explore why self-care is non-negotiable and how it can transform your ability to handle life's challenges. Imagine being able to anticipate and manage meltdowns before they spiral out of control—yes, it's possible, and we're here to show you how.
You'll gain insights on easing transitions for children, whether they're moving between activities at home or school. We highlight the importance of visual aids, minimal verbal prompts, and the magic of the two-minute warning. From creating calming spaces to using noise-canceling headphones, we dive into actionable steps to help kids feel more at ease in overwhelming environments. Tune in to discover how patience, gentle guidance, and smart planning can make all the difference in your and your child's daily life.
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Hello everyone. I hope you're having a good Monday. I wanted to just do a quick little one from our Monday morning time, but before we do I want to ask a question Did you make plans or take that time for yourself A while back? I put on there. You know how summer got really busy and you need to be able to take some time for yourself. Put away a little bit of money, plan a little trip for yourself, even if it's for the day. Get away, go get your nails done, a spa day, go with some friends, whatever the case may be, just so you have some downtime. We need to do that every once in a while for ourselves. I know we get busy with our families and we are the last ones that we take care of, and it's like on, you know, when you're flying on that plane and they say put your mask on first. You have to do the same thing here too Put your mask on first, and then the kids, all right. So I hope you're taking that little extra time for yourself, for yourself. So today I'm going to talk about a few situations that may arise and maybe some ideas to help you power through those situations, and one of them is a social situation.
Speaker 1:Sometimes our kids on the spectrum can get overstimulated. And how do we handle that? And one of the ways is to maybe to have them use their words. If you kind of see a meltdown coming or something kind of, head it off right away and just tell them you know, I don't understand that, please use your word. And if they are nonverbal, you want to use social cues and you want to have them available for you and just tell them to say no, thank you. Or maybe they need to be alone and so because they're getting overstimulated, so maybe you can find an area, wherever you're at, and just kind of give them a minute or two to to calm down, also prepare themselves. You know, have them be okay. This is what we're going to do, and there's going to be a lot of people, a lot of noise, so sometimes you can take those uh head canceling uh headphones and with you too. So those are some things that you can do. But the thing is is that when you see them coming and not them coming, but when you see those behaviors coming, then you want to be able to get ahead of it and say please use your words right away, and even you say it. You say no, thank you, and have them repeat it.
Speaker 1:The other thing is transitioning going from one place to another. This is also can be used in schools. It can be used if you're homeschooling. You want them to do one thing and then they have to go do another thing. So what you want to do is provide a two-minute warning and use those timers or whatever the situation is. Is it a visual timer? Is it a list? You work then. Then get the reward, something that they're using. Use that, but you should let them know you have two minutes and let them have that visual till they know when the two minutes are up, show them what they are working during the transition. So say this is what we're going to do now, so they can see it and they know what to expect, and that will help them to be more calmer, to understand and prompt the schedule. If you have that schedule, say okay, you know, look at the schedule, this is what we need to be doing to do next. Okay, now let's say they refuse to transition.
Speaker 1:Remember from my last um I podcast that I said keep the door. You know that's your first job to keep that door open for them. Keep them calm. As much as you can, show visuals, limit your verbal prompts. You don't need to keep saying it, but just keep doing it and not repeat a lot, but just give them that wait time is what I'd like to call it where you could just say you know, this is what we're doing and give them that wait time. It may seem a little longer for you, but it may be very short for them. Guide them a little bit, you know, help, prompt them. Maybe just put your hand on their back or something, or just don't even have to touch them, really just kind of wave them over.
Speaker 1:If they say no to you, ignore it. It may be something that is a habit for them to do, or they just want to say it in defiance, but just ignore it and move on, just keep doing what you're doing. And you also don't say no, you know, say let's try again or something positive to them. And then, you know, like I said, physically try to transport them from one area to the other and and then, as they're, if they're coming to one situation to another and they're transitioning, well, you know, fade out the prompts. If the transition, if they did good on it, then use your reinforcements, you know, remember that you're going to do this and then we get that kind of thing. But if their behavior gets worse and they just melt right down on you, then stop, you let them melt down. You try again later, but no reinforcements so they don't get the reward if they completely melt down. And I know that some of these meltdowns they're not their fault, but they still have to be able to listen and work through.
Speaker 1:If they're aggressive, ignore it. No eye contact, move away. No talking. Physically block aggression. You want to make sure that they're not going to harm themselves or they're not going to harm another person, another if there's other kids in the room, or something like that.
Speaker 1:Uh, prompts be used with words instead of aggression. You know. So hey, you did a good job here. You can do this. If they're verbally expression anger, then that can be okay. You know, if they're not being hitting their head or hitting the wall or hitting somebody else. If they're verbally, you know, let them know. Okay, you know, you got it out of your system. Thank you for letting me know. Thanks for using your words. Let's see how we can solve the problem. What strategies can we use to solve them.
Speaker 1:So that's what I have for the little one that I do on Monday mornings, just some ideas for you guys to help a little bit, because I know it's a struggle every day and if you're homeschooling and you're trying to, you know, juggle many things in the air all at once, it can be kind of difficult and I hope that in some way I can give you a little bit of insight that you enjoy things that I've come up with to help you every, every day. I really care about our autistic kids everywhere, it doesn't matter where you live, and that I've never met them. I care a great deal for them. They are amazing kids to me and they should be appreciated a little bit more than what we do in society today. So anyway, I hope you have a blessed day and I will talk to you soon. Bye-bye.
