How to tell if it’s bad behavior or sensory dysregulation

If you have a child with autism, behavior is the name of the game. 

Behavior is what your world revolves around. 

And by now, you know that it can be complicated with a lot of moving pieces to understand and address the behaviors that your child is constantly engaging in. 

There is something called sensory behavior and I want you to understand this and take it into account when trying to make sense of your child’s behaviors.

We know that the sensory system plays a big role in your child’s life and the way they respond to the world around them.

Could sensory dysregulation be the reason for some of the odd or unwanted behaviors you witness?

Absolutely. 

If you’re feeling overwhelmed and like you can’t learn one more thing, don’t stress. You are not alone. This is one of the reasons that I created the ASK MOLLY ANYTHING webinar on Sunday to help parents dissect the behavior and create a clear plan of action to help their child. 

No matter how odd, frustrating or aggressive a behavior may be, it’s important to know that it has a reason. It’s serving your child and paying off for them in some way.

All behavior is communication. Your child is communicating something with what they are engaging in.

Your child might be trying to communicate that their sensory needs are not being met with the unwanted behaviors you are seeing. 

So the big question is, WHAT DO WE DO ABOUT THIS?! How do we intervene if their sensory needs are not being met?

The answer is pretty simple: build in multiple sensory breaks throughout their day. 

Yep! It’s that simple. 

On their daily visual schedule, I would build in a few sensory breaks into their day. These are going to be structured time where they complete certain sensory activities to address their sensory needs. 

Engaging in sensory activities is going to help your child’s body self-regulate (AKA feel calm and relaxed), give them the sensory input they are seeking and decrease the repetitive or inappropriate behaviors that you are seeing daily. 

The most important part of setting up their sensory breaks?

The sensory activities have to address their specific sensory needs. Not every ASD child will have the same activities. This is why it’s important to know what your child is seeking and avoiding (as far as sensory) and use that knowledge to create their activities. 

This is something that I’ve helped parents in the Autism Parent Inner Circle and we have seen some behaviors and mood swings go WAY DOWN! With one family in particular, they could see a major change in mood and attitude within a week. A WEEK! 

When your child is getting antsy, frustrated, short and quick to react negatively towards someone, it’s most likely because they don’t feel regulated. Their body feels overwhelmed and constantly on the edge of an explosion. This is where the scheduled sensory breaks throughout the day is going to help bring that frustration back down. But we have to be intentional about building this sensory time into their day and making it a priority. 

Here is my suggestion:

1- building multiple sensory breaks into their daily visual schedule 

2- have some type of visual to indicate what sensory activities you want them to do during this time 

3- if your child is resistant to participating, make sure to use something to reinforce the positive behavior. A token board would work great to reinforce each sensory activity that they engage in appropriately 

4- reach out to me with any questions during my free webinar!

By implementing scheduled sensory breaks into your child’s daily routine, you will most likely see a decrease in anxiety, frustration and negative behaviors. Eventually, you can teach your child to go take a sensory break on their own when they feel overwhelmed.