A teacher recently asked what to do about her student with autism who repetitively turned computers on and off, or opened and closed doors. This is ritualistic behavior and is likely tied to anxiety. A person’s first priority should be to find activities that can reduce the child’s anxiety and attempt to determine its source. It’s possible that calming activities and visual schedules might help.
A calming activity is an organized method for helping a child focus, thereby strengthening his ability to learn and interact. A visual schedule is a visual display that shows events or steps in the order they are supposed to occur. There are two types of visual schedules: (1) a schedule showing a sequence of activities for a period of the day, and (b) a schedule displaying the precise steps of one specific activity. The display is made using objects, words or graphics that represent different actions and activities — regardless which of these is used, the symbols should be easy for the child to understand. A successful activity schedule allows the child to see what activity is occurring in the present and what will happen for a specified period of time afterwards.
You can search for visual schedules and activity schedules in AutismPro to view details of these strategies, as well as a step-by-step procedure for tailoring these strategies to meet a particular child’s needs. AutismPro also has a number of calming activity strategy examples that you can access to better understand the concept and provide you with ideas of how you might incorporate them into the child’s routines.
In the case of our example of the student exhibiting ritualistic behaviors, either of these strategies (or a combination) may prove beneficial). Be sure to minimize time where the child doesn’t know what to do next, and try to teach and reward behavior that replaces his ritualistic behavior. For example, teach and reward the student for turning on/off the computer or the light only when it makes sense to do so.
