Autism and Self Injury - How To Stop It

One of the biggest challenges that parents of children with autism face is that in their frustration, a child may do things to injure himself. This includes hitting their head repeatedly against a wall or the floor. This can result in severe injury.

Because a child with autism cannot communicate his or her own needs, they tend to get very frustrated. Medication is not the only answer to treating this type of frustration and relieving it. Medication is merely a mask. The same goes for making the child wear a helmet. Although this may be necessary when it comes to preventing injury to the child's head, a helmet does not prevent the child from banging his head out of frustration.

There are certain things that you can do to try to ease your autistic child's anxiety and prevent self injury. They include the following:

Use a computer

When the child gets old enough, a computer can enable him to "talk" to parents and communicate his needs. While autistic children are usually very limited in their vocabulary and do not like to speak verbally, they do have thoughts and feelings that need to be communicated. There has been tremendous progress made with regard to using a computer to teach a child to "talk."

Use drawings

Children can also be encouraged to draw out their needs. This is another useful way to treat autism and allow the child to express what they need and want. You may even make up picture cards to help the child understand what different things are in the house so that he can learn to communicate with pictures.

Use music

Music can be very calming, especially classical music. If you see that your child is frustrated, you should use music to calm him. In addition to music, there are also machines that mimic waves and other calming sounds. Music has been used for centuries to calm individuals who are anxious or agitated. It works well with children with autism.

Divert their attention to something pleasant

When you find that your child enjoys something, make that his pleasure center and, when he is feeling frustrated divert his attention to the pleasure center. If your child enjoys video games, as many children with autism as well as those without autism do, you can allow him to use the video game when he is feeling agitated. If your child had a great time at the seashore, you can take photos and show him the book of photos when he is feeling anxious. This can divert his attention and relieve some of his anxiety.

If your child has autism, consider joining a support group for parents of children with this disease. This will enable you to find different creative ways to help your child overcome his frustration and prevent a child with autism from self injury.