How to Resolve Biting in kids with Autism
In this YouTube video, “Autism and Biting: How to Resolve Biting in Children with Autism”, Mary Barbera discusses how to handle the biting behavior in children with autism, as biting behavior in Autistic kids is a concern for many parents and professionals.
Mary talks about the causes that can potentially be the reason why a kid is showing biting behavior. She also discusses some key strategies rooted in ABA that can help Parents and professionals to better understand and equip them with strategies that can help them move forward in resolving the biting behavior of children. The breakdown of her method to resolve the biting behavior is:
To identify the Cause of biting behavior:
It’s important to first understand why a child is biting. Biting can be a form of communication, a response to sensory needs, a way of expressing frustration, or just a need for attention.
Observation and Data Collection:
Observing and noting the behavior of the child before and after the occurrence of biting and when, where and with whom the biting occurs. Documenting all these details about the biting incidence can help parents and professionals to understand the pattern of biting, and environmental factors leading to biting. Data collection also helps professionals to understand the context and reinforcements of the behavior.
Use of Positive Reinforcement and Teaching Replacement Behaviors:
Using positive reinforcement to reinforce the alternative behaviors, and to teach and reinforce more appropriate ways by which the child’s needs can be met. Teaching replacement behaviors with the help of modelling techniques to replace biting behavior with some alternative behavior like squeezing a ball, chewing some chewable items, etc.
Consistent Strategies:
Mary emphasized the implementation of consistent strategies for children in all environmental settings like home, school and therapy; for that, a clear plan is to be followed by everyone that is involved with the child. For ex. If a child’s biting is for attention seeking, then it should be consistently ignored in all settings, and if biting is for sensory input, it must be redirected to some appropriate alternative behavior.
Professional Support:
Involving professionals like behavior therapists or analysts who can tailor an individualized plan to resolve the behavior in children and can help in resolving Children’s behavior.
Barbera is talking about a proactive and preventive approach to stop the biting behavior of children with Autism. She emphasized that focusing and understanding the root cause of biting behavior, reinforcing alternative positive Behaviors , communication development in a child, Sensory support, and teaching replacement behavior can help in reducing the biting Behaviors in children with autism.
