Emotional and Behavioural Strategies for Clients with ASD – Psychoeducational Assessment Resource Hub

Helping Individuals with ASD Deal with Anxiety

Children with Autism-Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are known to be more naturally ‘anxious’ than their non-ASD peers.

Children with ASD may demonstrate their anxiety through a variety/combination of behaviours:

■ Physical symptoms (stomach pains; racing heart; sweaty palms; constricted chest; tight muscles; insomnia)
■ Avoidance
■ Inattention
■ Irritability

The child with ASD can become extremely anxious and unable to tell you why (they may not know themselves). They may be able to tell you they have a stomach ache, or don’t wish to go to a birthday party, but not know why.

Children with ASD are known to have ‘perfectionist’ attitudes towards many areas of their lives, and this can be witnessed through their rigidity, their repetitive patterns of behaviour and their difficulty coping with change. This self-imposed perfectionist attitude can contribute to their anxiety and pressure to perform. In other words, children with ASD usually place extreme/unrealistic demands on themselves. It’s important to remember this when dealing with an anxious ASD child.

Some useful techniques for supporting an anxious child with ASD include:

■ Redirection/distraction
■ Physical energy ‘burn’ (physical activity such as running, bike riding, jumping on a trampoline, swimming etc.)
■ Whole-body activities (tug-of-war; monkey-bar; rolling on floor/ground)
■ Deep pressure activity (lying under a heavy blanket/cushions/mattress)
■ Body brushing/massage
■ Chewing/sucking something can help to relax a tense jaw
■ Listening (hearing what the Asperger child can tell you)

Anxiety levels in children with ASD can be unpredictable, making it more difficult for parents/teachers/caregivers to identify anxiety triggers. What causes the ASD child mild anxiety one week, may cause extreme anxiety (and/or avoidance) the next.

As you support a child with ASD to cope with their anxiety, be mindful of hearing them, and remember that not all avoidance is manipulative behaviour.

Coping Emotional Challenges in ASD

Children with ASD generally struggle with emotional dysregulation this is also known as a meltdown for parents. The visible symptoms of meltdown are as varied as the children themselves, but every parent and regular caregiver is able to describe their child’s meltdown behaviour in intricate detail. Meltdowns can be short lived, or last as long as several hours.

They can be as infrequent as once a month or occur as frequently as 4-6 times a day. Whatever the frequency and duration, an ASD child having a meltdown is difficult for parents/caregivers/teachers to deal with.

Remember that all behaviour is a form of communication, so try to work out the ‘message’ your child is trying to convey with their meltdown, rather than responding and reacting to the behaviour displayed. Meltdown in these children is often triggered by a response to their environment. Their responses can be caused by avoidance, anxiety or sensory overload. Triggers need to be recognized and identified.

So how do you deal with a meltdown? What should you do when meltdown occurs? An adults’ (parents/caregivers/teachers) behaviour can influence a meltdown’s duration, so always check your response first. Here are some general guidelines:

1 . Calm down: Take 3 slow, deep breaths. Rather than dreading the meltdown that’s about to take place, assure yourself that you’ve survived meltdowns 1000 times before and will do so this time too.

2 . Quiet down: Keep your speaking voice quiet and your tone neutral and pleasant. Don’t speak unnecessarily: less is best. Don’t allow yourself to be baited into an argument. (Often these children can “push your buttons”, so don’t be side-tracked from the meltdown issue).

3 . Slow down: Meltdowns often occur at the most inconvenient time (e.g. rushing out the door to school). The extra pressure of time adds to the stress of the situation.

Asperger children respond to the mood around them and will pick up on your stress. This stress is then added to their own. Try to forget the clock and focus on the situation. Make sure the significant people in your life know your priorities here.

Let your boss know that your child has special needs that sometimes contribute to meltdowns that have the capacity to bring life to a standstill, and you may be late. Let your child’s teacher know that if your child is late due to a meltdown your child shouldn’t be reprimanded for it.

4 . Prioritize safety: Put safety first when your child is having a meltdown. Understand that they can be extremely impulsive and irrational when upset. Don’t presume that when they’re melting down they will use the safety rules they know.

Just because your child knows not to go near the street when they are calm doesn’t mean they won’t run straight into 4 lanes of traffic when they are having a meltdown. If your child starts melting down when you’re driving in the car, pull over and stop. If your child tends to flee when melting down, watch them carefully.

5 . Re-establish self-control in the child, then deal with the issue. When your child is calm and has regained self-control, he or she will often be exhausted. Keep that in mind as you work through the meltdown issue. Reinforce with your child the appropriate way to express needs/requests