Strategies to consider include distraction, diversion, helping the person use calming strategies such as fiddle toys or listening to music, removing any potential triggers, and staying calm yourself.
For some children, sensory toys such as squeeze balls and fidget toys, weighted blankets, their favorite videos, or activities can help them manage their emotions. You can set up a calming routine that the child practices on a regular basis, and make it part of their daily schedule.
Autistic people can often have trouble sleeping. There are a range of reasons for this including difficulties with relaxing or winding down and irregular melatonin levels. Problems with sleep can be an issue for both autistic adults and children.
Sensory Issues
Many people with autism experience sensory processing disorder. This is more commonly known as sensory overload. Noise, crowds, bright lights, strong tastes, smells, and being touched can feel unbearable to someone with HFA. This makes going to restaurants, movies, and shopping malls difficult.
This book describes a model of positive behavior supports for preventing and responding to the cycle of meltdown behavior for students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The model includes six phases: Calm, Triggers, Agitation, Meltdowns, Re-Grouping, and Starting Over.
Each person will experience this crisis point differently. During shutdown, a person may either partially or completely withdraw from the world around them. They may not respond to communication anymore, retreat to their room or lie down on the floor.
Create A Structured Environment
Children with autism feel much more comfortable and connected when they have a set routine with clear structures, and minimal alterations from their predicted schedule.
The literature reports that most individuals with ASD respond positively to music. People with ASD often show a heightened interest and response to music, making it an excellent therapeutic tool for working with them. Music is a very basic human response, spanning all degrees of ability/disability.
In conclusion, there are many factors that can make autism worse. Sensory overload, changes in routine, social isolation, co-occurring conditions, and lack of support can all exacerbate the symptoms of autism.
Understanding Autistic Overstimulation
This can manifest in a variety of ways, including physical discomfort, anxiety, irritability, or even physical pain. Some common signs of autistic overstimulation include: Covering ears or eyes. Rocking back and forth or other repetitive behaviors.
Behavioural responses to stress can include shut down such as a flight response, or a meltdown explosion such as a fight response. Here, the student starts the day highly aroused and certain events, whether sensory experiences, changes in routine, or frustration, can create explosive responses.
Autistic children and teenagers need support to recognise overwhelmed feelings and know what to do. Help autistic children and teenagers avoid meltdowns by stepping in when they start to get agitated. During a meltdown, stay calm, give children space, avoid saying too much, and wait.
Divert the child's attention with objects and toys he/she likes (an autism meltdown kit) Teach your child to communicate when he/she is upset. Offer alternatives to something that is not possible (and the child wants) to make him/her feel like he/she has some control of the situation.
Many autistic people experience hypersensitivity to bright lights or certain light wavelengths (e.g., LED or fluorescent lights). Certain sounds, smells, textures and tastes can also be overwhelming. This can result in sensory avoidance – trying to get away from stimuli that most people can easily tune out.
Autistic individuals prefer predictability, routines, and patterns, making sudden changes difficult. It bothers them greatly when unexpected changes occur, and they become very upset about it. For instance, HFA individuals may stick with routines developed for them by other people or themselves.
In the brilliant first account of autism by Kanner (1943), Kanner wrote that “loud noises and moving objects” are “reacted to with horror” and things like “tricycles, swings, elevators, vacuum cleaners, running water, gas burners, mechanical toys, egg beaters, even the wind could on occasions bring about a major panic” ...
Among those with autism, common triggers include disturbing breaks in routine, lack of sleep, jarring “sensory stimuli” (noises, lights, or smells) or even undiagnosed mental health problems. Clearly, it's important to look beyond the behavior itself to identify the underlying cause.