There is a very popular ABC (Antecedent – Behaviour – Consequence) approach when the carer is supposed to find the trigger (Antecedent), define the Behaviour and provide the Consequence for this (often called inappropriate) behaviour – ignore/time out/etc. In autism this approach doesn’t always work. Sometimes the antecedent cannot be easily identified. Let me explain.
Present but invisible antecedent
Sometimes we cannot see/hear/feel certain stimuli as our senses are too ‘normal’. For example, the child may be disturbed by the sound of the microwave oven two rooms away. As the carer cannot hear it, any ‘challenging behaviour’ displayed by the child would be interpreted as ‘out of the blue’.
Possible future antecedents
Not only certain stimuli but also any sudden unpredictable stimuli can be painful. The fear of the stimulus that ‘hurts’ is often the cause of challenging behaviours. The antecedents cannot be easily identified because they are ‘possible future antecedents’. Some autistic children may try to break things (e.g., telephone or alarm clock) that can produce unpredictable painful sound. They do it as a protective reaction.
The staff working with an individual must consider not only immediate environmental threats for the person but also any potential factors that can cause painful experiences (e.g., school bells, fire alarms, fans, dogs barking, babies crying) and always warn a person about the possibility of the stimulus s/he is fearful of and show the source of it.
Past antecedent
Sometimes any stimuli (not only sensory but also emotional ones) may bring memories of pain, or anger, or panic (happened in the past). As any memory brought to the surface (i.e. to consciousness) becomes very much present, the child may react the way he or she reacted in the past, when the bad experience happened. What can provoke anger, fear, anxiety, panic attacks? Anything! From smell to emotionally coloured intonations. For example, some smells can bring pleasurable memories, and other odours remind one of unhappy ones. Or take another trigger – an emotional aspect of the word. Some words have emotional colouring that can be negatively charged. In autism, the conventional interpretation often doesn’t matter. If something unpleasant happened when the child heard the word ‘sorry’, for example, he would connect this word with the experience. Any time the child hears ‘Sorry!’ he may react with rage – the experience repeats itself.
The ‘last straw’ antecedent
Sometimes there are no definite triggers whatsoever. The cause of the challenging behaviour may be overload, i.e. if the child has been struggling already, anything can be the ‘last straw’. If they continue to try to process all the information coming in, despite their inability to keep up with it, it may result in hypersensitivity that eventually bring anxiety, confusion, frustration and stress, that in turn lead to meltdowns.
The emotional state of the carer/teacher as an antecedent
As most autistic children’s senses work in ‘hyper’, and feelings start as sensations (either conscious or unconscious), it is no wonder that many autistic people are emotionally hypersensitive. Some resonate with the emotional states of those around them.
Sometimes the carers themselves (or rather their emotional states) trigger the challenging behaviours in these children (they feel the negative emotions of their carers but cannot interpret what (and why) they are feeling). If you feel under the weather (for whatever reason – problems at home/at work) don’t think that you can pretend everything is fine and the children won’t notice. They won’t understand what’s wrong but they will sense the negative signals you’re emitting (at the subliminal level).
Written by Olga Bogdashina on behalf of Integrated Treatment Services
