Self Injurious Behavior
Throughout my career in the field of disability services I have worked with a wide variety of individuals. The behavior characteristics of autism have been some of the most challenging behaviors to deal with. Self injurious behavior has been a particular challenge as it is always hard to watch someone perform such acts on themselves and it has always been difficult to intervene as these people are so incredibly determined to harm themselves.
After some further reading into the subject of self injurious behavior I have found a theory that holds some weight and it goes along well with the behavior characteristics of autism.
The theory states that a person may engage in self injurious behavior such as head banging, hand biting, etc. in order to accomplish sensory goal. This goal could be that their senses are over-stimulated and need to engage in this behavior to bring themselves back down. Or the person could be under-stimulated and is engaging in the behavior to introduce stimuli and regulate their sensory system.
The difficulty with these behavior characteristics of autism is that it is very difficult for staff to know which of the two it is. Now there are some obvious indicators such as if you were in a crowded place or a place with a lot of noise and lights or obvious sensory problems for someone. If they engage in the behavior you do your best to help them leave that situation and find an area where they can regulate their sensory system more easily with more appropriate methods. The real challenge can be when the person is under-stimulated. This behavior may come out of nowhere and throw the care person off guard.
Strategies to Address Self Injurious Behavior Characteristics of Autism:
Sensory Diet.
The individual should be put on a sensory diet that can be developed in conjunction with an occupational therapist. A sensory diet consists of various sensory activities scheduled throughout the day to help the individual regulate their sensory system. This has been found to be effective and helps the individual to better cope with the sensory challenges they face on a daily basis. A sensory diet would help prevent the self injurious behavior characteristics of autism.
Replacement Behaviors.
The individual should be taught how to replace the self injurious behavior with a more appropriate behavior that causes less harm but has the ultimate effect which is regulating the sensory system. Communication strategies need to be taught in order to prevent the behavior from escalating and also giving supports a chance to introduce alternatives (such as increasing or reducing sensory stimuli) in order to help the individual regulate.
It can be a terrible thing to watch a person or your own child engage in the self injurious behavior characteristics of autism. Over time you will come to know the different sensory issues and triggers for this person and you will be able to help them regulate their sensory systems. Eventually self injurious behavior should no longer be necessary because the individual has learned alternative ways of coping and communicating their needs.
[...] the individual. This discomfort can cause the individual to react in bizarre, harmful, and even self-abusive [...]