| Some of the most upsetting behaviors to parents of | | | | she gets so upset that she is screaming. After time, I |
| children with Autism are self injurious behaviors. They | | | | have gotten better at getting to her before she |
| are so hard to understand. We do not like anyone | | | | actually bites. |
| hurting our children. When they are hurting themselves | | | | Now that I had a couple of reasons, I went to talk to a |
| it is even more confusing. | | | | doctor. The doctor was able to explain to me that she |
| My first reactions to my child's self injurious behaviors | | | | probably did not feel pain the way we did. She would |
| were that she must be in pain herself. Eventually I | | | | hurt herself and feel the good endomorphins and not |
| began to realize it must be something else. That is | | | | the pain. |
| when I started to search for reasons. | | | | The doctor came up with another reason for self |
| Sometimes I realized my child was hitting herself | | | | injurious behavior for children with Autism. That reason |
| because she was frustrated. She thought she had | | | | was the difficulty some children have with knowing |
| made a mistake. She also would hit herself for | | | | where their body is in relation to the world. Some of |
| attention. | | | | our children need extra stimulation to feel where there |
| Biting herself was a little harder. She could bite herself | | | | body is in relation to the floor, the furniture, and other |
| and leave an imprint of every single one of her teeth in | | | | people. |
| the bruise she left. Biting herself usually happens when | | | | |