How to Change Behavioral Patterns in Autistic Children

When he was young, our autistic son, Scott, had ato the next level. Surely that would work! Now the
significant behavioral problem: he was obsessed withscreaming began. The confrontation had begun in
only using one door of our house. Our home had twoearnest.
front doors, and he adamantly refused to use anyI reached for my earplugs and curiously watched to
other door but the one he preferred. I am sure manysee what he would do next. I did not have long to wait.
of you parents what I am talking about. The "things"He ran for the other door, and I followed him.
can extend to foods, only wearing a certain kind ofThankfully, I was prepared with some good running
clothing, watching only one DVD, hearing one song......theshoes, anticipating that I was going to get some
list goes on and on, until you crave a retreat to a hotel,exercise. Back and forth we went, from one door to
ALONE, to retreat. You get the picture.the other. Each time he tried to go out, I picked him up
One day I decided I had had enough. Not only was thisand took him to the other door. All the while, I
driving me nuts; it was a dangerous situation for ourresponded to his screaming with soft tones, telling him
then 3-year-old son. If there was a fire in the house,that he needed to try the other door. This first battle
and he refused to leave from any entrance other thantactic lasted for 45 minutes.
the one he preferred, he would perish. Change wasFinally, he decided that was not going to work, so
necessary!SURELY throwing himself on the floor while
I knew from long experience with his screamingsimultaneously trying to burst my eardrums would be
tantrums to steal myself for a confrontation, so Ieffective. He tried that, while occasionally halting the
prepared for the battle. I set aside three 2-hour blockscreaming to see if I would notice that he was in
afternoons, bought a pair of earplugs, and went to talkextreme distress. Then he became very creative. He
to the neighbors.rolled himself all the way to the top of the basement
They were informed that a battle was about to ensue,stairs, right next to the despised door, and stopped just
and the enemy was not going to go down without ashort of rolling down. Then he looked at me to make
fight. Everyone within a 2-house radius was told thatsure I knew he could seriously injure himself if I did not
they should not be concerned. Although his lung powerdo something! I calmly picked him up without saying a
was great and his willpower even greater, he hadword and put him down again.
found a stubborn equal in his mother. He was going toAfter 2 1/2 hours, with sweat pouring down his face
look for a fight, and who was I to disappoint him??and exhaustion in his scream, he finally let me take him
The next day the battle began. He went for hisout the front door. I had won! He let me hold him, and
favorite door, and I gently picked him up and movedwe both collapsed on the couch.
him to the hated alternative. The first reaction wasNote: This battle occurred for three more days. The
panic. If I had not known any better, I would havenext day lasted one hour, the second 45 minutes, third
assumed that he thought I was throwing him into thefifteen, and finally, on the last day, he went right out the
deep end of a pool when he did not know how toformerly hated door. I had won for good! His prize? A
swim. The panic almost instantly changed tonice walk to the park, out the new door, of course!
dismay....How COULD you, Mom? I thought you lovedThe moral to this story: If you stand your ground, you
me! When that did not change my mind, he escalated itcan help change the behavior of a child with autism.