Disclaimer- Everything that is discussed on this show is a generalization and the suggestions
should not be in any way construed as child-specific advice! Everyone is encouraged to seek out
a BCBA or an appropriate clinician for consultation before starting any behavioral intervention.
Any choices you make concerning your child’s treatment are completely at your own discretion.
Heya, I’m Courtney Peters. Welcome to Into the Spectrum: Episode 4!
Make sure to check out our last 3 videos as they lead up to this one. We put the links
in the description below. Alright, now we are ready to attack the avoidance
function! Everybody has tried to avoid something in their lifetime. Have you ever hit the snooze
button to avoid waking up in the morning or let the dishes pile up because it's too much
work to clean them? Well, people on the autism spectrum try to
avoid doing stuff too! For example, they may not want to do their homework, clean up their
toys, or go to bed. Some of it can be hard work and they would rather be playing with
the IPad or their toys. Something that may seem like a simple task to you might be very
difficult for somebody with autism. I’m going to show you what to do when your
child is doing something unpleasant like crying, hitting, or throwing a tantrum when they are
trying to avoid something. Here is the short answer… Don’t let them
get out of it! My best advice is if you ask your child to
do something, follow though or don’t ask at all. Don’t allow them to get out of it
– if you do, they will protest every time because they successfully got away with it
once. Here’s an example: You tell your child to
go to bed. They start crying. If you tell them okay, you don’t have to go to bed yet;
you just taught them that all they have to do is cry to stay up later. BUT… if you
follow though and carry them to bed, then they learn that crying doesn’t help them.
And eventually they will stop crying. Now, check out this role-play example where
we are going to work on coloring. Here is the incorrect way to respond if they
are trying to avoid coloring. Mom: Hey, are you ready to show off your coloring
skills? This is going to be so good I made this for you!
Child: (grunts in disarray) Mom: Come on lets color, Come ON! Don’t you want to color?
Alright I guess you don’t want to color now. Ok. (I didn’t follow
through and make him color) Here is the correct way. Watch and learn ☺
Mom: Alright are you ready to color? I made this for you I think it looks really good!
Here lets color! (The phone was too distracting so I put it to the side) Alright, Let me hold
that, Alright. Let’s Color, Yeah thanks for coloring! You colored, good job! (Even
though he threw the crayon, I still continued the coloring exercise.)
Just a quick Side note: This will work for any activity not just coloring. And remember,
all of the methods that we talk about on this show can be used for anyone, not just people
with autism. Now, here are some extra things you can do
before you ask your child to do something: • use a visual – Alright, First color, then phone
• Use a timer – Alright 30 more seconds and then we’re all done with the phone.
• Give warnings – 15 seconds and then we’re all done with the phone. (using a
timer and warnings help him stay calm) 10 more seconds (this will make a smoother transition
into coloring) Ok, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 (buzzer goes off) Mom: Alright, my turn. Thanks, bud, we’re
going to do a little bit of coloring, ok? Let’s do a little bit of coloring. Alright,
color color, ok, it’s your turn. Let’s color, Good coloring, Looks awesome, you are
doing really good! Great job you are doing awesome, nice work! Good job that looks awesome,
look at your work, you did so good! Good Job, Alright here you go bud!
• And remember! Be consistent and follow through with what you ask them to do!
Well, that’s a little bit about the function Avoidance. I hoped it helped.
If you have something that you want us to talk about on the show, leave it in the comment
section below. Hey, that rhymed! On the next episode, we will inspect into
the Automatic function. Thank you so much for watching! Please like
and subscribe. And if you have any questions leave it in the comment section below. See Yah!