Featured Special Education Resource

Aspergers and Aggression

Aggression and Violent Behavior - by Dave Angel

Aggressive behavior in the child with Asperger’s Syndrome occurs for a reason, just as it would with any other child. Inappropriate behavior, whether mild or severe, occurs in order to; avoid something, get something, because of pain, or to fulfill a sensory need. The first step in reducing or eliminating this behavior is to determine the need that it fulfills. The second step is to teach them a replacement behavior, i.e. communicate what they want or don’t want. It may even involve using some of their obsessive or self-stimulating behaviors as a replacement.

This is because it would be far less intrusive to others than aggressive behaviors, but still serve the same purpose. This process takes time and initially, depending on the behavior, you may not have time. If the behavior is severe, then you need to remove the child from whatever situation they are in at the time. Simply insisting that they stop the behavior and participate in whatever is occurring will not benefit the child or you, unless you emove them from the situation first.

Maintaining their routine will go along way towards reducing the need for inappropriate or aggressive behavior in the first place. This is just one of the many tricks, tips and techniques that you can use to cope with your Asperger’s child’s behaviors that feature in my new book “The Parenting Asperger’s Resource Guide”. You can learn more about this by visiting Parenting Apsergers website.