It is quite normal for the parents of autistic children to feel overwhelmed with the stress of dealing with their autistic children. It is common for autistic children to behave in a certain way when they are exposed to stressful environmental factors, such as light, chaos, and noise.
Once something triggers your autistic child, controlling or calming them down becomes difficult. It is also difficult for children or autistic adults to regain their sense of calm. As parents, you will want to understand what triggers your autistic child to help them with behavior control.
You will also want to help your autistic child by providing them with much-needed support. You might want to check out a helpful autism and potty training guide and help them learn necessary life-navigating skills from an early age.
Here are some common situations that can trigger autistic children.
Anxious Situation
Usually, a stressful situation can be the cause of stimming or any other autistic behavior. Autistic children feel overwhelmed when they face stressful and uncomfortable situations.
Invasion of Personal Space
Autistic children can feel triggered when they sense that their personal space is being invaded. In other words, proximity can cause anxiety in autistic children, which can then cause them to over- or underreact.
Chaotic Situation
Autistic children get hyper-stimulated when they find themselves in a crowd or a chaotic situation. The fact is that autistic children experience noise differently than those who aren’t on the spectrum, which is why they (autistic children) might find it difficult to deal with chaotic surroundings.
Even clutter in their room or at home can stimulate anxious behavior in autistic children. It is important to mention here that autistic children love routine, so as parents, you will want to integrate routine into their day-to-day life.
This aspect also leads us to the next point, which is about disrupting their routine.
Routine Break
As parents of autistic children, you might already know that autistic children love routine. Autistic children love predictability, which means that they can get easily upset if they experience a change in their routine.
A sudden break in routine can send autistic children into panic mode, leading to meltdowns.
Pace Matters
Each autistic child works at their own pace. If the information comes in too quickly, it can be overwhelming for autistic children to follow what they are being told. Often, autistic children take their time processing and sorting information.
Compared to other children who are not on the spectrum, artistic children take more time to absorb the information.
No Undivided Attention
Most autistic children like to have undivided attention, which is why the siblings of autistic children feel ignored or left out by their parents because the autistic children are getting all the attention. With that said, if the autistic child gets ignored – on purpose or by accident – it can potentially trigger meltdowns and violent behaviors.
Strangers
Usually, children who are on the spectrum don’t like to socialize – especially – with strangers. In simple words, autistic children are not comfortable meeting with strangers or people who are not part of their family and friends.
Usually, autistic children struggle with communicating with others, which is why they can get triggered when bumping into strangers’ faces. The more people are aware of how autistic children behave and what triggers them, the easier it becomes for them to potentially minimize the stressors and help the child cope with an emotional meltdown.
Noise
As mentioned before, autistic children are more sensitive than other children who are not on the spectrum. Sensory overload can trigger your autistic child into a meltdown or aggressive behavior. You will want to avoid putting your autistic child into a noisy situation as it can potentially put them in panic mode.
How Can Parents Help Their Autistic Children Avoid Meltdowns?
As mentioned before, autistic children and teenagers can feel overwhelmed when they experience sensory triggers. They might feel triggered to the extent that they might lose control of their behavior and find it impossible to regain control.
Usually, meltdowns are signs of stress and discomfort. Triggers and the resultant meltdowns can find it challenging for teenagers and children to participate in everyday life.
As parents of autistic children, you will want to prevent meltdowns in your autistic children or teens by understanding their triggers.
- You will want to assess which situations your child or teen finds difficult.
- You will also want to assess their point of view and what it feels like to be overwhelmed.
- You will also move towards the solution for the triggers by finding ways to calm your autistic child down.
Here is what you will want to do to avoid meltdowns.
Notice the Early Warning Signs
Each autistic child is different, which means that what might trigger one child might not be a problem for another autistic child. As a parent, you will want to know your children’s triggers so you can detect from early on when your autistic child might start to feel uncomfortable.
This way, you can prevent the meltdown from happening as you will make sure to prevent your child from getting into a triggering situation.
Identify Triggering Situations
You will want to know which situation could potentially lead to your autistic child feeling overwhelmed. You could make a list of all potential difficult situations, which can be something as simple as taking a different street to school or exposing your autistic child to sudden noise, such as a moving crowd or a sudden announcement.
You will want to watch your child’s behavior closely and assess the potential distressing events. This way, you will be able to understand the pattern of your autistic child.
Integrate Coping Behavior
To help your autistic child, you will want to practice coping strategies with your child to help them feel calm. This way, you will enable your autistic child or teen to remember their respective coping mechanism whenever they feel stressed or overwhelmed.
You will want to watch out for stimming in your autistic child. Stimming stands for repetitive behavior, which is basically a coping mechanism for autistic children as it helps them feel in control.