Advertisements
My son is doing very well overall with his level of "autisticness" as I will call it. However, one lingering and difficult problem we are having it that he loves to touch faces... sometimes he is almost slapping, sometimes he is poking, sometimes he is scratching. I don't think he intends to be mean... but it is not an enjoyable thing to be on the receiving end of his face obsessions.I don't know what else to try. The traditional re-directors we have used are not working.Suggestions?Thanks :)
Like
Share
Advertisements
Not sure his abilities, verbalness, etc but.........
write a social story for it
Role play or use puppets to teach what not to do, why and what to do instead
giving him something else to occupy his hands
teach him 'gentle' and have him earn 'gentle' time
allow him to touch your face with gentle hands but only during a certain activity (story time perhaps)
since he seems to like it, find a way to tie it to other behaviors and use as a reward, but only if he is gentle
find a toy doll that can substitute for people's faces
So, this thread is a few months old. I am wondering if you have tried anything else and if it is any better.
My J does this and it is one of those things that other children and parents do not tolerate well!!
She especially loves baby faces! And while she is manhandling their face, she pulls a little hair too!
I am just forced to stay right at her side whenever we are around kids her age or younger. I hold her hands down at her sides when she approaches other children. She fights me, but I figure eventually it will become habit to her?
If she had something in her hands she would just throw it and go for their face anyway:eyebrows:
Advertisements
I found with LG's "inapproiate" touches that if I hand over hand showed him a more appropriate touch, then had him "do it again" he was able to transition to more socially acceptable (and less painful) "greetings".
Also played a game with him when we were relaxed. I let him "flap" on my hand, then took I flapped back at the same level. He would flap more.....as he caught onto the game he varied the intensity of the "hit" and I responded in sort of kind. (Somtimes he would try hitting, and obviously I didn't.) After a a few games, he really came to understand that what he was doing did create differente levels of intensity....and he was able to generalize the lesson. The game progressed to the point that sometimes he would come to me to "test" the intensity of his touch.