Therapy

Last visit to our ABA therapist, we discussed transition objects for Rowan.  When we go places and he wants to stay, or play with toys at the appointments. When it is time to leave, he often has a meltdown. It makes things very stressful because I can't hear what the therapists need to tell me. I get kicked or he harms himself.  Hitting himself is the most common action along with crying. He has an obsession with cars.  His therapists have cars in the office for him to play with. When it is time to go, he doesn't want to give up the cars.  A transition toy is an object to offer him that will avoid the meltdown and replace the toys he wants to take. I started  a box by collecting some of his existing cars, as well as adding several new ones. I will hold his existing cars long enough for him to forget about them and they will seem like new toys.  Every visit when it is time to go I will offer him one of these cars.  When I give him a new car, I will take an old one and place it in the box. The cars will be in a constant rotation. I do this to save a little money.  It works like magic!  We are currently working on stopping his self injurious behavior. We began with data collection.  Documentation what happened before,  during,  and after as well as the duration of the behavior.  Looking for patterns and what the consequences were. For example: some kids crave deep pressure and their mother may hug them during an episode which positively reinforces the behavior. Thus they repeat the self injury because they get that hug.
We analyzed the data and set a plan.  Our therapist gave me some excellent advice on how to handle certain situations.  Our plan is shown in the pictures. I will also be continuing the data collection.