Behavioral Techniques

In addition to medication, we are using a number of behavioral techniques to help my son adjust to changes in his environment.

My son is a very visual learner, so we have pictures taped up all over our apartment. We use pictures for the calendar, we use pictures for schedules, we use pictures for communication, and we use pictures to help my son express and handle his emotions. These techniques are somewhat effective and can help to relieve my son's stress, which helps to alleviate everyone's stress.

Since my son's speech still sounds like babbling, he can be very difficult to understand. We use pictures for communication so that he can point to a picture to help explain what he's trying to say. He also uses some sign language, and is also smart enough to sing, or make pantomime to show us what he's trying to tell us.

Picture schedules help him to anticipate what is coming next so that he is more relaxed when his environment changes. Unfortunately, last minute changes to the schedule or complete abandonment of the schedule due to something like my daughter teething or my son having a difficult day full of tantrums still cause difficulty.

The newest thing we're doing is using picture boards to help decrease my son's head banging. This has been the least effective, but we still keep trying since learning disabled kids can take a very long time to learn a new skill. The pictures are supposed to help him to identify why he is hitting his head and provide him with an alternative behavior.

So, these are just some of the behavioral techniques we use with my son. We're all learning together. My son responds extremely well to positive reinforcement and loves receiving as well as giving affection, so that makes everything better.