Understanding the skill deficit of their children is perhaps the greatest challenge for parents of an autistic child.

Behavioural analyst Fernando Vinagre with the Devereux Foundation in Florida said next to this, finding the proper education and services to treat those children is also very challenging.

“There is a significant amount of information out there about this, but not everyone can afford those situations,” he said. The Devereux Foundation does offer education that supports autistic children but at more than $15,000 a year it’s not what everyone can afford.

Many Bermuda resident parents also find it impractical to send their five-year-old to school in Florida. Often, these parents are faced with providing the training and support for the child themselves.

So what are the best techniques for helping an autistic child? Mr. Vinagre says there is no one best answer.

“Autistic children provide unique challenges,” he said. “ Many are non-verbal and cannot express their simple needs and wants.

“Something as simple as ‘Can I have a glass of water?’ can be near impossible for them to communicate.

“It’s this lack of communication which often is the root cause. The inability to express their needs and wants from simple to very complex can lead to tantrums in a variety of forms, aggression, property destruction and even self-destructive behaviour.”

Mr. Vinagre said the self-destructive behaviour is a big stressor for many parents.

“They are deeply concerned that their child will inflict serious injury on him or herself and there’s also the issue of medical costs,” he said. “Parents stress that they will pay for an injury the child has done to him or herself and then be faced with the same injury in a few days or next week.”

And Mr. Vinagre admitted that for many autistic children help is limited, even at the professional level.

“Parents of these children face tremendous challenges and my heart really goes out to them,” he said.

What is important to realise is that the children carry out certain behaviour for a reason. Mr. Vinagre said that key to helping alter the behaviour is understanding the reason it was done.

“This enables us to focus on an appropriate intervention,” he said. “There are fundamental principles that have been tested and proved to work in shaping behaviour.

“Applied behavioural analysis guidelines show us how basic interaction should be happening.”

In a training session held by the Bermuda Autism Support and Education Society, Mr. Vinagre outlined five specific interventions to help parents try and shape appropriate behaviours in their autistic children. They were prompting, task analysis, error correction, chaining and shaping.

PromptingPrompting as it’s name suggests, is the method of directing behaviour by a reminder. It is used after the child has been directed to do something. For example you may say “Bob stop that.” If Bob does not stop you might gesture no with your finger. The gesturing would be Bob’s prompt to cease the inappropriate action.

Task Analysis In task analysis a parent breaks down a complex task and teaches it in a series a small tasks. Teeth brushing would be considered in its component tasks: 1) taking the tube of toothpaste; 2.) taking the brush; 3) squeezing toothpaste on the brush; and 4) brushing teeth.Error correctionIt is important in error to correction to remain calm and very methodical. First stop the error, then repeat the portion of the behaviour where the mistake was made with correct action. parents are advised to provide as much help as their children need to complete the part of the skill where they erred without making another mistake.

Forward ChainingForward chaining is much like task analysis but for bigger projects. Each step is taught individually and sequentially. For example a child getting ready for bed might be taught teeth brushing at the task analysis level, then face washing and getting into pyjamas. Each step in the forward chaining approach may involve the inclusion of task analyses.

ShapingShaping is a method of teaching where desired behaviour is reinforced. When Bob brushes his teeth correctly, the parent can shape the behaviour by saying: “You brushed your teeth very well tonight. That was good.”

Understanding autism hard for parents