Parent needs advice on slamming

Hey friends. I have a parent at my Myspace location who needs input. Her son on the spectrum has a fascination with slamming doors and it's causing a ruckus at school. I think hes only in early grades K-2 somewhere, so pretty little. Any ideas would be helpful and I will pass them on. She needs advice for both home and school. I already suggested blocking doors open as much as possible at home so that they can't be moved. Not really feasible for every room, but hey

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Permalink Reply by Michelle Weldy on September 26, 2009 at 6:56pm: It depends on what kind of sensory need he's fulfilling by slamming the doors. I try to focus on sustainable ways to meet the sensory need, so they don't continue the disruptive behavior. Does he like the sound of the door slamming (and like other loud noises - hyposensitivity to audio or aural imput, so he seeks it), or does the sensation of throwing the door shut feel really good (and does he like to push or pull other things - seeking proprioceptive imput) The parents should look at what types of sensory activity he engages in regularly to see what needs he's trying to meet, then find sensory therapies that meet those needs so he'll be less likely to try to meet them himself in negative ways. My children react really well when we understand what sensory need they have and just treat that need as an opportunity for play. Its not a bad thing to have those needs, the child is just going about meeting the needs in an inappropriate way. If you can find an activity that is socially acceptable that meets those needs, the bad behavior usually disappears.

The best resources I've found for figuring out my children's sensory needs are books called "The Out of Sync Child" and "The Out of Sync Child Has Fun". The first book goes into great depth on identifying which needs the child is trying to meet, the second book is full of fun play activities that are easy and inexpensive to do at home (indexed specifically by the sensory need each activity is geared towards). I highly recommend them both. The more we can understand what type of sensory needs our children have, the easier of a time we'll have figuring how to nip new problem behaviors in the bud as they develop.

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