Three Strategies to Prevent Meltdowns in Students with Autism

For a variety of reasons, students on the autism spectrum can become easily dysregulated. This may result in meltdowns, refusals, and full-blown tantrums. As professionals who work with students on the autism spectrum, our primary responsibility is to support our students so that they can stay emotionally regulated and available for learning. Over the years, we have compiled a bank of strategies that we use to help our students do this. Having many strategies to choose from is important, especially in the classroom setting. We need to be as dynamic as our classrooms, ready to employ

alternative strategies as our students’ needs shift and change. Based on our knowledge of each student, we begin with the strategy that we think will support the student most effectively. If it doesn’t work, we are not surprised, and we do not take it personally – we simply re-assess the situation to determine if an alternative strategy might work better. We have found that the time and attention we devote to determining which strategies will help our students stay emotionally regulated pays dividends in the subsequent learning that takes place. Here are three of our favorite strategies:

Show How Many

As educators, we need to require our students to complete tasks which may be very challenging or simply not preferred. When there is no discernible endpoint to the task, dysregulation can easily occur. Showing the student how many turns he must complete before he is “finished” can help him stay regulated and engaged. This strategy naturally incorporates visuals. It is very helpful to show the student “how many” using objects (e.g. puzzle pieces, plastic rings) or on paper (e.g. circles that get filled in as each item is completed). For example, when completing a puzzle with a student who is becoming dysregulated, we might point to the remaining puzzle pieces and say, “Two more, then all done.” A very salient way to show students "how many" is to set each item in the activity inside a plastic ring. As the child completes each one, he gets to put the ring on the cone. Students seem to love this, and it really makes "how many" come alive!

Show How Long

Likewise, when the student has no idea how long he must engage in a difficult or non-preferred task, dysregulation can quickly ensue. Time is a very abstract concept for all children, so making it visual is especially important for our students. Showing the student how long he must persist with a task can help him stay regulated and continue to participate. We do this by using visual timers (e.g. iPad timer, sand timer). For example, when a student wants to leave the snack table immediately upon arrival, we might pull out a timer and say, “Sit two minutes, then books” (provided books are a reinforcing activity).

This strategy can also be used to prepare the student for a transition, giving him time to make the cognitive shift from one task to another. For example, near the end of center time, we often give the warning, “Two more minutes, then circle time.” An added visual, such as a two-minute timer and/or a picture icon of circle time, can help the student hold this upcoming transition in his mind and decrease dysregulation.

Finally, this strategy can be used to help a student give up a favorite toy or "share" with a peer. We might say, "One more minute, then Johnny's turn" while pointing to the toy. We would then put the timer where both students could see it. Another technique that works in this situation is adding a choice, as in "Give to Johnny now, or in one minute?" Surprisingly often, the student will say "now" and give the item up immediately! If not, we continue as described above with a timer.

I Start/You Finish

This strategy is especially helpful when the task is challenging, or the student has difficulty with initiation. When using this strategy, an adult begins the task and the student finishes it. If needed, we might complete all the steps except the last one and work backward over time. For example, if the student is refusing to write his name (and we know he has the skills), we might begin by writing all the letters except the last one. All the student needs to do to finish the task is complete the last letter. This may make the task seem less overwhelming, allowing the student to stay regulated and continue to participate. Similar concepts include doing the task together or taking turns (e.g. adult writes a letter, then the student). For the name writing example, doing the task together would entail starting the first letter or two hand-over-hand, and then subtly backing off support so the student finishes independently. Moving swiftly to use this strategy as soon as you see the student balking at initiating the task can often prevent a meltdown from beginning. The student stays calm and available to learn!

We hope that it helps to add these tools to your repertoire. For more detail about these strategies and many more techniques and strategies that you can use in your classrooms, check out our new book!

Leslie & Mo