I need some ideas for discipline for a violent 11 yr old autistic child on the school bus?

Answer 1

I may be wrong here, but this is what we learned while we were dealing with a similar situation in our state.

If the child is identified as autistic and needs extra help, that child should be on an IEP. If that child is having trouble on the school bus, the school should have a paraprofessional with that child on the bus to model and encourage appropriate behavior and to see that the other children have a safe ride.* Attention should be given to this problem immediately, and this should be written right into the child's IEP.

*The child's team should be able to come up with some ideas for distracting, entertaining, or somehow making the ride more fun for the child. Candy shoestrings to eat and manipulate along the way, walkman with story tapes and a storybook, little hotwheels cars to play with along the route, a sandwich or munchies to eat, or even a GameBoy type electronic game.

If hiring someone to ride with the child on the bus is not possible and/or if safe behavior is not possible with the help of an aide, then the child needs to be provided with another means to get to the school.

I believe the child has a legal right to transportation to school if the child is on an IEP for mental, emotional, or behavioral problems. The school has to provide a way that is safe for everyone. If the child is not on an IEP, I believe the school can request that the child's family find transportation on their own.

Answer 2

Discipline is probably not a good term and definitely not a good idea, most autistic children cannot make the connection between cause and effect, and any kind of punishment will not connect well with his apparent misbehavior. He's probably not even trying to misbehave, but is trying to communicate and no one understands him.

I would request a functional behavior analysis (FBA) done by a professional. Request in writing to the school (either parent or teacher can request such a thing) They have a limited amount of time through IDEA to perform the FBA, and come up with a plan on how to handle the behavior. In any case, a paraprofessional needs to be on the bus to assist with any communication, and to help calm the child. I would look at how long the ride is, temperature and sounds on the bus, smells, and number of people. I know one autistic teenager whom the smells made very sick, and since no one picked it up he got angrier and angrier. The mom pushed for separate transportation and the school used a school car to transport every day. Many people on the bus can be loud and hard for an autistic child to deal with, so muffling the sound with shooters muffs or music headphones might be appropriate. One boy was riding two hours on the bus and it was just longer than he could handle in one sitting. The school rearranged the schedule so that he was picked up later in the route, and then dropped off earlier. I won't even go into the school district who was picking the child up during summer school in a bus without AC, the inside of the bus was 120º...no one noticed because the driver was up by an open window.

It might be that he needs social stories to help preparing. A reward system might be appropriate, snack for getting on and every five minutes of riding without incident he gets a little snack. Lots of distractors provided by the para to keep him busy.

Keep in mind that all these offers are made without knowing the level of his functioning, the causation of the behavior, nor the legal aspects as listed in his IEP. Please consider calling an IEP meeting, requesting the FBA in writing, and implementing a reward system as soon as possible. The longer the negative behavior continues, the more difficult it will be to erase.

Answer 3

home schooling mother is basically correct. Incentives can be a great way to keep a child with special needs in line. Regardless, a paraprofessional should be provided.
If, at an IEP meeting deems that the bus is not an acceptable means of transportation, most states require that the school provide an alternate means of transportation.
This may include a car or a bus for special needs children.

Answer 4

Assuming that it has been determined that the bus is the best and safest way for this child to get to school, then here are a couple of disciplines that may help.
Does he/she REALLY love the bus rides? If so, whenever the child misbehaves, then take away the privilege of riding the bus the day after. It will take extra effort on your part, but it will send the message of reward/consequence to the child.
Or if that is too difficult, try taking away something in their lunch bag that they truly favour and replace it with something else.
I have found that the reward/consequences system works in most cases with children, regardless of their disability.

God Bless and thanks for reading.

Answer 5

I even have an 8 3 hundred and sixty 5 days previous undemanding autistic boy and particular you're authentic he's so not undemanding to discipline. Take something that he incredibly loves, autistic babies look to have bonds with little issues. I eliminate his prevalent game and tell him to look you in the attention through fact they have a habit of looking someplace else and tell him i'm taking this away through fact of ( the clarification) if he behaves supply the article generally tell him to his face it fairly is the reason he's getting it back. attempt super Nanny technique if this would not artwork a niche in the living house with not something around and tell him he's sitting right here for six min. do not spank him it does not artwork in any respect it variety of feels to grant them hearth through fact autistic young babies have a short tolerance to touch very stimulating to them. you will get in spite of the undeniable fact that it and that i desire this section ends quickly.

Answer 6

I think I'd have to look for what the child is trying to communicate with his behavior. ALL behavior is communication... Does the child like the bus? Maybe it's loud? Maybe it stinks? It may have to do with some sensory issues... It may have to do with people the child is sitting with, etc. You have to find the reason for the behavior before anything. Yes, it may be possible for someone to model the expected behavior, but if the child is trying to communicate something, the behavior won't stop.

Answer 7

I've worked with autistic kids and the way our school handled problems like this was exactly like home schooling mother said. Talk to the principal or the boy's teacher and let them know that he is being difficult to control. They will come up with a plan. Good luck with it!