Preparing for Adolescence
Parents and professionals who work in the field of autism spend many hours trying to make connections with their children. The child is encouraged to touch and interact with others but as he gets older he becomes faced with new sexuality that makes what is acceptable and what is unacceptable behavior confusing.
It is important to introduce appropriate boundaries early on in the individual's development. This will help the autistic child adopt appropriate behaviors as he enters adolescents easier than if the boundaries are set during this delicate and confusing stage. Certain interventions can be used to help the child understand appropriate behavior early.
The autistic child is commonly trained to learn his body parts but professionals and parents tend to avoid private parts during these sessions. An autistic child needs to be aware of his body from head to toe. Confusing euphemisms and figurative language will only confuse the matter.
The autistic child is rarely modest and many have little concept of personal boundaries. Introducing personal boundaries including appropriate dress early in the child's development is good practice because it saves the parents and teachers the problem of re-teaching appropriate behaviors in the future.
Common boundary issues involve excessive touching. The child may sit too closely or right on another individual. Boundaries also include personal property as well. A child may help himself to his neighbor's cookies during lunch or take another child's toy during play time.
Teaching boundaries can be tricky because we want to encourage interaction but we also want to help the child develop a sense of what is and what is not appropriate. Social stories are wonderful tools for preparing the child to understand boundaries.
Visual aids can be helpful in teaching boundaries as well. For example the child may have a token reward system that uses stars on a chart. Once he has earned 10 stars he receives a reward.
If he crosses appropriate boundaries, (puts finger in someone's ear, tugs on another person's hair...) he loses a sticker. When he refrains from the behavior for a few minutes he is praised with "Nice sitting." or "Nice quiet hands," and the star is replaced.
