Here's a great post from the Autism Discussion Page" by Bill Nason on the topic of "resistant, oppositional and noncompliant behavior" and what you can do to help support your students in those situations:
Many children on the spectrum have problems
with following the lead of others, and are frequently oppositional.
This is frequently seen as “intentional” noncompliance, and the child is
often labeled as Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD). These children
frequently have to control all activity and interaction, lead the
activity their way, and refuse to follow the lead of others. When we
press the issue with them, they will often act out to re-establish
control. This reaction can occur if they don’t get something that they
want, are pressured to do things that they wish to avoid, and whenever
someone is trying to lead what they are doing. There can be a variety
of reasons why a child on the spectrum will be so resistant. Here are
several reasons why and strategies to support them. This list is not
all inclusive, but common issues.
1. Because of the variety of
processing problems (sensory sensitivities, delayed information
processing, auditory processing difficulties, etc.) many children on the
spectrum feel safe only when they are leading and controlling
everything they are engaged in. “Uncertainty” scares them, so they need
to control everything in order to maintain predictability to their
world.
Suggestions:
a. Respect and accommodate for sensory sensitivities and use a sensory diet to calm and organize the nervous system.
b. Break tasks down into smaller parts, make them concrete with visual
strategies, provide information in small bits that are clear and
concrete.
c. Let the child pace the speed that information is provided, and how they express what they know.
2. Because of the processing issues listed above, these children can
become overwhelmed very easily. By resisting, and controlling what they
are engaged in they can pattern how much stimulation they have to
process, avoiding overload which overwhelms them. They can pace the
information to meet their nervous system needs.
Suggestions:
a. Use strategies listed above under number 1.
b. Respect, avoid, and/or accommodate for situations that tend to overwhelm the child.
c. Teach the child coping skills for dealing with overload.
d. Teach the child (and those around them) how to appropriately escape
situations that overload them (break card, say “no”, ask for help,
etc.).
3. Difficulty understanding what is expected. Children
on the spectrum have difficulty appraising what is needed, so they are
either anxious about entering into new situations, or dive in to new
situations without understanding what is needed (then acting out when
they struggle). For these children they (1) do not know what to expect,
and (2) do not know what is expected of them. They need the world to
be very predictable so they know exactly what to expect.
Suggestions:
a. Preview, clarify and verify: Prepare the child before going into
situations (1) what they can expect to occur, (2) what is expected of
them, (3) how long it will last, and (4) what will come up next. Also,
anticipate any problem areas and how to handle them (e.g. withdraw and
regroup when overwhelmed.). Don’t assume the child understands,
clarify and verify that they understand.
b. For new situations,
while knowing the child’s vulnerabilities, try to make modifications and
accommodations to reduce the impact. Again, preview these ahead of
time.
c. During activities/tasks, “think out loud!” Provide a
narrative of what is needed, and how to do it. This can help guide and
coach the child through the tasks.
d. Use visual schedules to help provide predictability and understanding.
e. Ease transition by preparing ahead of time, and giving 5,3, and 1 minute reminders before transitioning between tasks.
4. From a history of constantly being place in situations where the
demands are stronger than their skills to handle them, they have learned
that it is simply safer to escape and avoid any activity that is not
initiated and lead by them. So, they have to control all activity.
Suggestions:
a. By understanding the sensory, cognitive, and performance issues of
your child, always look at how the demands can be lowered, presented
differently, or more support provided to make them match the current
skill level of the child.
b. Do the tasks/activities as “we-do”
activities (do them together, helping each other out) to frame and
scaffold the activity to maximize success. Match the demands to the
child’s skill level, and do it together to support them through it.
5. Many on the spectrum have strong task performance anxiety. So when
we ask them to perform, they will resist unless they know that they will
be “perfect” at doing it. Because of their “black and white”, “all or
nothing” thinking, unless they feel completely competent (which is often
just in their preferred, self-directed activity), they will pull back
and resist. It is an all or nothing response; resisting any activity
that will take some time to learn.
Suggestions:
a. Understand the child’s comfort zones and stretch slowly.
b. Start where the child is at; keep it simply, build one step at a time, maximize success.
c. Find the “just right” challenge and stay within it.
d. When possible, do the activity together (we-do activity) so you can
take the pressure off the child, thus lowering the task performance
anxiety.
6. Some children have a hard time “initiating” a task.
They simply cannot get themselves started. This is due to weak
executive functioning (brain wiring). They need you to “jump start”
them.
Suggestions:
a. Assist them in starting the activity, then fade out the assistance as they get going.
b. Some of the kids with executive functioning issues cannot remember
multi-step directions. You may need to provide visual prompts for each
step. When we give the child a task, give them verbal instructions, and
then walk away, they may not be able to organize what is needed to
carry it out. Don’t label this as noncompliance. Provide the necessary
support.
c. Give written directions and a written outline (worksheet) to lead them from one step to the next.
7. Lack of motivation. Many children on the spectrum have low motivation to do things that are not exciting for them.
Suggestions:
a. Increase motivation by following “nonpreferred “ activity, with
“preferred” activity. Simply use the activity that they enjoy to
reinforce completion of other activity. First do homework, than watch
T.V.
b. Catch them being good! Provide three times more praise and
positive attention for being cooperative than for being resistant
(scolding, coaxing, etc.). Minimize attention for noncompliance.
c. Build in token systems, star charts, sticker programs, etc, only if needed to increase motivation.
d. Some children are resistant when tasks are boring. Try and build new learning around their strengths and interests.
8. For children that say no and fight all “directions” ! Often labeled ODD
a. Pick your battles. Reduce 80% of all “requests”, demands, and
directions. Telling them, or asking them to do things, will elicit an
automatic no! They will resist all imperative statements (questions,
prompting, instructions, directions, requests, etc.). It just gives
them ammunition to be noncompliant.
b. Use more declarative language
to invite engagement. For example “Wow…I could really use help with
this!” or “I bet you are better at this then me!”, rather than “Billy
help me do ___.” Invite without asking. It allows the child to feel
them self volunteering to help; being in control under his own volition.
c. Provide no negative emotion to refusal. The two main things to
avoid when child is resisting is “strong emotion,” getting upset, and
any scolding, negotiating, coaxing, or bribing. They feed off the
negative emotion (helps them feel powerful) and the attention that we
give counseling, scolding, and coaxing. However you choice to respond
to noncompliance, do it with little emotion, and with minimal talking.
d. For requests that the child “has to” do, use the following:
Get the child’s attention, face to face, eye level.
State the prompt in short, clear, concrete language.
Provide the child 10 seconds to respond (longer for delayed processing)
Repeat the prompt in firm manner; using same language.
Still no response (as long as you have been using the strategies above
to support all vulnerabilities) then continue to stand your ground,
saying nothing but repeating the same statement every 30 seconds.
For some children increase the assistance with physical guidance
(unless it agitates them more), or simply wait until they are ready to
respond.
Once the child respondes, provide support as needed, and reinforce all cooperative participation.
These strategies should only be used for those requests and blended in with the above positive strategies.
e. Often these children respond negatively to positive praise (just the
opposite of most children). They read “praise” as you controlling them
to do things. So, for these children do not praise performance, just
let mastery be motivating.
9. Because of our wish to avoid a
fight, many children on the spectrum have learned that by resisting,
people back off and withdraw the demands in order to avoid a meltdown,
or destructive behavior. By doing so we often get to the point that we
pacify the child so he will not get aggressive. We coax and bribe the
child to do things. Consequently, the child learns that by being
noncompliant, and acting out, he can manipulate the people around him to
give him what he wants, and to escape and avoid everything he wishes to
avoid.
Suggestions:
a. Of course, build in above proactive strategies to match the demands to the child’s current skill level.
b. Use a visual schedule so the routine is consistent and predictable
for the child, with preferred activity built into the schedule every 2-3
activities.
c. Do the activities as we-do activities as much as possible. Providing support and praise as you go along.
d. When child is resistant, take away the battle, and let the
consequences teach the behavior. Tell the child “You are too tired to
do it right now. That’s ok, you let me know when you are ready, and I
will help you.” Show no emotion, simply back away and ignore
noncompliance. However, the child cannot do any preferred activity
until they follow through with the routine task.
e. If they complain, simply remind them that it is their choice, and you are there to help them when they are ready.
f. It is important that you are very clear in the expectations and
consistent in following through with “life stops” until the child
becomes responsive again.
As you see, there are different
reasons why children on the spectrum are oppositional. However, assume
that the child is doing the best that they can, given the situation
they are in and their abilities to deal with it. Also, assume that the
more oppositional, the more incompetent the child feels. Focus on
helping the child feel competent, and responsiveness will increase. We
tend to focus too much on forcing compliance, when we need to be
assisting the child by taking away the fight, lowering the demands (at
least at first), providing increase supports, and focusing on what they
are doing right. Help them feel more competent, and they will follow
your lead.
