Oh, ignore her – she’s just trying to get attention!
It’s true. Kids with autism can use some very unusual and irritating tactics to get our attention.
While that may be true – Are you sure that attention is motivating the behaviour you are seeing? How do you know this is the case?
Sometimes in spite of our best intentions we make assumptions about a child’s behaviour based on our own perceptions, our mood and our circumstances– and those assumptions can be wrong.
What if you are wrong? What if the child is seeking attention because they are very scared, anxious or feeling overwhelmed? Is ignoring the behaviour the right thing to do?
When life is going on around us and we are being pulled in a million directions it is hard to take extra time to reflect on what else may be going on with a child. What could be underlying an obnoxious behaviour? Other factors may be at play that we cannot easily detect. Parents and educators sometimes instinctually jump to a conclusion or even interpret...
