I am in my first year of teaching. I am in a TMH classroom and one of my students has autism. He is a wonderful little boy and very smart, however, he spits constantly. The spitting is becoming a problem, he has been kicked off of the bus, parents are complaining and it really is a health issue in the classroom. I am not sure what to do to correct this. At first we thought that it was just a way of stimming for him. Now, he is laughing after he does it and aiming at people. I no longer believe that he is doing it for stim, i believe that he is enjoying it.
I have been working with a behavior specialist but nothing is working. We have tried over-correction, ignoring him, rewarding him, and punishing him. Nothing seems to work. The school is not wanting to put a helmet on him with a sheild on it to keep the spit from hitting other children. While i understand the concern for other children, i hate this idea. We are not stopping the problem this way, only preventing it from getting on others.
Any ideas????
Thanks!
Re: I need help with my autistic student!!
You might want to take a look to see when he is doing the spitting. You could try and see if he is doing it when in order to escape something unpleasant or a task that he finds difficult. If he appears to just be doing it out of defiance you may have to try a new behaviorist. Not all behaviorists are created equal.
what about?
using a hospital mask on his face so he can’t spit and if he does he gets all wet himself. It is an inexpensive alternative. I also like the idea of the chewy toy. I had a child who was very oral in my classroom and he would spit on occassion. We used a chewy toy and the spitting stopped. Other times we would use a bandana for kids who were droolers to absorb the drooling.
Hi
I am wondering if you and the behaviour specialist have thought about allowing the student to chew gum or a “chew necklace”. I have worked with children who spit and by replacing it with something else “oral’ and more “acceptable” the behaviour disappeared
Laura