What is What?
Jackson was 12 years old, he had a diagnosis of Autism and ADHD.
Jackson had also been in the care system for 6 years. He was in and out of foster placements, mum was in and out of the picture.
Jackson had complex sensory needs, he would get overwhelmed by noises in the classroom frequently and at times the smallest demands could dysregulate Jackson leading to a meltdown. Jackson needed clear, concise instructions to help him stay on task, he struggled when other children were getting time with me and would lash out at them as a result.
Sophie was 17 and had a diagnosis of Autism
Before she received her diagnosis of Autism, she had been diagnosed with a severe anxiety disorder.
In her previous school Sophie had been severely bullied to the point of physical injury. She would often end up in tears when a lesson started, in fear she would mess up the task and let people down. She refused to try anything new and would say ‘There is no point trying, I am Autistic’.
So what was what?
What was Jackson's trauma? What was Autism or ADHD? For Sophie, was it that she was refusing to try new things because of her Anxiety of Autism? Was the edge of tears because she was always in fight or flight based on experience or because she wasn’t processing what was being asked of her in that moment?
Maybe you find yourself asking these questions about a child you are supporting in a classroom, youth, respite situation or your own child you are raising. Especially if there is dual diagnosis. Is this their Autism or is this Anxiety/ADHD etc.
It is a question I have been getting a lot recently. How do I know what it is? This all addressed from an interesting perspective during a talk I listened to by Peter Vermeulen who stated, ‘I don’t know if there is such a thing as Autistic behaviour or ADHD behaviour, just simply behaviour’.
Without delving into that too deeply if we take it at face value it makes a whole lot of sense. Behaviour is a form of communication and as adults it is our responsibility to be the behaviour detectives and solve what is being communicated.
I guess what I am saying is that we can spend, and honestly waste, a lot of time and brain power trying to figure out what is sparking what. However, we simply need to look at what the behaviour is and help.Jackson showed us through his behaviour that he was seeking 1.1 adult time to feel special and meet his needs. We quickly created a timetable which changed between myself and my classroom assistants of taking him out for Jackson time, which included breakfast, uno, drawing and feeding the school animals. We slowly began to see Jackson lashing out less toward other children when they needed time with me or the other adults. We simply addressed the behaviour we saw.
Sophie’s behaviour showed that she needed a lot of clear directions and a huge amount of encouragement. For the first few months we made sure she was experiencing moments of success and feeling valued. We did this through various small approaches but fast forward a year and Sophie was front and centre working part time in our school cafe and known and loved by the whole community. She was laughing, making jokes and full of life.
Focus on what the behaviour is communicating with you and how we as adults can adapt and create environments where these individuals feel loved