2 HIDDEN Triggers that could be causing your child Distress

Have you ever had it where you’re implementing lots of Autism friendly strategies, however your child still becomes distressed by things that seem to be out of your control? This is a conundrum that most parents go through and can often cause a lot of distress to not only your child, but to yourself as well. Couple that with the lack of post diagnosis support for people with Autism in the UK and you’ve got a recipe for disaster. Well, in this article, we are going to go through the top HIDDEN triggers that could be causing your child distress, along with strategies on how to support them.

Are you struggling with getting post-diagnosis support for your loved one? Why not book into a free Clinical Appointment at CareGen here.

Too Noisy!

Now, this may sound obvious but it’s something that a lot of parents slip up on a regular basis. Many people with Autism have sensitivities to noise, however it’s very difficult for a Neurotypical person to truly understand how this feel. As parents, you may try to reduce the noise levels in your home however there may be sounds that you are not aware of that could be causing them discomfort.

I’ll give you an example, a few years ago I was completing an Autism assessment on a child and visited their school to do some extra observations. I noticed that the child would sit on his chair with his hands over his ears for the entire lesson. Nobody knew why and his teacher assumed that he just didn’t want to do the work. After a while, I noticed that he was staring at a light near the wall, so I walked over to check it out. To my surprise, the light was making a faint humming noise so I asked the teacher if could switch this off, to which she agreed. After a short while, the child removed his hands and appeared to engage in the work in front of him.

So what can you do? In my experience of working with people with Autism, the best strategy that I have found is to use whatever communication strategy they use and ask them if different noises bother them. This could be done through conversations (if this is something they feel comfortable with) or through Social Stories (Click here for examples). Additionally, have faith in your parental intuition. You know your child the best so if you notice a change in their behaviour, keep a mental note and confirm your intuition with them to be able to develop strategies to help.

It Smells in Here!

Ok, so we’ve all been in a situation where we are trying to do something but there is a weird smell around that you just can’t seem to move away from. Now imagine if you couldn’t communicate this to other people. I’m willing to bet that this would cause you some distress right? This is exactly what happens to some of our young people with Autism. There might be a slight change in the brand of fabric softener that you use that has now changed the smell which you can barely notice. However, for your child, this is equivalent to using sour milk as deodorant, yet you wonder why they don’t want to put on their school uniform anymore and now refuse to go to school.

Someone with little experience of working with people with Autism may go straight for anxiety management strategies or in some cases go straight for medication. However, anyone that is specialised in working with people with Autism would know to first look at the environment before going down any other avenues. This is something that parents can do also, as like I’ve mentioned before, you are an expert in your child.

So what can you do to support your child? The next time you notice that your child is distressed, think about the environment they are currently in. Does your child tend to become more distressed in one room/setting more than others? What is it about that room? Is it a room that usually has food prepped in? all these questions will help in gathering a picture of your child’s sensory environment which could give you a clue as to some factors that contribute to their distress.  

Struggling to identify your child’s TRIGGERS? Then why not book into a FREE Clinical Appointment with CareGen here.