When children have ASD, you may notice that they fly into a
rage more often than your ‘neurotypical’ child and it can take longer to calm
them down. Over the past few years, our children have learnt different ways to deal with their anger – they don’t
always work and some take longer than others to take effect. I’m always reading articles or tips from
other parents to see if I can find other ways to help them. I came across the following article on the
internet:
I found it to be an interesting read and my youngest son has
now made his own angry basket, which has various tools inside it to help him
keep calm. These include bubble wrap for
him to either jump up and down on or to squeeze, cloud dough (the squeezing
motion helps to release his anger), loom bands (he finds these relaxing to do),
a sensory waterbead bottle I’ve made at home, which he likes to shake and watch
and a paper boat. You may ask what is a
paper boat for? When I read the article,
one suggestion to help your child to regulate their breathing pattern when they
become angry is for them to lie down and place a paper boat on their
stomach. They are asked to imagine that
their stomach is the ocean and as they breathe deeply, they make the boat bob
up and down on the water. Our son has
adapted this story and likes to watch the boat rising up and down on him and
concentrate so that the boat doesn’t capsize and fall off of him. It’s amazing how something so simple can calm
him down.
The angry basket is close at hand in our living room and our
son knows he needs to take it to a beanbag that he has designated as his quiet
area and use the tools inside to make him feel calm again. So far it is having a positive impact on him. It won’t work for everyone, but it’s worth a
go if your child struggles with controlling their anger and by involving them
in what goes inside the basket, you are letting them take charge of how to help
themselves.
Brilliant idea Joanne - one to pass on to our many parents of children with ASC
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