Re: () Head Hitting

October 14, 2002

Hi ,

Yes, I have seen other children with Autism Spectrum Disorders who hit at their

heads.

It may appear to you that your son's head hitting is occuring 'out of the blue'

but it does serve a function and it's your job to find out WHY, in order to know

how to help him. I would first rule out any physiological causes such as tooth

pain, ear aches, vision difficulties, etc.

Then try logging on to this site:

....to access the " Motivation Assessment Scale " by (1986) V.Mark Durand, PhD. It

allows you to type in information about your son's situation (be very specific)

and receive feedback about what is motivating your son to hit himself. Once you

know WHY, you can begin to access solutions that address his motivation to

decrease the frequency and duration.

Here is a hard copy version you can print:

As well, here is some information and forms you can use to record your son's

data:

Functional Behavior Assessment/Analysis

BEHAVIOUR OBSERVATION FORMS

size: 40kb)

Use these forms to quickly document observations of behaviors. Such observations

can be a good first step in a functional behavior assessment or analysis. This

document consists of reproducible data sheets -- two versions of an observation

form, and a behavioral intensity rating scale -- as well as instructions for

using those sheets.

FUNTIONAL BEHAVIOUR ASSESSMENT

file size: 14kb) This document is used to take the observation of challenging,

inappropriate, or ineffective behaviors a step further and begin to assess the

function that the behavior serves for the child. This set of worksheets is

designed to examine a single behavior (or type of behavior), form a hypothesis

about the function of that behavior for the child, and design a behavioral

intervention plan to address it.

Hope these are helpful.

Toby Stahlschmidt-Kah, Hons.B.A.,

(currently working on my M.A. in Behaviour Analysis)

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