[Music] [Applause] [Music] one of the most alarming issues for families with children on the autism spectrum is self-injurious behavior research has found that as many as 30 of children with autism engage in such behavior that can lead to injuries of varying severity so why do children with autism engage in self-injurious behavior and what can you do to prevent such behavior from persisting hi i'm farin and in this video we will be discussing self-injurious behavior and what caregivers can do to stop their child from engaging in such behavior [Music] it is a behavior that causes physical harm to oneself some of the most common examples of self-injurious behavior that children do is banging their heads on walls floors or any hard surface and picking at their skin [Music] there are many possible reasons why a child with autism may engage in self-injurious behavior [Music] while it seems unreasonable for a child to inflict more pain on themselves when experiencing discomfort it is more likely that hurting themselves is a distraction from the pain that the child is already experiencing [Music] number two it is an attempt to communicate this reason is extremely prevalent in non-verbal children who might understand that hate banging or hitting themselves is one way to get their caregivers rushing over to intervene as such they engage in these behaviors in order to communicate their need for attention [Music] number three due to sensory processing issues it is incredibly common for children with asd who are suffering from sensory processing overloads to engage in self-stimulating behaviors also known as steaming we've talked before about steaming in another video which we will put the link in the description below so for some children head banging or skin picking is a form of steaming to stimulate themselves when bored lonely or unattended to like with reason 2 they seek to communicate their need for attention even if they know that they will not get positive reinforcements from such self-injurious behaviors [Music] now that we have covered the reasons why children with autism engage in self-injurious behavior we will now go through several preventive measures to stop such behaviors from persisting in response to reason number one caregivers should check their child for any physical signs of injuries such as bruises cuts redness or swelling you should also work with your child to develop new ways of communicating when they are in pain such as pointing to where the pain is or drawing on a picture with the help of a trained professional to tackle self-injurious behavior from steaming you can use an array of distractions to help redirect your child away from hurting themselves these include weighted blankets gentle touch rocking chairs or anything that provides stimulation through harmless means and finally providing your child with attention through positive reinforcement harmless stimulating activities and keeping your child engaged approval strategies to prevent self-injurious behaviors from happening and persisting self-injurious behavior can happen in any child whether they have autism or not however it is important that the problem is dealt with before lasting damage occurs with the right tools and support your child will be able to wean off such harmful behaviors sooner rather than later if you have any enquiries feel free to contact us with the information shown on the screen and if you can think of someone who may be able to benefit from this video do share it with them we will see you in our next video bye [Music]