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Hi everyone . Today I'm going to talk about meltdowns

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. I know that's part of the spectrum

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, but we're going to talk about some strategies

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, ways that maybe you

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can handle it . And the

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question is how do you handle

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meltdowns , not

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just regarding the child

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, but also yourself ? How do you

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handle that ? So one

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thing about our autistic kids is

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they need patterns , they need routines

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, and life's

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not always about the routine . There's

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things that happen and we have to deal

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with how they interact

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with what happens . You know

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, if something isn't going right

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, like they get up in the morning , they have their routine

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and then all of a sudden something is different

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and they are

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having a meltdown . So

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what can we do ? Our kids need to know

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what's next and they

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need to know that if it doesn't go as

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planned , what can they do to

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calm their

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anxiety ? Because they are going

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to have anxiety , and if you've ever been in

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a position where you've had anxiety

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, you know it's not a

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fun feeling . So , and there's

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a lot of things that can happen it could be a death in the

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family , maybe you're moving , it could

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be the weather you know you

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were planning something and it started raining

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, and so that there's

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a change and there's things that

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just out of your control , that you cannot do

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anything about it , and also

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like going to the school , you know , through September

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to June or whatever the case may

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be , and then summer's here

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, so that's a different , different routine

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than you have every day for school

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. So then again

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we need to think about what

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we can do to calm yourself

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down . Notice a change ? Give

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them a you know , a warning like , okay

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, we're almost done with school , now summer's coming

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and this is what we're going to do , this is our schedule

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and write out the schedule . Do

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PECS with the schedule pictures of

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what it's going to be like , so they

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feel like they're in control

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and they know what to expect . So

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some of the things that happens during

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the meltdown is screaming , crying

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or lashing out , biting

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, disrupting behavior

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, maybe throwing things or

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wiping the table with

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papers or something like that . Stemming

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is also something . Their heart

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may be racing . They may be heartbeats

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racing , going a little pale

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or disoriented , or they

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may have stomach aches , and those are

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some of the things that can happen when they're during

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a meltdown . So what can we

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do to help them ? We

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can decrease

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some of the stimulants around them

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, make them aware of

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their surrounding , what is happening around them

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. Help them to focus , because right

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now they're not focusing , they're just way

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out of control . They

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will increase . They're harming themselves , they're

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harming you . So we need to make

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sure they have space in their environment

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to be left alone . They

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may be having a hard time communicating , can't

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make a decision , their

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stomach may be increasing . So we just need

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to let them have a space . And a lot

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of times , like in a classroom , you

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can have okay , you know , go to your space

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and they go to their space

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. Or sometimes they'll start feeling

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that and recognize it and

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start maybe go under the table , even

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at home , or go to their room and

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just need that minute or two

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to decompress , and that's okay . We need to let

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them do that . Don't scold them because

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they went to the room or went to

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a place that you have for them to help

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them calm down . Let them they're

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doing what they're supposed to be doing , what they've

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been trained to do . And I know a lot of times

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teachers or people

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that work with our kids they get mad if they all of

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a sudden they leave the chair

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and they go under the table or go into the room . We

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can't do that . We've got to let them have

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their time . They may need to decompress

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, so we got to do that . So

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have a safe place and decrease

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sensory if you can , if

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you can identify it . So what was

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it ? Was it Too much lighting ? Was

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it getting too warm in the room

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? There could be a lot of different

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things . So try to figure out which is

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that's hurting them and avoid

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touching them at first . You know it

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may be that it'd be the

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opposite and they need that hug to

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decompress . That's a way to help

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them calm down and lower your voice

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. Don't get upset . Don't be screaming and

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hollering . That's not going to do anybody any

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good , including yourself , and

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you're just getting your blood pressure worked up

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. So we need to just stay calm and

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it will stop , and know

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that it will be okay . Let them understand

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that you understand that they feel uncomfortable

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and it's okay to feel uncomfortable

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. We all do at times

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. Talk about calming strategies with

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them . Once they're calmed down , figure out okay

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, when this happens , what can we do to

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help you calm down ? Don't

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judge and , like I said , don't scream at them

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. Don't try to explain the situation

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. What happened ? You shouldn't

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have done that . You shouldn't have done this . Don't do that Just

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deal with what is right there

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at the moment and get

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them to calm down . And then , you

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know , think about what , what triggered

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them . Maybe they'll start talking and

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start saying I don't like this or

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I feel cold , or I feel hot

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, or there's too much light . They

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may let you know and don't try

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to restrain them . That's an old

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, old way they used to do stuff

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and that doesn't do

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any good and it's not healthy for

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you and it's not healthy for them . So

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just kind of leave them alone a little bit . Some

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things you can do is help teach them breathing

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, you know , like blowing bubbles . Maybe

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you get the bubbles out , you know , say , okay

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, you need to go outside and calm down

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, blow some bubbles . Or even in the house , movement

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, jumping or swinging or stretching

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, is another idea that

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you can do to help them . And depressions

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, like I said , they may not want to be touched

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and every child is different , so you have to

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figure out what's best for your child . Or

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they may need the deep impressions and

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that's where you kind of just maybe , on their shoulders

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, press down a little bit or

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give them a hug and

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just apply that pressure or

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rocking . Maybe have one of those big exercise

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balls and they can lay on their belly and

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rock back and forth or on their

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back whatever feels good

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for them . Because sometimes what happens with our kids that are on their back , whatever feels good

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for them . Because sometimes what happens with our kids that are on the spectrum , their

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sensory issues may be really high

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that day and we may not notice

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it . So if they're like rubbing their skin

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or rubbing the table or you see them

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doing you know more stemming

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type things , then they

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may be more , have more anxiety that

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day . And that could be from

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just the environment , it could be from

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medication , it could be from foods , it

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could be a lot of things . But if you

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see , you start noticing that kind of stuff

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, then we need to be aware of it

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. And when I had kids

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in the room that would have a meltdown , that's the first

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thing I would say okay , what caused this meltdown

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? What happened ? So

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sometimes meltdowns are for

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avoidance too . They didn't want to do

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a non-preferred task . So

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we have to look at that too . Communication

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, maybe some emotional cards or drawings

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to explain what happened

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. So , like afterwards , have them draw a picture and

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say , hey , why were you

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feeling this way ? Can you draw

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me a picture of something . Make a list

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of the five senses . What did you hear

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? What did you see ? What did they taste

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? What did they smell ? All those things

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we need to look at , because those are all could

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be triggers for our kids . We

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can use some aids would be a headphones

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or sunglasses . Have

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a calming kit , and that kit

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would have to be something that would

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pertain to your child and

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that could be like maybe toys , little

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animal toys , or lotion

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and oils to rub on stickers

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, maybe some music

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, a squeaky

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thing , or they squeeze

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a little ball that they squeeze onto something

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like that , sometimes something

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to chew , like potato chips

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or candy or something like that . So

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think of those senses and make a little

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kit that when they're having a meltdown

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, they get to get the kit and

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use that . Fidget toys is another

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thing that they can use , and there's a lot of different

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ones . A lot of kids like the pop-it things

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, something with a texture

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on it that they can feel things

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, something with a texture on it that they can feel , maybe some scented playdoh for

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the smell or something that's scented . It can be a little toy or something

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that's scented , has scents in it , like

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lavender or something like that to help

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calm . Or a timer

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for a sand timer they like to watch

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those sand timers , so that's

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another thing . Or find a timer that they enjoy

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and say , okay , I need three minutes or

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four minutes or whatever the case may be , and

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set that sander . So

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anyway , those are some tips

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on meltdown and I hope

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this has helped you today . I

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know that it's very

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hard to deal with that

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. You we want to make it less and

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you can . It can happen

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, especially if you got little guys

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. You want to start young

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and get them to have

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some coping skills , because I

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can . I can tell you from experience

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parents that't . Then

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when they get older and

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they have meltdowns , they're calling the police

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and it happens all the

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time and you know our policemen

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are not always trained to deal with that . So

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they come out and they try to get everybody calm

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back down . You know what are you going to do

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. You can't arrest the kid or anything like that

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. But if you do have an adult or

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an older kid that is still having those meltdowns

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and lashing out and wasn't

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trained at an early age , then you need to

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get assistance in how to help

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that child learn to cope with

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things that may not be in your

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control . Okay , so

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I hope you had a blessed day today , and

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Mother's Day is coming up pretty soon , so

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I hope you have a great time . And , like I

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said , now it has where you can ask

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questions or leave a comment and

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I will get the email . Buzzsprout

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, which is what I use , has

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it . So it's called fan

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mail , I think ? Yeah , fan mail . So

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if you want to leave me a message , I'd be happy to

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respond . Have a great day . Bye-bye

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.