Many wonder why anyone would practice
self-injury, as it is painful and dangerous. However, with autistic
children, self-injury occurs more often than not. There are several
theories as to why this practice can be prevalent in autistic
children, and there are some methods you can use to help ease this
distressing practice.
Because autistic children are unable to
communicate through language the way that others can, they often feel
frustrated at not being understood or at not getting what they need
or want. Thus, autistic children may commit self-injury, by banging
their heads or biting themselves (among other tactics), to release
some of that frustration that cannot be communicated through words.
Also, self-injury is a way of getting attention. An autistic child’s
frustration goes hand-in-hand with wanting attention. For instance,
by scratching oneself until one bleeds, the autistic child will
immediately get someone’s attention, and this person will work to
understand what the child wants or needs.
This theory of frustration and
attention has been the sole thinking for quite some time. Recently,
however, studies have shown that self-injury can have a biochemical
component that relieves some of the pain and frustration one feels by
releasing endorphins, or “happy hormones,” into one’s system.
The endorphins also provide a release for the autistic child,
allowing him or her to temporarily forget about his or her
frustration and pain. Furthermore, it is believed that if one
practices self-injury enough, the endorphins will begin to help mask
any pain associated with such behavior, making it an addictive
action.
While some professionals say that
ignoring the autistic child’s self-injurious behavior is an
acceptable method of treating such practice, this can obviously be
very difficult. Others have suggested that communication therapy and
drugs may help an autistic child by providing him or her with another
method of communication. There are drugs that will help stem the
addictive behavior of releasing endorphins into the system, and thus
help stop such behavior. There are also nutritional solutions
available; vitamin B6 and calcium have been said to help many
families with an autistic child.
For the family members involved,
communication training to learn how to communicate with an autistic
child is also extremely important. Because normal adults, and even
children and teenagers, are so accustomed to communicating through
easily recognizable words or body language, they have to learn that
communicating with an autistic child requires a completely different
process. By looking for solutions for both the family and the
autistic child involved in self-injurious behavior, one may be able
to overcome this distressing practice.
Jose Amoros
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