Fixation is a common characteristic in the behavior of an autistic child. The child may be fixated on a book, a picture, a person, maps, music, numbers, or a movie. Whatever the fixation, the high functioning autistic child will become a resident expert on the subject. They will memorize and will be able to regurgitate in rote the exact amount of information they are fixated on. They may even to be able to read music aloud by sounding out the notes or something more simplistic, your child may be fixated by a music artist and have all their songs memorized.
Fixations can be a good thing. The old method of taking the fixation away from the child has been replaced with the idea of using the fixation to facilitate learning. If a child is fixated on a certain television cartoon, turn the sound off and let them read through close captioning what is going on. If they all the words to the program they are fixated on, they will soon begin to associate the words with actual audio sound. Not only does this placate the fixation, but it uses the fixation to stimulate learning in a new medium.
A little know fact about communication and fixation was what the autistic child looked at when they fixated. A research study that looked at video tapes of autistic children interacting during play showed that most of the time during verbal communication the child would fixate of objects instead of faces. When the child finally gave the person talking eye contact, the item of fixation was the mouth instead of the eyes. You can use this fact to be conscious of how your mouth moves when you are talking. If you get a positive reaction from a word, it may not be the word that motivates your child; it may be the position in which your mouth was in.
The eye contact problem has been addressed by research and the fixation of the mouth area mystery has been solved. Researchers say that the amygdale is responsible for creating a fear by looking in a person's eye. Can you imagine not being able to look anybody in the eye because your brain registers their eyes as a threat? This is sad because for years teachers and parents have emphasized eye contact as a behavior change when actually they were making the students learn to deal with their terror.
Remember that fixation may be much more involved than just an over exuberant liking of one thing or another. The fixation may be a bridge between understanding and association. The fixation can be manipulated to a learning experience that not only contains the fixation information but adds everyday concepts to the fixation experience. Use all the senses when presenting something about the fixation and the concepts you want addressed. Let there be smells, visions, sound, and touch. If one sense does not make the connection then maybe the other sense will pick it up.
The fixation is not just misplaced attention to one subject. It is something that they can grasp and of course they are going to like it when they are actually communicating knowledge they are going to be successful at. Their brain has finally found a place of function and normalcy. To stifle their creative and learning experience by taking away their fixation may be a huge mistake. If the fixation is healthy and no a danger to the child, then embrace it and expand on it. The fixation and the concepts you teach in the alignment of that fixation can make your child's life easier and happier.
Some people may not be aware that schedules play a very important role in all children's lives. Children like schedules because they don't have to guess or wonder what is supposed to happen, they are able to anticipate what will happen when. However, having a schedule is crucial for a child who is autistic. Children with autism have to have some sort of sense or idea of structure throughout their daily routines to help them overcome their feelings of anxiety that they normally have. Throughout their days they will know exactly what activity they will be doing at a specific time every single day.
If an autistic child does not have a schedule for their daily lives it will cause things to become hectic, for the child and for you. While you may be the type of person who has a tendency to just remember doctor appointments and other activities and you do whatever feels right at the right time, which may work well for you, but if you have an autistic child the "natural remembering" will need to change so that you child with autism has more structure and a visual schedule of each day.
One of the biggest difficulties that autistic children have is reading. These problems with readings make it so that it is highly suggested that they have a visual schedule to help them go about daily tasks. On a visual schedule there are pictures of each activity that the child has to do and at each point of the day they have to do it. Placing this visual schedule where the child can see it and where it is easily accessible it will help them understand what to do and avoid having breakdowns. It is crucial that if there is a change in the child's schedule that the necessary time is used to explain to your child what has changed and why so that they don't become confused. With some children with autism if there is one change on their normally schedule routine each day, they will be thrown off the rest of the day and be confused.
Schedules also come into use when you want to teach your child to do something that you already are aware of that they do not like or want to do. Go through the activity with the child and explain in detail that it is important for them to finish this task before they can go forward to the next task or activity. You have to be sold when letting them know and understand that the next activity or task cannot be started until the first task is completed.
Each day you may plan out specific events however as many know life is unpredictable and things come up during the day. As these events come up it is very important to try your best to stick to the schedule of your child with autism. If you cannot seem to avoid the event make it a point to return to the normal pattern of the schedule as soon as possible to avoid confusion. Timing is everything when using this schedule and it all must be done accordingly at the same time each day.
Although it is important to have a schedule for all children, it is particularly important and crucial for autistic children. Having a better understanding that autistic children require structure and a daily routine to avoid anxiety, it will allow for you to have a better chance to work with them and teach them new things. Once you get the hang of providing a daily schedule and routine for the child, you may want to consider start introducing new daily activities that you will introduce the child in the schedule. For example you could possibly label the activity as, "Learn Something New".
Make sure to keep the new activity simple and something easily understandable so that the child can ease into learning it. Maintaining a positive attitude for the child so that they will have a tendency to look forward to this activity, which is why it is important to start the new activity slowly and let it build up over time so that the child becomes used to this new activity being a part of their daily routine.
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