Parents of children on the spectrum with OCD like behaviors...

Can you share some techniques that have worked for you to decrease these behaviors?

I am working with a family thats child is consumed with these behaviors right now, he is nine years old. TIA

Re: Parents of children on the spectrum with OCD like behaviors...

Not officially diagnosed with OCD but DS probably does have it.

DS is the epidemy of routines but with OCD tendencies. When to turn in the light, when to flush, MUST flush when there is TP in toilet, pushes drawers completely shut when he sees it's is slightly open, etc...

Some I let him do some (drawers, closing fridge after opening it, etc..).

Some, I change routine every so often so he does not get used to only doing it in a certain way.

If he insists, I redirect.

Redirect is a KEY WORD in our house.

Re: Parents of children on the spectrum with OCD like behaviors...

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Message edited 2/13/2011 10:01:11 PM.

Re: Parents of children on the spectrum with OCD like behaviors...

Has this child always had these types of behaviors? One of my students developed very severe OCD behaviors and it turned out that he had PANDAS. It is a a form of OCD triggered by a strep infection in the body.

PANDAS

Once he was properly diagnosed and treated the behaviors went away.

Re: Parents of children on the spectrum with OCD like behaviors...

Oy - no advice. But I'm gonna follow this thread because we are dealing with this now also..

DS loves doors. Our world has to stop when he sees doors. Has to open and close them. Cutting them out cold turkey resulted in MONTHS of tantrums. We gave in..

We're putting our hope in his therapists!

Re: Parents of children on the spectrum with OCD like behaviors...

Do you have specific examples to give?

Re: Parents of children on the spectrum with OCD like behaviors...

OCD behaviors are tough but when counseling parents on how to deal with them there are a few principles that I adhere to:

1. Treat the OCD behaviors as your child trying to take control...If you try to extinguish them cold turkey you could really be only making them feel further out of control...They can have an expectation...Perhaps as bluepixie put it he knows that in this one instance I close the door and it stays shut! He's figured this out and knows whats going to happen when he does this.... so therefore he's getting some sense of control over it and this provides calm in a world that he/she has very little understanding of knowing whats coming next...

2. When you are trying to redirect or expand or even cease the OCD behaviors from happening the child must MUST be in control of what is happening...Do not try to extinguish the behavior by ignoring or taking something away this often results in tantruming. I was working with a child who loved to have a specific book near and always wanted it near all the time. We would spend part of the session talking about the same page that he liked and it started with us just closing the book...but he was asked for like 3 sessions to close the book and always said no on the 4th session he finally said yes but HE closed the book he was in CONTROL of what was happening not me not mom. Because it was his decision he was better able to deal with it being closed b/c he knew that at any time he could go and open it if he needed to. We took baby steps from there...

3. OCD is not just behaviors manifesting itself as a child acting out in some way remember OCD is rooted in the neurotransmitters of the brain being out of wack so you are dealing with a biological issue that won't just go away over night it takes time and patience to work through these behaviors and baby steps. HTH(and sorry so long)

Re: Parents of children on the spectrum with OCD like behaviors...

Thanks everyone for your responses. I have just heard about PANDAS about a week ago when this child's PED suggested he could have this. However, the behaviors are not recent so we have ruled this out.

Behaviors are as follows,

1. Must close every door/ cabinet in the house if it is open (immediately does this as soon as he wakes up, scowls the entire house) He is nine years old a big boy so it is pretty much impossible to physically stop him. If the door is already closed he will jiggle every door handle. If the door is closed and unlocked he will open it, lock it from the inside, and close it.

2. When walking down the stairs or near a certain area of the house, he must turn around 2x before proceeding.

Things I have tried,

1. Rewarding him for passing a door without opening it etc.

2. Rewarding him for going directly down the stairs, both with specific praise.

It is very difficult due to his age and size and especially since his day is so consumed by these things.

Thanks for anymore advice!

Re: Parents of children on the spectrum with OCD like behaviors...

Have you tried rewarding him for not engaging in the behaviors with the opportunity to engage in the behavior? It is obviously powerful reinforcer and the child can still engage in the behavior, but under your terms. I have used this in the past combined with a token system and saw good results. We started with very few tokens so the child could be successful and gradually increased the amount needed to earn the reward.

Re: Parents of children on the spectrum with OCD like behaviors...