New biting habit

DS has been on a biting kick lately at daycare. He has bitten 4 people in 2 weeks. I feel soooo bad for the victims I pray everyday that when I pick him up he has not bitten anyone.
He has bitten in the past but ony out of extreme frustration and the incidents were very few and far between. I asked them if he was extremely frustrated or what the scenerio was but they are telling me children were bitten for no apparent reason or they might think they were "too close" to him for his comfort. I know DS has never bitten anyone just "passing by" so I am very puzzled by this new behavior. Can anyone offer me some advice. I have "talked" to him about this behavior but I don't think he fully understands yet. He turned 3 in January and is on the spectrum. He is verbal but still has a long way to go. Any advice is appreciated!

Re: New biting habit

I teach K-2 kids on the spectrum and I have one little boy who has a similar behavior. For this kid, he does it to get a peer reaction. He has a hard time with spontaneous social interactions, but wants to have friendships. He would pull children's hair or bite them to get a reaction, like his way of initiate social contact. The other child might yell or hit back, but that was enough of a social interaction for him. We got it to stop by working with him tirelessly on initiating conversations and cooperative play. Maybe your son is experimenting with ways to connect with other kids?

Obviously, whatever he wants from that behavior, he is getting, since its hasn't stopped. Maybe you could ask your son's teacher to take some data on when it happens, near whom, times of day, etc. and try to put the pieces together from that? Also, it might be interesting to know what the teacher does after he does it. If she is reacting strongly, it could be an attention-seeking behavior as well. That could be something that the teacher could note in her data as well. Ask her to to an ABC chart on him for a week. That is what I use to track behavior. It stands for antecedent-behavior-consequence and can help to figure out what is really going on.

Re: New biting habit

Thanks Robin that is very helpful!

Re: New biting habit

It could be the environment, it could be a call for attention, it could be the fact that people are too close and he doesn't have the words to say back off, it could be for all kinds of reasons.

I would see if the teacher can keep notes about this. Do you have a SEIT? A functional behavioral assessment might really be helpful (I know the teachers are often too busy with all the kids to really keep tabs on things).

Re: New biting habit

Another possibility--is there another child in the classroom with this behavior that he could possibly be modeling after?
The ABC chart is a great way to get some insight on the situation. That's what we use at my school as well.