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The accusations are indicative of his disability. In making reference to them, you are making reference to his disability.

I attended a seminar called “Yelling doesn’t work.” The presenter based her seminar on the book The Explosive Child. She explained how a child with sensory issues (which a great deal of Autistic children have) struggles through their day without supports.

Imagine this child holding a tray, and throughout the course of the day items are placed on it for him to balance. Mom wouldn’t let him wear the red shirt he wanted, would be one item. Missing the bus, another and perhaps larger item. At some point during the day this child is dangerously close to dropping his tray (thus entering the vortex of meltdown). Child is in class, his pencil snaps and bam he loses his tray and is thrown into the vortex. The teacher reports to parents “I can’t understand it, his pencil broke and he lost it”, when it really wasn’t the pencil at all.

A BCBA through observations can tell immediately a child who is getting close to the edge of the vortex. The BCBA develops behavior modifications for this child for professionals to use which will in effect remove items from his tray so he can be productive and regulate himself.

For example, his 1:1 ABA assistant would say to “John” (a high functioning child, who was taught through ABA protocols ready and attending skills, but still needs some help with his sensory issues) you have 6 breaks today, you tell me when you need to take them. John takes one right away after the first exercise they do in class, then asks for another one soon after. That is ok, John knows he can use them when he needs them, and two in a row is ok — he only has 4 left though for the day and the process is for John to learn that. Slowly you fade his breaks down to 5, then 4, then so on until John is regulating his impulsivity and readily attending on his own without supports.

Inclusion can and should work. These kids need supports or they will have already lost coming out of the gate.