Is the hitting from Autism?

My sister BEATS other kids when they come over, the girl we babysit for is one of them, everytime my sister goes past her she beats her in the face and with toys its insane! Sometimes for no apparent reason she'll run up to her and start hitting her! She does it with the neighbors child as well. She was diagnosed with PDD-NOS and she doesnt really speak much, just a bunch of mumbo-jumbo...I'm really at a loss for what to do, when I go to move her from hitting, she just smirks and she doesnt ever learn I can have her in her room for an hour and she'll come right out and hit the girl! Any suggestions?Is the hitting from Autism?
Maybe you should tell the parents of the girl you babysit and suggest a different sitter? Problem solved.
Have your parents speak to her. Lots of younger siblings don't want to listen to their big sister, regardless of anything they are diagnosed with. A perfectly healthy little kid could still act that way if the "in charge" person is just an older sibling.Is the hitting from Autism?
The hitting isn't from Austim. I have my BCABA and I've worked with children on the Austim spectrum for a long time. I'll tell you what other ABA (applied behavior analysis) or other behavioral therapists won't tell you or your parents straight out, because they don't want to hurt their feelings. It's a result of bad parenting. She has learned that it's acceptable to hit people in order to get what she wants, whether it's for attention or some other motivating operation. This isn't

necessarily her fault, that's how your parents allowed her to learn. Luckily it can be corrected with some ABA therapy. You should get your parents to take her to a professional.



Addition:

This is why ABA therapists don't say things straightforwardly. People seem to get defensive and don't listen. I just thought I'd be honest as you seemed like you wanted the truth. I quess I was wrong so I'll give you the website to where I work so you'll know more in depth what I'm talking about. I could go into details about the ABC model, as well as motivating operations, DRA and DRO procedures for teaching alternative behaviors, etc, but I won't, because that's unnecessary. But here is the site (I'm not trying to recruit or anything). Hopefully, you'll take my advice and get some sort of intervention before it's too late.



Every parent thinks it's random and it rarely ever is.



Please trust me on this. I know what I'm talking about.
Because your sister has Autism and does not communicate verbally, her frustrations are demonstrated physically.

Your sister could be jealous of other children and may not like to share her toys or any toys ( common behaviour in typical children anyway ) and the only way she can communicate her anger is by hitting.

It is a common behaviour in Autistic children. If your sister is seeing an interventionist, you and/or your parents could mention her aggressive behaviour and I am sure they would be more than happy to to work on this with her.

Autistic children are still very bright and they know what is going on around them. They know more than you think and therefore, this can be resolved. They just have a different way of communicating and often, things that would not bother most people are things that they are particularly sensitive to.

For instance, your sister could be sensitive to noise and if your are babysitting a loud and rowdy child, your sister would find this very annoying. She might retaliate the only way she can (hitting) to get the point across.

Your sister is capable of learning what is right and wrong. She may be smiling because she is quite pleased with herself. Some autistic children have a hard time realizing the consequences of their actions.

I am sure with the right support, your sister can learn that hitting is wrong and she could learn other ways to vent her frustration caused by things that may bother her.



Even though some people will tell you otherwise, aggressive behaviour is common in Autistic children. Autistic children have difficulty communicating their needs (especially if they are non verbal)

Here is a link descibing symptoms and behaviour:

http://www.emedicinehealth.com/autism/pa鈥?/a>Is the hitting from Autism?
I have a child who may have a type of Autism Spectrum disorder (will be getting him checked out very soon) but he's not a child who hits.



However, I grew up in a household with an older brother who would hit both me and my younger sister for no reason at all. We'd be minding our own business and he would just come out of his room, hit us and continue on his merry way. In the 20+ years since this started, we've discovered that my brother has Tourette's Syndrome, Attention Deficit Disorder and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, which are all linked, if I have my facts correct. My 11 year old nephew acts identically toward his younger sister and his step sister. Both of them are very good natured girls and he'll just do something to hurt them for no reason. My nephew is a very intelligent, very loving child but sometimes he just does that for no known reason, not even known to him.



My mother used to chalk this up to jealousy, but this behavior is related to the ADD and the TS, according to my nephew's pediatrician. They have the urge to hit someone and the more they suppress it, the stronger the urge gets. If they don't act out on the urge, it sometimes makes their behavior even worse. Both my brother and nephew are on medications to ease the urge, so to speak, but they still have it by times and it is very hard to deal with as a family member. You can NOT punish your sister by putting her in her room. My sister suggests taking away privileges, like 10 minutes of television time for each time that your sister hits another child. If she is really acting out, take away the TV for the entire evening. Putting her on time out or putting her in her room won't work. She won't understand it and will continue to act this way.



If you haven't talked to your parents about it, talk to them NOW. Your sister should see a pediatrician ASAP to see if she has ASD, ADD or Tourette's Syndrome. She's at the age where ADD and TS can be diagnosed.



Good luck to all of you and I hope things improve very soon.