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Welcome to the neuro nurture podcast, dedicated to equipping and supporting families, navigating the world of autism and neurodiversity. I am your host, Kirsten Sullivan, who is on a mission to help autism families go from surviving to thriving. Welcome to the show. Hey everyone, welcome back to another episode of the neuro nurture podcast. I'm Kirsten and I'm going to be taking you through what throwing means for your autistic child, what it means, how to respond as an autism parent or educator, and what can you do in these moments? What are some strategies, reactive and proactive strategies that you can do? So a lot of parents A lot of educators ask me about throwing, right? Is it sensory? Is it behavioral? Is it communication? And stick with me as I explore the fascinating layers of this behavior and give you some real life examples, what has worked, what hasn't worked, practical tips. And as you know, I love the science behind things. We will be diving into a lot of research backed strategies as well. So. Let's get into it. Throwing can range from tossing toys during play, if your child is playing with something, they might fling something across the room, or they might fling something across the room when they are frustrated. So, for example, if you're working with a child, you're building a puzzle, for instance, right? And if they all of a sudden throw a puzzle piece across the room, is it because they're frustrated in that moment? Another might throw their cup, you know, to get attention during snack time. That's another one. Now, if this sounds familiar, keep listening. Throwing is not as simple as it seems. And this is behavior can serve many, many purposes. So that's why understanding the why behind behaviors and why behind the throwing is the first step to addressing it. Now, if the sounds. Very familiar to you. If your child struggles with the concept of stopping to throw, if you have tried everything, then this is for you. So why do kids throw? So there are a lot of different reasons, so throwing can stem from a variety of reasons. It can either be sensory input. Some kids, they seek the satisfying sound or the visual of throwing. So it's either that feedback that they are getting in their bodies, that sensory feedback that makes them feel good, that gives them this very quick release in the moment, or it's that visual stimuli of something flying across the room that they like. That visual input is giving them that feedback that they are wanting. Now, when we look at the research, it shows that sensory seeking behaviors are very, very common in autistic children because they help regulate their nervous systems. so, if your child is extremely sensory seeking, if they are very visual seeking, one of the reasons that they throw, and that they throw often, might be for that visual sensory feedback that they are getting. The second thing. Is communication for non vocal non speaking or minimally verbal kids throwing might be their way of saying look at me i need help something is going on here i need you to give me that connection that i am looking for i want to tell you something but i can't use my words or i don't have any other forms of communication to express myself the third thing that The why behind throwing could stem from is emotional regulation. This is no surprise. Throwing can be an outlet for this frustration and overstimulation that can be built up throughout the day. So there was one study and that was published in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders that highlighted this connection between emotional dysregulation and physical behaviors like throwing. So the fourth thing could be this curiosity and cause and effect. Now young children, especially those developing social understanding, I often see this being developed in autistic kids from about the age of three or four. They may throw to see what happens next. Does it make a sound? Does someone react? Do I get some sort of input? Do I get some sort of input that I am wanting? So, I want to just share a little story of one of my therapy sessions, a child that I used to work with, and this boy loved to throw crayons. So he was five years old at the time, so he would look directly at me, toss a crayon and wait for my reaction. Now it was clear that this was about connection. Okay. So he was learning that when he threw, I responded. So this moment was quite a clear breakthrough for me because it showed me he was exploring cause and effect. a very key developmental milestone that I hadn't seen in him before. So instead of shutting down this behavior, we have to reframe it as an opportunity to teach connection in a safer and more functional way. So oftentimes when it comes to behavior, particularly in autistic children, a lot of people ask me, well, when do you intervene, what behavior is acceptable and what behavior is not acceptable now, when it comes to hurting themselves or others, when it comes to impeding their learning or impeding the learning of others, when it is harmful to themselves or harmful to others, those are the only times that I would intervene in a certain behavior that a child might be engaging in. Let me unpack this a bit more. When it comes to stimming for instance, right, if your child is stimming in a way that is safe, or in a way that is giving them that regulation, that is not something that we have to stop. That is not hurting them in the moment, it's not harmful, it is regulating them, it is making them feel good. It's actually Giving them a lot of that input that they need in order to remain very regulated throughout the day. However, when it comes to the instances of throwing, that can be harmful. Obviously, depending on the intensity and duration and frequency, but it can be harmful towards others. Others can get hurt. They could hurt themselves. So that is why throwing is a behavior that we can and have to shape. So I want to get into strategies that you can use to address throwing. So how do we address throwing? Here are my top strategies that I use. Firstly, rule out the basics. Now, you want to check for sensory needs. Would providing a sensory activity like a beanbag toss, for instance, fulfill that same need? So you're wanting to also assess communication. Are they asking you for help? Are they trying to tell me something? Now, what I would do in this instance is what works very, very well is setting up a throwing corner. If you are at school, if you're an educator, what you can do is you can put tape on the ground in the form of a square or a circle or any shape, and you can. Designate this area for them to throw soft items into if this is the sensory input or visual input that this child is needing. So you are redirecting perhaps them throwing crayons or throwing something else that could break in the classroom. You're redirecting to soft toys or soft objects or soft balls that they can throw into this whatever shape you have made on the ground. You can also use a bucket. Or some sort of container that they can throw these soft toys into. That is one way to redirect. We're also teaching limits at this point, we throw here, not at people, for instance. Keep your language extremely direct. Keep it very, very logical. Keep it very clear. Keep it very concise. The next thing, modeling communication. You're teaching gestures here, simple words, help, more, my turn. You want to reinforce every single time they use this appropriate behavior. The next thing is teaching cause and effect intentionally. Now, you can use games, for instance, like bowling or knocking down blocks, knocking down animals, whatever they love. So tune into their special interests here to show them the concept in a controlled way. So you want to also engage them in turn taking activities where they can experience the joy of connection without throwing objects. So turn taking is a really excellent way to redirect for throwing oftentimes with turn taking, you can take turns throwing stuffed animals into a container that is giving them that connection that they are wanting, especially if there are sensory seeking and also you want to redirect with empathy, right? So you acknowledge the feelings if it is for emotional regulation, right? It's like you frustrated, let's throw the soft ball instead. Okay. So you're addressing the behavior. You're not ever. completely ignoring the behavior. I know that is quite a pure ABA response, and I just want to get into that of people who do use a pure ABA response. And if you do, if that works for you, that's absolutely fine. My personal preference is that I have gravitated more towards a floor time handle and the early start Denver model approach, which is a combination of behavioral and developmental, but mostly I veer towards the developmental techniques and, and therapy techniques. Now. I want to just give you a quick difference in ABA. You're looking at the function, so in ABA, you're looking at that. Is it attention? Okay, so oftentimes in a BIP So that's a behavior intervention plan that you might get if your child is in ABA therapy is it would be for attention So you're working on the function that your child is craving that attention from you and that is why they are throwing for instance and then You know, you could have these antecedent modifications in place, or you could have different types of functional communication that you prompt. Oftentimes what happens here is that you would be advised to ignore the child completely. So before you get to the extinction part, you might see this extinction burst. That's what it's known in ABA where the behavior would escalate and then it would decrease. Now, yes, this has worked in the past when I was a behavioral therapist, pure ABA behavioral therapist, then this is what I was advised to do and I had to do it. However, since then, I believe more in that connection that the kid is seeking. Because yes, we can put it on extinction for a while, but the chances are that we haven't actually resolved the root cause we haven't seen. Is it sensory? Is it communication? We haven't really addressed that emotional regulation, that frustration within your child, if it is for connection, attention, then we have to acknowledge that we have to, to acknowledge their feelings and. And really make them feel seen and heard. So I want to get into some research that supports this. Okay, so addressing the sensory and emotional drivers behind behaviors like throwing reduces the behavior over time. So when we teach replacement skills, but we're not ignoring the behavior and we're building that emotional regulation, we're helping your child grow in ways that are meaningful and long lasting. So when we are getting to the point. Bottom of why it is occurring. Then we see these long lasting and successful, meaningful ways that your child can grow and develop. So I want you to know that throwing isn't always this bad behavior. Okay. It can often seem like that at school or in therapy. If your child is throwing something all the time, you might be getting really frustrated and telling them to stop is not going to work. You've probably tried that before as well, it's communication, it's connection or it's exploration. So dive into these different elements of what it could be and then tailor your approach with the right strategies. And then this transforms that challenging behavior into an opportunity for growth. I know it's very similar to, to other behaviors that are quite harmful when we see behaviors like hitting, biting. Those can also be very harmful behaviors that also take a very similar approach. However, with hitting and biting, you do want to, to obviously tailor it slightly differently compared to throwing. There might be other elements involved. So when we look at, at a more floor time approach. Okay, so here we are looking at. shaping it in a way that is very engaging and connection seeking. So when we acknowledge that behavior, something like you could say is like, Oh, look, you threw the ball. You wanted me to look. So we are deliberately putting it out there that I know that you want me to look at you because you threw something. You're giving them that connection. However, immediately after that, you are redirecting to something a lot safer. Children only learn skills when they feel that connection from you. Everything stems from connection. So when we go in there with a strategy without getting that connection, or if we completely ignore the child, that child is not really learning. Any new skills. So that is all that I have for you for today. I hope that you enjoyed this episode and stay tuned for another episode being released next week. If you don't follow me over on Instagram, my handle is at NeuroNurture underscore. Until next time. Stay patient, stay curious, and keep nurturing those minds. You have been listening to the NeuroNurture podcast. Remember to subscribe. And if you have enjoyed this episode, please leave a five star review. This will help other autism families find podcasts like this to help them navigate the world of autism and neurodiversity. Until then, take care and celebrate neurodiversity in all its forms.