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Help for the Vindictive, Revengeful Child on the Autism Spectrum

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"I need some advice on how to help my child (autistic) deal with his revengeful attitude. He's quick to fly off the handle whenever he thinks he's been treated unfairly (quite a black-and-white thinker)." A youngster with ASD level 1, or high functioning autism, who is vindictive is demonstrating that something is wrong. His rage and hostility are symptoms of an underlying problem. It may be the result of (a) the expression of emotions, attitudes and behavior that have been inadvertently or purposefully conditioned; (b) an expression of emotional distress; (c) an attempt to cope with sensory sensitivities; and/or (d) a physical, developmental, neurological or mental illness. Symptoms of a vindictive or revengeful child include the following: angry and irritable mood argues with parents and teachers behavior causes significant problems at home and school blames others for his or her misbehavior deliberately annoys siblings and peers is easily annoyed

False Dilemma: A Thinking Error in Kids on the Spectrum

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A false dilemma means seeing the world only in terms of extremes (e.g., if things aren't "perfect," then they must be "horrible"). ---------- Social rejection has devastating effects in many areas of functioning. Because the ASD child tends to internalize how others treat him, rejection damages self-esteem and often causes anxiety and depression. As the child feels worse about himself and becomes more anxious and depressed – he performs worse, socially and intellectually. Click here to read the full article… --------------------------------------------------------------- Meltdowns are not a pretty sight. They are somewhat like overblown temper tantrums, but unlike tantrums, meltdowns can last anywhere from ten minutes to over an hour. When it starts, the Asperger's or HFA child is totally out-of-control. When it ends, both you and your child are totally exhausted. But... don’t breathe a sigh of relief yet. At the least provocation