One common behavioral problem in children in ASD is not following instructions. There could be different reasons behind the behavior, and by identifying the possible reasons, parents will be able to resolve the issue efficiently.
My child responds only after I repeat the instructions at least 3 times.
This is a typical phenomenon parents face at home. When parents talk to their children, they rarely respond at the first time, either because they are too busy with themselves or they are just used to delaying their response to their parents. Parents often have to repeat themselves, sometimes with a louder voice or even with a serious tone until their child listens. And over time, such sequence of interaction repeats so many times that it becomes a habit for the child to respond only when an instruction is repeated or delivered in a stern way.
To prevent the forming of the undesirable habit, parents should praise children and provide meaningful rewards when they follow an instruction right away. And when they do not respond, parents should follow through immediately by providing feedback and making sure that their children follow the instruction again by providing prompts or assistance.
My child has “selective hearing”. He only listens to what he likes to do.
In this case, lack of motivation is the major reason why children do not always listen to parents. Children with Autism often have less motivation to respond to others because the attention and compliment from others are not crucial or meaningful to them. “Selective hearing” is likely worsen when the child is engaged in a preferred activity, as following an instruction would cause a disruption to the activity.
One effective strategy to deal with this issue is that parents identify what instructions and in what situations that children have more difficulties in listening to them, and provide more praises and rewards when the children responds right away. Again, following through is crucial as it lets the children what your expectation is.
My child often forgets what he needs to do or does something else after I give an instruction.
Some children with ASD may get distracted when parents give an instruction, or when they are in the middle of fulfilling parent’s demand. They may get distracted by tangible or non-tangible things in the environment, certain elements in the task that they are asked to do, or their own self-stimulatory behaviors. When this type of situations occurs, parents usually find themselves frequently reminding their children to continue with the task, or to hurry up.
Developing tolerance to distractions and self-control are the key to improve children’s ability in completing a task without reminders. It can be done by systematically increasing distractions in the environment and lengthening the time required by the task. Furthermore, when a child stops in the middle of a task, instead of giving reminders, parents should follow through by giving feedback and requiring the child to redo the task.
Information provided by Autism Partnership
Autism Partnership (AP) is one of the most established Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) service providers for Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) in the world. Formed in 1994 in the United States, AP is run by professional clinicians and specializes in providing one-on-one therapy, group interventions and overseas consultation for children with ASD and their families.
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[:zh]自閉症兒童的常見問題行為之一是不聽從指令。這一問題行為背後可能有多種原因，通過找出可能的原因，家長將能有效地解決問題。
至少重複3次指令後孩子才會回應我的指令。
這是家長時常會在家中遇到的狀況。當家長和孩子說話時，孩子幾乎不會馬上回應，這通常是因為他們在忙於其他事情或者已經習慣延遲回應家長。通常情況下，家長不得不重複指令，有時要用更大的聲量甚至是更嚴肅的語氣，直至孩子聽從指令。久而久之，這種連續重複的互動方式變成了一種習慣，只有家長重複或嚴肅地說出指令時，孩子才會回應。
為了防止形成不好的習慣，在孩子立即聽從指令之後，家長應該表揚孩子並給予有意義的獎勵。如果孩子沒有回應，家長應通過即時反饋來貫徹指令，確保再次提供輔助或協助後孩子會聽從指令。
我的孩子「選擇性聽話」。他只聽自己喜歡做的事情。
在這種情況下，孩子不聽家長的指令主要是因為缺乏動力。自閉症兒童往往沒有動力去回應他人，因為他人的關注和讚美對他們來說並不重要或沒有意義。當他們在做自己喜歡的事情時，「選擇性聽從」有可能會變得更嚴重，因為遵從指令會打斷他們正在進行的活動。
解決這個問題的有效策略是，家長找出哪些指令和在哪些情境中孩子難以聽從，並在孩子立刻回應後給予更多的表揚和獎勵。再次強調，貫徹到底十分關鍵，這能讓孩子了解你的期望是什麼。
在我給出指令後，孩子經常忘記自己需要做什麼或會去做一些其他的事情。
一些有自閉症的兒童在家長給出指令或在自己執行指令的過程中會分心。環境中有形或無形的事物、被要求完成的任務中的某些元素或他們的自我刺激行為都可能會使他們分心。如果發生這種情況，家長通常會不斷提醒孩子繼續任務或催促他們。
提升孩子在沒有提醒的情況下完成任務的能力，關鍵在於培養他們對干擾的忍耐力和自我控制技巧。可以通過系統化地增加環境中的干擾事物和延長任務所需的時間的來實現這個目標。此外，當孩子在做任務的過程中停下來時，家長不應該給予提醒，而是應該通過給予反饋並要求孩子重做任務來貫徹指令。
資訊由Autism Partnership提供
Autism Partnership （AP）於1994年在美國成立，是全球最具規模為自閉症患者提供『應用行為分析』(ABA) 治療的專業機構。AP是由多位專業臨床心理學家、應用行為分析治療顧問及治療師管理，為患有自閉症譜系障礙（ASD）的兒童及其家庭提供一對一治療、行為干預小組訓練及海外諮詢服務。
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