Autism Thoughts: Do Our Reactions Cause a Behavior Cycle? 👟 ➡️Watching JJ help pass out candy at a local parade got me to thinking. He kept running way ahead of us at the parade. It reminded me of the times he used to run off, which happened often. And he was fast. I could not keep up with him. Our fear was that he would run into traffic or somehow get away and we would never find him. ➡️Watching him run at the parade, I quickly realized that he was running to get as far away from the 🚒firetruck behind us. It was loud and noisy and anytime it got close to us, he would run up ahead to “get away.” ➡️I immediately thought about all the times he had tried to run away in the past? How many times had he tried to “run away” to get away from a noise or something else that triggered him, but we didn’t understand? We now know that he is terrified of some animals (dogs 🐕and cats🐈) and will immediately panic even if we are there to hold him and keep him safe. ➡️How many times did he try to communicate a fear and we missed the signals? And because we were afraid of losing him or him getting hurt, we overreacted which caused a cycle of him running off and us overreacting. ➡️Learning to explore the why of his behaviors helped us to help him navigate the world around him. Understanding how he thinks took a long time, but it has been such a blessing to creating joy and happiness in our home.#autisticteen #autismacceptance Watching JJ help pass out candy at a local parade got me to thinking. He kept running way ahead of us at the parade. It reminded me of the times he used to run off, which happened often. And he was fast. I could not keep up with him. Our fear was that he would run into traffic or somehow get away and we would never find him. Watching him run at the parade, I quickly realized that he was running to get as far away from the fire truck behind us. It was loud and noisy and anytime it got close to us, he would run up ahead to “get away.” I immediately thought about all the times he had tried to run away in the past? How many times had he tried to “run away” to get away from a noise or something else that triggered him, but we didn’t understand? We now know that he is terrified of some animals (dogs and cats) and will immediately panic even if we are there to hold him and keep him safe. How many times did he try to communicate a fear and we missed the signals? And because we were afraid of losing him or him getting hurt, we overreacted which caused a cycle of him running off and us overreacting. Learning to explore the why of his behaviors helped us to help him navigate the world around him. Understanding how he thinks took a long time, but it has been such a blessing to creating joy and happiness in our home. #autisticteen #autismacceptance
