JJ got bounced around before coming to live with us. He had only lived with his foster mom for about six months and she worked long hours. His daycare put a tablet in his hands and stuck him in a corner.
His foster mom told us that he would get up and wander the house at night. She said, "JJ's going to do what JJ's going to do."
I didn't say anything, but my reaction was, "nope not in my house." So we attached a baby gate in the hall near the boys' rooms. Then we started using Supernanny's Stay in Bed Technique from the first night. "A bedtime routine has two important functions. It lets your child know that there is a consistent pattern to going to bed, which she is not going to be able to manipulate at will, and it prepares her for sleep in a calming sequence of events that are designed to help her relax." - Jo Frost AKA Supernanny.
After being consistent for a week, JJ mostly stayed in bed.
JJ had several other behaviors that we worked on that also went away with consistentcy.
I want to be clear that I am talking about learned behaviors that he was allowed to continue simply because nobody worked with him. I am not talking about autisic traits or stims.
MR
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