364 chapter 40
STRANGE BEHAVIOR
Children with different disabilities sometimes develop unusual habits or patterns of
behavior. This is especially true for mentally slow or brain-damaged children who may
be confused or frightened because they have difficulty understanding what goes on
around them.
In helping children through such difficulties, first try to understand what might ‘trigger’ or
be the cause of the behavior. For example:
Rocking
“Joel often starts rocking back and forth, and seems to escape
into his own world! He then shows no interest in anything that is
happening around him. Sometimes he rocks for almost an hour.”
“When does this happen most?”
“Mainly when he is with a group of other children, or when there are
guests. But sometimes when he’s just alone.”
Joel seems to withdraw into his world of rocking when things get too confusing,
frightening, or even boring, for him. To stop rocking he may need to be helped, little
by little, to discover that interaction and play with other persons and things can be
enjoyable. But to avoid confusing and frustrating him, new people, toys, and activities
will need to be introduced gently, a little at a time, by the persons he knows and trusts
most. You might praise or reward him when he smiles or shows any interest in playing
with other children, or with new toys. When he starts to rock, try to interest him in
things you know he likes. (But make sure to spend more time doing things he likes
with him when he is not rocking. Otherwise you will be encouraging him to rock more
often to get your attention.)
Eye poking
“My 5-year-old daughter, Judy, is blind and has some mental
slowness. She has a habit of poking her fingers deep into her
eyes. As a result, her eyes often get infected.”
For Judy, who lives in the dark, life is not always very
interesting. She cannot see things to play with. When she tries
to explore, she bumps into things. She has found that poking
her eyes causes flashes of light, so she has made a game of
this. Also, she has discovered that when she pokes her eyes
her mother comes running. Sometimes mother slaps her
hands, but at least she gets attention!
For Judy to learn not to poke her eyes, she will need a lot of help to find things to do that
are more interesting and rewarding:
• toys that have interesting shapes and surfaces and that make different
sounds.
• perhaps her own ‘space’ or part of the house where everything is
always kept in the same place so she can learn her way around and find
her toys. (See Chapter 30 on blindness.)
• giving her more attention and praise when she does not rub her eyes than when she does.
•
Whenever your child develops behavior that you have trouble understanding, it may help
to ask: What does the child gain from the behavior? What are his alternatives and in what
way do they offer him less reward? How can we help provide alternatives that are more
rewarding to him?
Disabled village Children