Many children go through the “terrible-twos” or “horrible threes”, and this includes children with autism. The differing characteristic is that many children with autism are unable to communicate their wants unlike many other “typical” toddler or young child. Some children on the autism spectrum do not talk effectively until much later than others, so challenging behaviors can be stressful to the parents or guardians.

Challenging behaviors do not occur because of autism. The innermost processes of the mind of a child with autism may have results of impulsive behavior that the child may not be able to control. Just as the shaking due to Parkinson’s disease or the memory loss due to Alzheimer’s, the behaviors of a child with autism really cannot be helped by the child.

What you can Do

There are ways, however, you can help your child diminish some of the challenging behaviors. This does take some work on your part, and while the tactics...