Welcome to my "Ask Me Anything" blog post series!
I answer lots of questions on my social media channels, and it makes sense to share this information (anonymously!) in case it is useful for others, too.
"A child in my class has found a new favourite activity. All of our staff wear lanyards with a whistle on them. He has figured out the joy of grabbing the lanyard and blowing the whistle! He finds this absolutely hilarious. We figured out that he loves the reaction of the adult that he does it to (the gasp/big facial expressions etc) When we started to ignore and have a slow/quiet reaction it greatly reduced but now he has started doing it to other staff that don’t know him and they are getting a big fright and the reactions are much bigger! Some people are putting their lanyards inside their coats, and he is putting his hands down their tops to find it. I have worked on a social story about keeping his hands to himself, but any other advice I would really appreciate!"
Oh, bless him, I can imagine this is great fun and completely irresistible!
I would send all staff an email explaining exactly what you have explained to me. Ideally, all staff would give minimal reaction. I think that’s the first port of call.
Meanwhile, in class, offer him big reactions and fun cause and effect interaction games often, that are safe and give him ways to request these as well as offering him these regularly too :)
I hope that helps! If you have any other questions, let me know.
*I am not a doctor or medical professional, so for some questions, you might want to contact your GP, the National Autistic Society, or the NHS.
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