If he is in a special ed. program in the U.S. you are entitled to behavioral services and should request them. Ask for a functional behavior assessment. It basically formally does what you are trying to do. Determine why your child is biting. It sounds like you are on the right track either because he is frustrated and likely can’t communicate or perhaps he is being affectionate wants attention and is not doing that right either. It seems like the key component likely is that he doesn’t have the communication skills quite yet to do these things appropriately and that should be the targeted skill to help with the biting. You may need to supplement his language with other forms of communication such as gestures, sign language or pictures in order to help him until his words catch up. The trick is to teach him a behavior that is as easy to do they gets him what he wants. When he is frustrated it may be he wants his peers out of his face or when he is affectionate it may be that he wants a hug or tickle or some particular form of affection in return. Teach him to specifically ask for what he wants. For all kids with language delays there tends to be an increase in problem behavior that decreases once they have a way to more reliably communicate their wants and needs.

A Functional Behavior Analysis (FBA) done by a Behavior Analyst is a good start. As other answerers stated, it will help give you an idea of when and why he’s biting, as well as data to determine how often it happens. Then you can try different things and use the data to determine whether or not the intervention is working.

Please don’t totally dismiss the idea of using an aversive to extinguish the behavior. Biting is a matter of safety – it is only a matter of time before he hurts someone seriously, another child hauls off and hits him for biting, or you are sued by someone your child has injured. An aversive can be something like a sour candy spray (if he doens’t like the sour taste) or a squirt with water or loud noise.

No one likes to deliberately do something that their child doesn’t like, but if it’s a matter of keeping him and other children safe, it is something to consider. When used correctly, an aversive can be an excellent behavioral tool.

Someone else mentioned that these children are not animals and shouldn’t be trained like them, but that’s what a great deal of behavioral therapy is. Do what you’re supposed to and get a treat, just like you do with an animal. Just like you do with adults. Think about it – you go to work, (perform the behavior) and get a paycheck (your treat or reward). How many people would go to work everyday and not get paid?

A good behavior analyst can advise you on the use of aversives and other behavioral interventions, which may include helping him find a way to communicate, calming himself, and many other options.

Good luck!

I understand how frustrating it is but spanking and biting him back will definitely not teach that he should not bite. Remember he is a special child. With these children we should be careful at what we teach them. Because sometimes they easily pick-up unwanted behaviours and it is hard to “unIearn” them. I recommend one on one behaviour therapy for your child. This will help you modify unwanted behaviour. Ask an ocupational therapist regarding behavioural therapy. On your part, you need to know, understand why he bites.

Try listing down the times he bites and the incident that happened before he bit somebody. If you have identified this situations you might want to avoid them so the biting incident won’t happen. Sometimes biting can be a gesture to call attention. Try teaching him to touch you when he needs something or if he can talk call you instead. What behavioral therapist do is they teach you how to do a monitoring chart. For example your child did not bite for an hour you can reward him for not biting. If he called you or touched your hand to get your attention reward him for this also. So he associates “not biting” with good things. Then you can lengthen this target to 1 1/2hr. Make sure that your child sees this chart and he understands the reward system. Again I recommend putting him in behaviour therapy first because this will help him a lot. I think he should be pulled out of pre-K. I think he should be “behaviourally” prepared first by a specialist to be prepared for school interaction/socialization. Because if there are still unwanted impulses like biting and your child could not be taught to sit still for a lesson then he won’t learn anything in school. So going to school defeats the purpose.

Make sure your son has had a recent evaluation by an Occupational Therapist. Often biting, hitting, kicking are ways an autist seeks propriceptive input (deep pressure sensations). Feelings, rather frustration or happiness, can be overwhelming and this is one way the child can express it. An occupational therapist can show the teacher and your son, different techniques that can take the place of biting. Of course, to work you will need to follow through at home.

I too, have a 3 yro autistic son who used to bite so I know how frustrating it can be! Spanking and as another poster stated, vinegar sprayed in his mouth, are not the way to encourage acceptable behavior. Especially the vinegar..this is a child not a dog to be trained!

Best wishes!

Why isn’t the school providing you with a Behavior Specialist? Talk to your Special Ed. Director.A good B.S. should be able to give suggestions that will help the biting.Since you say your child also bites to show affection,there may be sensory issues involved.Check out www.autism.com.It is the web site for the Autism Research Institute in CA.You can find a lot of information on treatments for sensory problems. We saw a great improvement in our son by giving him vitamins and DMG.There is a lot of info on vitamin therapy at the A.R.I. web site.

My son is mildly autistic and bit like the dickens at that age! This is classic frustration. He cannot communicate effectively to put his anger into words. Further, there is a sensitivity issue. He might be overly sensitive (hyper sensitivity), like my son, and HATES when people invade his WIDE personal space. If this is the case – than you will know – as he likely does not like to be held or hugged forr long periods of time – even as a baby. He will also HATE a very soft touch and prefer pressure and hard “patting” on the back. If that is the case – a combination of constant prompting to “use your words” or another acceptable outlet for frustration (such as stomping your feet) will help. Combine that with “Brushing Therapy” and you are well on your way to solving the problem.

By the way – Brushing therapy will seem like a bunch fo mumbo-jumbo at first. Do it any way – it is amazing the changes you will see!!! I thought that it was really stupid – but it turned out to be the single most effective therapy my 9 yr. old son has had to date!

My son is now 5 when he get mad he wants to bite we had to break him when he got expelled by the school in prek. He hates Ketchup. next time he bite we put a very small amount on his lips he has autism so to this it would be like putting soap in your mouth.. The aide just would let him see not show it too him that she may have a pack of ketchup in her pocket, that kept it alive. When he started to loose control we would say NO Bite remember ketchup. Instantly redirected him to noo noo ketchup. he was better then he asked for a hug. Also we discovered to help with the bitting was chewing… If he chewed he didnt bit as much. He never bit another child because his aide made sure there was always a supervised gathering to help him figure which way he needed to go… So my advise find something he doesnt like orally that is NOT a chemical most children have oral sensory issues some may not like slimmy things. then buy a chewing tube, special needs stores sell them fairly cheap I just bought one for 6.00. have MAJOR supervision with someone who can see the signs of what may be bothering him too many kids too much noise another child being aggressive what is it that is making him act out. Good luck…

All good answers above. I worked with a 7 year old last year who bit me 9 times. We found that he would only do this when he was totally frustrated and we hadn’t given him a break. When it appeared he was going to bite me I would take his face in my hands (gently) and tell him “NO BITE”. This child was totally non verbal and about at a 24 month level developmentally. The biting stopped because we learned to read the signs. Sometimes these kids just need stim time to process information. Good luck — I’m so glad he’s in a early childhood program.

i think of it quite is a competent concept to deliver your new child to preschool. learning is important, despite the fact that it is likewise important for toddlers to have interaction with different teenagers their very own age. those years are the years that quite make a distinction in how they act while they are older. If the youngster turns into too related to you and reliant on you, they could have a brilliant variety of difficulty while they are older. beginning kindergarten is often not ordinary on your new child in the event that they don’t seek for use to enjoying and sharing with different toddlers. make valuable that the preschool isn’t too academic however. there isn’t lots a 2/3 12 months previous can learn and it quite is important that they get playtime with different toddlers.

Some would say call in an exorcist, seriously though it makes me wounder if these children have dental problems? like if there gums are acheing they might want to bite down on something to relieve the pain.

I thought I had it hard with a hearing impaired son, I don’t know how you deal with it. I do realize now who might have been biting my little boy last year. Maybe they should separate these children, its not fair to the other students. I don’t think you would want to be bitten by a co-worker would you?

and the discipline thing, you were doing good trying to give him discipline, that is love too, even a dog deserves to be disciplined to have a sound mind, ask Ceaser.

God says you don’t love your child if you wont even discipline it, that’s just lazy.