Austism and Attention Seeking Behaviors: Throwing Toys

Almost all children tend to throw their toys at one point or another. This usually happens when they feel helpless or upset that they can't get their way, but above all, they tend to do it because it is the easiest and fastest way to get someone's attention. Young children are not always aware of the consequences that come with throwing toys. For example, hurting themselves or someone else in the process.

Autistic children tend to throw toys for similar reasons, but these reasons also extend to a lack of communication skills, sensory issues, inability to interact socially with peers, not being able to deal with frustration appropriately or seeking attention. I was approached by D's educator recently where she expressed her concern about D throwing his toys whenever I am not around. We concluded that the reason he was throwing his toys was to seek attention from his educator and his peers. The strategy we put in place to decrease this problem behavior was to set up a "Reward Chart".

If D did not throw his toys for "x" amount of time (we used a timer in order to provide D with a visual) he would receive positive reinforcement (a sticker on his Reward Chart). Once D collected 5 stickers, he would gain access to a highly preferred item for a certain amount of time. However, if during the time that D was being observed and he threw a toy, the count would start over again. The goal for setting up this system was to provide positive reinforcement and attention to D when he was not throwing toys in order to decrease problem behavior. Since I only see him twice a week, this will definitely be a work in progress, but we are already starting to see a decrease in the frequency of D throwing toys during play time.