Strategies for Self-management

Relaxation Strategies

Activities as simple as walking, yoga, swimming and walking the dog can relieve stress and anxiety. Regular physical exercise can be incorporated into daily routines, becoming habits which can be used as anxiety-reducing strategies throughout life.

To watch Kari Dunn Buron ‘When my worries get too big’: click here.

Visualisation

Visualisation is a relaxation strategy which can help individuals to cope with anxiety symptoms. It involves using your imagination to picture relaxing images. However, this may be difficult for children. An alternative is to create a ‘photobook,’ which is a small pocket-sized book containing positive and relaxing images. Children are then able to carry this photobook with them and look at the images when they become anxious.

To watch Kari Dunn Buron ‘When my worries get too big’: click here.

Calming Sequences 

Children can develop or be taught calming sequences which they may use when they are feeling anxious in order to regulate their feelings. For example, a calming sequence may entail the child taking a deep breath, rubbing their legs, squeezing their hands and stretching. Children should be able to carry out the calming sequence independently so that they can ultimately employ the sequence to relax themselves whenever necessary.

To watch Kari Dunn Buron ‘Aint just misbehaving’: click here.

Breathing Techniques

It can be useful to teach breathing techniques to alleviate anxiety. Abdominal or belly breathing is a type of breathing which involves taking deep breaths which cause the diaphragm muscle to contract and the belly and chest cavities to expand. This type of breathing is more relaxing than purely chest breathing, which only expands the chest and can make the body feel tense.

To watch Kari Dunn Buron ‘Aint just misbehaving’: click here.

Please see the following resources for more information on how to practice belly breathing:

https://www.guysandstthomas.nhs.uk/resources/patient-information/therapies/abdominal-breathing.pdf

See more information about breathing techniques on our best practice resource: http://best-practice.middletownautism.com/approaches-of-intervention/anxiety-management/anxiety-management-strategies/#q10

Neural Noise

‘Neural noise’ refers to background activities which children may engage in which assist with their attention, regulation and overall functioning. Children with autism may have less internal (or endogenous) neural noise (Davis & Plaisted-Grant, 2014). Typical levels of neural noise can help individuals form categories and ignore subtle changes to the environment. Neural noise may also help to encourage the exploration of different neural states, limiting focus on one train of thought. Insufficient levels of neural noise may lead children with autism to become ‘stuck’ in particular ways of thought and have difficulty generalising information from one context to another. This in turn can lead to increased levels of anxiety.

To Watch Brenda Myles ‘Excelling with autism’: click here.

Activities which provide neural noise include using fidget toys, chewing gum or using a weighted vest or blanket. The activities should have no cognitive load, they should be pre-planned and they should increase attention on the main task (e.g. schoolwork).  Please see the table below for other neural noise activity suggestions:

Inflatable disc	Fidgets	Crunchy or chewy snacks
Camping pillow	Chewing gum	Rocking in rocking chair
Therapy putty	Weighted vest	Allowing individual to stand or walk
Theraband	Brushing hair	Not requiring direct eye contact
Playdoh	Velcro	Straws
Drawing	Weighted blanket	Hard sweets
Hand lotion	Weighted lap buddy	Stress ball

To watch Brenda Myles ‘Excelling with Autism’: click here.

It might be helpful to note which activities a child engages in when they are effectively learning. For example, they may twirl their hair, doddle on the page, fidget with a pen or rock back and forth. These actions may be providing neural noise which is allowing the child to regulate and concentrate.

To watch Interview with Brenda Myles: click here.

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