Updates from Silence to Signals

Why Is My Child Fine at School but Upset When Therapy Comes Home?

Silence to Signals Autism Communication, autism communication support, autism parent education, meltdowns
A parent sent us this question last week:“Why does my child do well at school and then become upset, frustrated and aggressive when their ABA provider comes to the home, or when I take them to their one-on-one speech provider? We’ve tried telehealth and in person. He does amazing throughout his five-hour day at school.”If this is
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Why Does My Autistic Child Keep Hitting Himself?

Why Does My Autistic Child Keep Hitting Himself?

Silence to Signals
If your child is hitting his head or hurting himself, you are not overreacting. This behavior is serious, and it is also often a signal your child needs help communicating.When a child engages in self-injurious behavior — hitting, head-banging, biting — the instinct is to make it stop. But what if the more powerful question isn't *how do I stop this* — it's *what is my child trying to tell me*? Self-injurious behavior is rarely random; in most cases, it is the loudest signal in a sequence that began much earlier, with smaller, quieter signals that went unread. Understanding the functions behind self-injury — from sensory overload and protest to pain, need for predictability, and communication mismatch — changes everything about how a parent can respond. This post walks through what those earlier signals often look like, why they escalate when they go unrecognized, and what to do both in the moment and after it has passed. You'll also find a clear, step-by-step framework for reading the pattern beneath the behavior — one grounded in over 25 years of clinical experience and research showing reductions in self-injurious behavior of up to 81%. The goal isn't control. It's clarity — and it starts with learning to read what your child is already communicating.
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