In terms of behavior analysis, it is helpful to understand that if a
behavior continues, it is being reinforced in some way. So the behavior
has a purpose and it will be helpful to find out what that purpose is.
Organisms only do things for three reasons:
*To get something, like attention or a preferred activity.
*To avoid or escape something, like a non-preferred person or activity.
*To communicate their needs.
Given that, it would be helpful to note the type of activity that you
are doing before he bites you. This is called identifying the
antecedent to the behavior. If you can figure this out, you may find
that he is trying to escape a non-preferred activity.
This sounds more like an escape related behavior than an attention
seeking behavior, but we can't rule that out. It may be that you are
attending to other people when he bites you, which then could be
considered attention seeking.
At any rate, the main problem for autistic children is communication.
You may want to try to figure out what he is trying to say when he
bites you and to teach him another way to express himself. Sometimes
allowing him to use some visuals to say what he wants can be helpful.
Be very careful with your reaction when he bites you. Try not to show
anything on your face or in your voice. I know this is going to be
hard, but ASD kids are very alert to emotional expressions.
Finally, you may want to consider a cost response in that when he bites
you, he loses a preferred activity and when he doesn't bite you he gets
an extra treat. You MUST make a visual If/Then chart so that he
understands the concept.
For an example, I had an ASD girl who was taking off her clothes and
running around the room tearing things off the walls. I made an If/Then
chart which showed clothing on the ground and a girl ripping things off
the wall. On the Then side, I had a picture of a swing set with a line
through it.
For the positive side, I showed a girl doing her work and for the Then side, I had a big blue ball that she truly loved.
I worked with her before she had the problem and when she did the
behavior, I went over the chart with her and held her back from recess.
It didn't take very long to get the idea across.