My daughter Leesa loved to destroy her mother's closet. Leesa is an eleven-year-old girl with autism. She does not understand the concepts of privacy or of respecting other people's possessions.

In order to curb this behavior, my wife and I tried many different strategies. We tried to make her clean up her mess, but as soon as it was picked up, she would immediately destroy it all over again. We tried time-outs, but those did not work either. We would tell Leesa in a very stern voice that she would be punished if she destroyed Mommy's closet, but that did not work. Each time Leesa destroyed her mother's closet, we would punish her, but none of the punishments changed the behavior.

When it became unbearable, we asked Leesa's teacher how she controlled Leesa's problematic behaviors. The teacher explained that at school, Leesa loved to continuously open and close the classroom door. In order to change this behavior, the teacher had made a simple sign of a door with a NO sign over it and taped it to the door. The sign had been working! Leesa was no longer opening and closing the classroom door. Leesa's teacher made a simple sign of a closet with several hangers in it and the words, "Don't mess up Mommy's closet". My wife and I had nothing to lose, so we taped the sign on the closet door. After several weeks, I asked my wife about the sign. I was surprised to learn that the sign was working; Leesa was no longer destroying her mother's closet.

I began sharing my experiences with my friends at work. A co-worker of mine, Brad, was complaining that his son always took his clothes. I suggested that he try the simple sign method. That night, I went home and made a sign with a picture of clothes with a NO sign across them and the words, "Don't take Dad's clothes." The sign had immediate results. Brad commented that, "My son was so stunned by the sign that it took him ten days to come up with the courage to ask if he could borrow a T-shirt."

Another co-worker commented that he hated when his son left laundry in the washing machine. We suggested that he make a simple sign. He taped a sign that said, "Make sure laundry is completed: washed, dried & folded." The sign also worked well for this co-worker.

This morning I went into the bathroom at work. Over the sink stood the sign, "Please wipe the sink". Our office secretary was fed up with the puddles of water surrounding the sink after people had washed their hands. I looked down at the sink and it was spotlessly clean and dry!!

This Success Story © Bob Carpenter

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