First - can you identify the antecedent? Meaning, the event that brought on the behavior? Was a preferred toy or activity taken away and the behavior is therefore the result of difficulty with transitioning? Our son went through exactly what you are describing. Even though your daughter is non-verbal, she most likely understands a lot. Therefore, she would likely benefit GREATLY from visual supports and social stories. For my son, we developed a visual support that told the story of his morning and we would talk through it, pointing to the pictures, slowly and definitely more than once. Another option, which words tremendously, is a First/Then board. If the antecedent to the meltdown does involved a preferred item or activity, you can create a First/Then board. Under First, put a picture of the task you want to accomplish, like eating lunch. Under "Then" put a picture of one of her preferred activities. Do this a few times to make sure she understands what you want from her. "First eat lunch, then puzzles!" "First change pants, then go outside!" If you're preparing them for the changes in their day, they feel less anxious and more in control of what's happening around them. I hope this helps!

I understand completely there is not always an antecedent. Sometimes meltdowns happen for no reason and that's pretty typical for all toddlers. However, when my husband and I were going through this with our son who, at age 2, was also non-verbal, we attended a workshop on addressing challenging behaviors and the advice I described above was meant to help avoid meltdowns. Perhaps I should have provided that back story. A great thing to pursue, if Maiamoo hasn't done so already, is her state's Early Intervention System. We live in TN, and are working with TEIS (Tennessee Early Intervention System). Through TEIS, my son is receiving individual speech therapy, developmental therapy, ABA therapy, and occupational therapy. The difference has been incredible. We monitor all of his therapies very closely, and if we don't agree with something, our TEIS service coordinator helps us correct the situation. I strongly encourage everyone with children under the age of 3 to pursue their state's early intervention services. We initiated at 22 months. He will age out at 3, but he has blossomed in the past year as a result of early intervention. This is just my story, and hopefully Maiamoo can find something helpful in it.

If there is any way you can start creating a successful situation the prevent the tantrums, this is ideal. You start working to give attention to the positive behavior. The self-soothing and working it out herself are so important when it does happen, though. Sometimes, just letting her know you are there and she is safe can be good, too.

Hi haleyscomet! Thank you so much! It really is nice to know I'm not alone in this although like you said this is very unfortunate to have to deal with. I will keep you posted and thank you for the suggestion!

This is a tough one because she is so young and with communication issues it makes things worse. You can try to redirect but that does not always work. There is very little you can do if you cannot communicate so sometimes it is better to back away and let the child work their way out of it. As long as they are not really hurting themselves they need to get themselves out of it.