Autism Spectrum Disorder or ASD is a developmental disorder that affects communication, social interaction and behavior in children. The term “spectrum” refers to a wide-range of symptoms and severity. Each child with Autism has a unique pattern of behavior and different level of severity. Autism can be high, moderate or low. Mild levels of Autism is called as Asperger’s syndrome in which the person maybe intelligent enough to handle his/her daily activities. The higher level of Autism is named as Pervasive developmental disorder whose Autism is more severe than the ones having Asperger’s syndrome. So, depending upon the severity and the patterns of behavior and the varied symptoms, each child defines Autism in his/her own way.
As their needs differ, every Autistic child has to be treated in a separate way. When you take your child to a psychologist for the Autism assessment, they spend considerable amount of time to assess the skills, behavior and symptoms of your Autistic child. With a team of psychologists, speech therapists, behavioral and occupational therapists, they come to a conclusion on what are the needs of your child and what needs to be done to meet them. It is then they prepare a program for treating your Autistic
child. The early the symptoms are recognized and the intervention is started, the better the outcome would be.
Tips for Parents
Apart from medical care and treatment, your Autistic child needs special care at home. Being a parent of an Autistic child, you are supposed to give some special attention to your kid who has really special needs. Such kids will get attached to those who tend to spend much time with them in the way they like. There are some important things that parents need to focus when you have an Autistic kid at home. Let’s throw some light on those things.
Positive Reinforcement
Just like any other kid, positive reinforcement encourages them too. Praise them by clapping and appreciate with a cookie or candy when they do something in a proper way. Specify why you are praising them and exhibit the happiness to convey that you are really impressed. Love them for who
they are and encourage their effort.
Stick to Routine
If you give them some fruit at 9am daily or if they take bath at 7am daily, let them do it by arranging what they need. Every Autistic child sticks to keep the routine and they strongly resist a change in their daily routine. You should never force them to change it as they would hate it and it could be a trigger for their behavioral changes in a violent way.
Play and Learn
Make them learn while they play. In other words, playing should be more for them than making their schedule mere educational. While they are engaged in playful activities, they tend to get closer to you. Try some home-therapy exercises with them.
Be Patient Enough
In case your child finds it hard to adopt what you are teaching him or what you are trying to make him learn, they will give up easily. When you force them to do it, they might grow aggressive because of the mental pressure they face. So, just give some time and try again later. You can never expect them to do it as immediately as they are asked to do.
Take them with you
While you go to some groceries shop nearby, or to a post office, take them along with you. Teach them with patience about the things around. Some parents feel embarrassed or uncomfortable taking them along but it is the best way to show them what the world around looks like. This helps them to in doing their chores or to run errands all by themselves.
Seek Support
Be in touch with your counselor to seek advice on the behavior of your child and how to tackle the situations with them. Know what he needs to be fed what colors evoke his emotions and what you need to take care of.
Also, take the support of your immediate family, your friends and neighbors when you are in need. Maintaining proper relations with all those around also makes your kid interested in keeping up social relationships. Grooming their social skills in this way also helps them practice their skills learned in the therapy sessions.
In case, your child needs intense therapy sessions, it is advisable to put them under the guidance of therapists for a certain period as per their suggestions. Follow the advice of your counselors. We at Wellness Hub has a team of experienced psychologists, special educators, speech and language
therapists, occupational therapists and behavioral therapists who can assess, diagnose and design a structured plan for your child according to his/her special needs. Log on to book an appointment, today.