When parents first hear the word autism in relation to their child, they are often overwhelmed and scared. Many parents turn to trusted sources like Autism Speaks and the HEAL Foundation for help. Both organizations are based on autism awareness. The research and services provided help parents, families, and friends get all the information they need to truly understand autism. Many parents, doctors and teachers accept and use their advice and information.
Another view of autism promotes not only understanding autism, but accepting the diagnosis as part of the child or person with autism. Autism acceptance, also known as autism positivity, focuses on teaching that autism should not be viewed or treated as a disease. Autism is simply part of the personality of the individual.
A mother has spent hours putting together a list of tips for parents raising a child on the autism spectrum. He has spent thousands of hours learning through trial and error and offers these 11 tips to help create a healthier parent-child relationship:
1. Listen with intention. Try to understand what your child is saying. Don’t think about your answer.
2. Talk to adults living with autism.
3. Communicate with your child’s teachers and offer information that has been helpful in their parenting time. A useful resource includes The autism talk page by Bill Nasson. His compassionate tone and clear writing provide great advice, ideas, and resources for parents and caregivers.
4. Find ways to implement a reward system. Tea Token management theory It is a useful tool that can help keep both parents and children calm.
5. Look for examples of successful people with autism. This may take a bit of research, but you can find real-life people who are successfully navigating careers with varying degrees of the spectrum. Don’t forget to look for books and other resources in the library.
6. Let your child learn more about successful people like Joey Hudy, a child of Mad science dr who enjoys science experiments. Help your child understand that there are other people who are just like them.
7. Find something your child likes and use it to connect with him. Find out more about your interest and use it as a way to open up communication. check Ron suskind, who helped her son use his love for Disney to make connections with the rest of the world.
8. Don’t be afraid to test your child’s comfort level. Encourage them to try new things. Expose them to things that make them feel uncomfortable.
9. Consider allowing your child to participate in cognitive therapy. One option arises from the work of Dr. Abraham A. Low. His book titled, Mental health through training of the willteaches a system that works for many families.
10. Understand playtime. When you fully understand the complicated nature of downtime such as interaction, social expression, and other milestones, you can help your child at your own pace. Many children with autism do not learn by observing other people. When you understand all the ways children learn through play, you can help your child connect through a different channel.
11. Teach your children confidence through narrative psychology. A good read is “This is your Life and how we tell it. ” The premise of narrative psychology changes the way you look at things. For example, instead of saying, “Kids with autism don’t like gym class,” focus on the activities they do like. This can encourage your child to participate and enjoy physical activities. Fight the labels associated with autism.
“It is not the critic that counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of facts could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is really in the sand, whose face is marred by dust. , the sweat and the blood; whoever tries bravely; who errs, who falls short again and again, because there is no effort without errors and deficiencies; but who really lives to do the works; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who is spent in a worthy cause; who at best knows in the end the triumph of great achievements, and who at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring much, so that his place never will be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat. -Theodore Roosevelt (THE MAN OF THE SAND) “