Children who are diagnosed as having Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are challenged with everyday living skills in different degrees. Some require assistance with everyday tasks such as brushing their teeth or getting dressed, whereas others can manage the majority of their days with little help. It is important to know what the child’s needs are and then make arrangements to meet their needs.
To provide the best assistance in the best way to help your child there are few things you can do:
Find out the basics about ASD. The more you are aware of ASD the more you can provide aid towards your child. This knowledge provides you with clear instructions as well as action steps. It also will give you the confidence to deal with any situation that comes up. This confidence can be a calmer force during difficult situations. A read like this can be a first step in that direction.
Know your child’s particulars. While general knowledge may assist however, your child is individual and distinct. The information you read about ASD is applicable for your kid. Make use of your understanding of your child’s needs to create the ideal environments and systems that your child will need to flourish. In-depth interaction and monitoring of your child’s behavior will provide caregivers and you the necessary information to challenge the rules as required to ensure that your child will get the help they need.
Create a safe, structured environment for your child to be free to express their thoughts. Routine is among the ways that children who suffer from ASD manage social interactions and emotional demands. Learning and establishing routines that let your child communicate freely can go a long way in enabling them to lead an easier life. Examples of these routines that you can follow include:
Keep a consistent tone in your interactions with them.
Aid them in maintaining a plan. Make sure that deviations from the plan are kept to an absolute minimal.
Promote good behavior you would like to see repeat with positive reinforcements.
Create a physical safety zone for them to play in at home. It’s a secure private place where they can relax and enjoy their toys without being disturbed and clearly marked lines (for them and the other guests living in the home) and only allowed to enter by their consent. If your child is prone to self-injury, ensure that this area is secured.
Be a reliable supporter, even during the most difficult moments. If your child throws temper tantrums or meltdowns, as well as periods of miscommunication or stims might feel like throwing your towel in the air. Don’t! They depend on you, particularly in these challenging times. You might need assistance to manage the physical and emotional stress of taking care of your child. Take the time to seek help, but don’t let it go to your child. Your commitment to them can make the world for them.
The remainder of the article will give you tips for helping your child in various areas of their lives. It starts with communication.
How can you assist your child in communicating
An autistic child may have a difficult time expressing their feelings in words. This is often the cause of a variety of intense emotions, such as anger or frustration and even anger. Irony, sarcasm, the tone of voice, and body language fail to communicate to them which can cause lots of anger.
Make use of your knowledge about your child’s talents as well as weaknesses to design the necessary support mechanisms so that they can express their thoughts and needs more effectively.
DO:
Utilize social media stories
Make sure you speak in concise, simple sentences.
Learn to help them communicate their needs in a few sentences
Help them learn to write
Train them to communicate their anger in a respectful manner.
Spend some time listening to them.
Encourage social interaction and play
Use assistive devices
DON’Ts:
Make them shout or shout them down.
The process of dealing with anxiety
Everyone is anxious, but especially in situations that are unfamiliar. This is especially true for children who suffer from ASD. Because they are unable to express their emotions, they are able to be afflicted by anxiety and other feelings intensely. This feeling could be so strong that they are prone to experiencing high levels of anxiety and stress. The first step in helping children suffering from ASD is to identify the reasons behind anxiety. (These causes are known as triggers.)
Common anxiety triggers are:
Changes in their environment e.g. changes in their surroundings, such as a changing of their home, room furniture, toys or home
Abrupt changes in routines, e.g., not returning home from school on time, because the caregiver is absent or late
Unusual environments, e.g., birthday celebrations or amusement parks
Specific fearful behaviors, e.g., fear of being left alone in bed, being in darkness, fear of certain household appliances or objects and so on.
Transition periods
The specific anxiety triggers for your child may not be listed in the list that was mentioned above. Spend time figuring out and write down the triggers that your child experiences for anxiety. After you’ve identified the triggers that could affect your child, try to find ways to assist them in handling these scenarios.
In order to help them deal with these stressful situations, you have to show them what anxiety feels like inside their body. The symptoms vary between children, and from moment to moment. It could be accompanied by sweaty palms, higher heart rate knots in the stomach, and out of control physical movements. It is possible to assist your child to recognize the signs that they are experiencing within their body.
After you’ve identified the signs practice dealing with the signs in a secure area. Learn to help them manage the signs they encounter. Let them practice handling the signs frequently until you feel confident that they are prepared to deal with all the anxiety-related triggers. Remain practicing these skills on a regular basis until you are confident that there is no need to use them.
A few ways to deal with anxiety are discussed below. Select and select what works for you. These comprise:
To count to 50
Inhaling a few deep breaths
Finding a safe and secure place to retreat
The act of reading or flipping through one of your favorite (picture) or book.
Closed eyes for a few seconds
Step-by-step photos of new or unfamiliar surroundings (e.g. the new school)
Gradually, they will be able to ease into the new routine.
The act of watching someone go through which is stressing them out
Video-sharing with them of other people and activities or even places to help them become more comfortable with those individuals who could have caused anxiety in them before.
Make use of the sensory toolbox.
Let them transform the stressful incident into a narrative
Have them play with a fidget-toy.
If necessary you’re in need of help, talk to with a psychologist to develop strategies for managing anxiety.
In the event that the suggestions above are not working and you have often anxiety-related issues that hinder the child’s daily life. In this situation you could be given medications to help reduce anxiety symptoms.
Assisting your child in managing their behavior
Autistic children often express their emotions in very intense ways, such as:
Stimulating
Meltdowns
Tantrum
Stimming refers specifically to actions that people do to themselves in order to deal with anxiety. It can be as simple as chewing on nails as well as rocking back and forward and curling your hair around your fingers, beating your fingers against the desk, repeating phrases or flapping hands, as well as changing the arrangement of toys throughout the day. The behavior of stimming can be violent or self-injurious. e.g. head hitting as well as swallowing sharp items.
Everyone is a stimming person. But, those who are autistic may not comprehend social cues that ought to alert that their stimming behavior impacts others who are around them. Stimming can be an ongoing habit that can last for hours every day.
Autistic individuals often exhibit their feelings or wishes through violent outbursts. Meltdowns are the term used to describe these outbursts. They can be a reaction to intensely resonant or touching circumstances. They are marked by a brief loss of control that can result in spontaneous physical and verbal demonstrations.
Meltdowns are an autistic individual’s way of expressing their anger and showing the depth of their feelings about the subject. They are the result of intense emotion.
Handling Stimming
Stimulating is a method of coping that may be triggered by various reasons. It may be used to attract attention, adjust to an unfamiliar setting or to cope with the stress of sensory overload, to relax or express anger. It is also important to look back at how past instances of stimming were dealt with. This can help you decide whether the stimming is an attempt to attract attention or demonstrate frustration about not communicating effectively with a different party.
It is important to note that stimming behaviors like head banging, can be a result of an illness such as seizures. If you suspect that there’s a medical reason for your stimming, please consult your physician.
If the stimming behavior is causing problems for your child, or other children at home, at school or in the play area, you might have to tackle managing the behavior. The types of issues that can be caused by stimming are the tendency to isolate, destructive tendencies, academic problems, etc.
If stimming leads to self-harm or destructive behavior, seek out a medical professional to find ways to manage the behavior. If not, you should work on managing the child’s behavior.
To be able to manage the behaviour It is essential to identify the triggers. What occurred prior to when the stimming began? If there were several episodes, what’s similar to them? What are the differences between each other?
If you think that something like loud noise can trigger the stimming pattern, attempt to stop or decrease it, and then observe how that impacts the stimming behavior in question. This can help reduce the number of triggers that could be involved.
Beware of changes to routines for everyday tasks, so that you are able to identify the triggers that cause stimming. Don’t try to penalize for the behavior. It could cause them to become depressed. Instead, address the root problem and gradually ease them off this behavior. Keep up with routines and other activities to lessen anxiety.
If you are still unable to identify the cause of a behavior you’re experiencing, talk to an autism specialist to assist in identifying the cause.
Once you’ve identified the trigger, work to reduce or eliminate the trigger. Check with your child to determine if your efforts are successful so that you know that you should keep seeking until you have found the solution that works with your child.
If you continue to shiver, attempt to control the behavior with the help of these tips.
Try to soothe the child
If you suspect that the behavior is dangerous You must take action immediately.
Utilize the information you have learned about triggers to aid your child heal
Make sure you create a safe space where the child can be encouraged to stop shivering
Encourage the child to do substitute activities which address the trigger for stimming.
Discuss your experiences with triggers with your family caregivers as well as other members of the household.
Be clear about how caregivers and family members can help
If none of these work or aren’t as effective as expected, talk to your physician.
Follow the guidelines of health professionals regarding stimming behavior.
Meltdowns
When your kid is experiencing an outburst,
Take them to a safe space as quickly as you can in the event that the meltdown is taking place in public. Make sure that you keep them out of the way so that they don’t stare at them, make comments, or make them more uncomfortable.
Ask them to calm down and whether they’re OK. Take your time to listen to their response; it could take a few minutes.
Remove and isolate any immediate triggers like bright lights, loud noises or strong odors
In the beginning your child will likely exhibit signs of anxiety, stress or agitation. If you notice these symptoms, try to redirect their attention away away from the source of anxiety to other activities like the pursuit of their own interests, playing with fiddle toys or listening to music with headphones that cancel out noise, etc.
Look for triggers to meltdowns by following the procedure outlined above to identify the triggers for stimming above. After you’ve found the signal Try to limit the impact or eliminate it as it is possible.
Eating difficulties
Children who suffer from ASD might have different challenges or food preference. For instance, they could be picky eaters, or they may want to avoid a particular food group. This could be due to sensorimotor hyper- or hyposensitivity. peculiar eating patterns that are observed by children with ASD may include:
Avoiding certain categories of food, e.g., veggies
Beware of certain food items because of concerns about texture or temperature
The elaborate rituals and steps to follow prior to eating
Eating non-edible substances like sand
As high as 70 percent of children diagnosed with autism were diagnosed with unusual eating habits. This is a high percentage the likelihood of your child exhibit an unusual eating pattern when diagnosed with ASD before. A few of these strange eating habits can be explained in light of the consequences of ASD – ineffective interactions with friends, the requirement for consistency and routine and the need for easy communication and language, a lack of sensorimotor control and digestive disorders. The foods that were found to be less likely to eat include greens, vegetables, as well as carbonated drinks. To assist them in overcoming issues with eating, it is advised that you speak with an experienced dietitian nutritionist who can make a custom-designed food program to suit your kid. This should take into consideration the child’s preferences, habits to eat, nutritional needs, and health information. Other options to consider include:
Light exercise prior to eating
Make a visual menu strategy to motivate them to take in more
Keep a positive and cheerful attitude when eating
Give your kid the exact foods as other family members.
Don’t wait around for them to be hungry.
Sleeping issues
Patients with ASD often suffer from insomnia. They might have trouble getting sleep and being asleep. These issues can come in a variety of types, such as:
Unconformities in sleeping and waking patterns
Being awake for longer than an hour in the evening
Unsingle play at night for many hours
The causes of this issue can be classified into either the nighttime or daytime routines. Other reasons include anxiety, bedwetting, illness as well as nightmares and difficulties with social interaction.
The most significant habit during the day that leads to poor sleep is a lack of physical activity. This can be addressed by encouraging your child to take part in more activities during the day such as running and jumping. Another important aspect is related to the food they eat. It is suggested to eat their meals in the morning and not too late to ensure they can sleep without feeling overly full or hungry.
Sleeping habits that will ensure your child has a consistent night’s sleeping patterns include:
Be sure that your child doesn’t have too much fun or loud noise prior to bedtime.
Establish a consistent bedtime routine
Do not let your child to drift off from their bed. This causes their brain to associate bed with sleep.
Check that the bedroom is not altered without their permission.
Make sure the temperature is just perfect for them. It may be necessary to play with your child to determine the perfect level of temperature that your kid needs.
For ongoing issues related to nighttime nightmares, bedwetting, and illnesses, please visit your GP.
In case of anxiety or social problems, your work on managing anxiety will be useful.
Maintaining a healthy lifestyle
Fitness, sleep and diet are hugely influential in the overall quality your life and your child could have in the coming years and possibly years.
Be sure that your child is eating a healthy diet and sleeps well, is active regularly and undergoes regular checkups with their doctors, dentists, GPs, opticians and other experts.
Good sleep and healthy eating have been discussed in previous sections.
Make sure your child is strong and healthy by exercising regularly. Be sure that your workouts aren’t lengthy, but rather brief and sweet, ending with a smile.
Socialising and friendships
One of the main characteristics that autism sufferers have is their inability to be emotionally or socially to other people. But, this doesn’t mean that autistic children are not able to make friends. Parents need to think about it.
DO’s
Ask for assistance from as many parents as you possibly can.
Look online for local autism support groups.
Get advice from your doctor on aiding your child to communicate and communicate.
DON’TS
Do not encourage your child to be too young too fast.
Allow your child to pick their own circle or none at all.
What can autism do to the family members and you
ASD can impose a significant and continuous, abrupt burden on a family. The effects can be devastating emotionally, physically, maritally financially, and in any other manner. Everybody is affected. Everything is affected.
DO’s:
Talk about ways to integrate the child with a disability into the family.
Plan and create time together to talk and recharge. Date evenings should be planned, not random.
Talk with the other children of families about the condition and how they might assist.
Make stronger connections between siblings
Create a structure of support for siblings of the family.
DON’T:
Take part in your blame-game. This is the time for everyone to do their own part to see that the child who has autism is taken into care
Do not live your life because you have a child who is autistic.
Tips for school
Selecting a preschool for your child
There are a variety of things to think about when looking at schools for children with autism. The quality of the instruction as well as the number of students, the size of the classes, the layout and layout of the institution, transportation and so on. The choice of what kind of school to choose
There are two types of schools your child could attend:
Mainstream school is the general school, with the possibility of having an individual with special needs
Special school is a type of school specifically designed for children with special academic needs
Mainstream school
A regular school isn’t specially designed for children who have autism. It is a school that caters to all children. Children with autism will require extra assistance outside of the classroom to be able to stay in line with their peers. Additionally, the place could be expensive because there would be no reimbursements to help with the costs of education. But, it does provide the child with a safe setting to develop with other children.
Special school
A school for children with special needs is committed to teaching children with special needs in their education. A child with autism would receive expert, individualized care here. This could lead to faster understanding and learning. It’s also crucial as the money could be used to help educate children.
The specific school selected will be determined by the needs of the child, the size of the school, the local schools available as well as financial strength.
Conclusion
Autistic children can lead happy lives if they’re well taken care of, having procedures and structures, as well as the support that is needed to function just like any other human being.