Autism is a developmental disorder that affects a child’s language, behavior, and social skills in development. It occurs in early childhood. So when the psychologist examines your child and tells you that your child has autism, your heart may begin to pound.
As a parent, you just start thinking about your child’s future. Your all focus would be, can my autistic child become normal?
Apart from the medical care and therapies, there are many things parents can do to help children with Autism Spectrum Disorder overcome their challenges.
But it is also essential to make sure you get the helpful support you need. When looking after an autistic child, taking care of yourself is also very important for your well-being.
Help Your Autistic Child at Home
There are everyday autism strategies that make a difference, and you would help your autistic child in a better way.
Learn about Autism
The more you have awareness more you can help your child. Educate yourself about the signs and symptoms of autism in children/adults and its treatment options. Ask more questions and participate in all treatment decisions to make informed choices for your child.
Become an Expert and Prevent Your Child from Stress
Try to focus and understand what triggers your child’s challenging or disruptive behaviors or positive responses. Once you know what makes your child frightening, calming, uncomfortable, enjoyable, or stressful, then you will be better at troubleshooting problems.
Focus on the Positive and Reward Good Behavior
Children with autism spectrum disorder often respond well to positive reinforcement like rewards and praise. That means when you admire their behavior, it will make them feel good, and the chances of that desired behavior will be increased.
Praise their behavior precisely so that they know exactly what you like about their behavior. Try to catch such people doing something good. Reward them for good behavior, such as letting them play with their favorite toy.
Be Consistent and On Schedule
Make sure that they practice what they have experienced from the therapy on time. This consistent guidance and interaction will make learning new skills and behavior easier. And they will be able to apply their knowledge in different conditions.
As a parent, you must have regular meetings with their teacher and therapists to have a consistent set of techniques and interaction methods.
Consistency is the key to reinforcing the learned behavior. Children with ASD like the highly structured schedule or routine. Set up a plan for your child’s daily exercise; school, therapy, playtime, regular times for meals, and bedtime.
Fun-Filled Autism Activities
Engage your child in activities that seem pure fun. These kinds of activities may help your child open up and connect with you.
Stay Positive and Give it time
You will try many different approaches and techniques as you figure out what is best for your child. But do not get desperate if they do not respond to these techniques.
Stay positive and have patience while trying these different techniques.
Sensory Sensitivities
Many children with ASD are hypersensitive to light, sound, touch, taste, and smell, and some are under-sensitive to sensory stimuli. Figure out what sensations trigger your kid’s destructive or disruptive behaviors and what elicits a positive response.
It will help you understand what affects your child and prevent difficulties-causing situations.
Expose Them to the World Around Them
You may feel like it is not easy to take them to particular situations due to their unpredictable behavior. But it is recommended to take them on everyday errands to familiarize them with routine life.
Autism Parent Support Groups
Online or face-to-face autism parent support from other families and professionals can be a big help. In addition, it is an excellent way to get information and advice from other parents dealing with similar challenges.
Look into Reprieve Care
Suppose people around you can look after your child for a while to give you a short break. It is suitable for you to restore your own health.
Food: What to Eat and What to Avoid
Foods to Eat
Processed food has additives that are not good and may be problematic for autism. Therefore, it is best to prepare unprocessed food at home.
Broth of Bone
Bone broth is rich in amino acids and minerals that can help heal leaky gut and improve mineral deficiencies.
Poultry
Poultry like organic turkey contains tryptophan, which can change brain development, neuro-immune activity, and mitochondrial function.
Wild-Caught Fish
Wild-caught fish is rich in Omega-3s. Research has shown that supplementation of omega-3 fatty acids may improve hyperactivity, lethargy, and repetitive behavior in children with autism spectrum disorders.
Foods to Avoid
Gluten
Some children with autism and ASD have worsening symptoms after gluten consumption, indicating sensitivity. However, one of the most recent studies published in 2018 reveals gluten-free diet improved core features of autism spectrum disorder in children with autism after just three months.
Cow’s Dairy
The protein A1 casein is present in cow’s dairy, can trigger a similar reaction as gluten, and, therefore, should be avoided in a dairy-free diet.
Sugar
Avoid any forms of concentrated sugar because it can cause fluctuation in blood sugar leading to behavioral problems.
Create a Personalized Autism Treatment Plan for Your Child
Every child is unique, and their needs may vary. So many different treatments are available, but it is tough to figure out which approach is right for your child. You may hear additional recommendations for teachers, parents, and therapists, making things more complicated. And it becomes hard for you to decide what is better for your child.
Remember that every person on the autism spectrum is unique, with different strengths and weaknesses. Therefore no single treatment works for everyone. As a parent, you should know the signs of your autistic child and treat accordingly.
Plan treatment for your child according to your child’s strengths and weaknesses.
The National Institute of Mental Health has given essential characteristics of a suitable treatment plan;
- A good autism treatment plan will build on your child’s interest
- A good treatment will offer a predictable schedule for activities
- Breakdown tasks into simple steps and teaches tasks as a series of simple steps
- Choose activities for autistic children that engage your child’s attention actively.
- Reinforce desired behaviors specifically regularly
- A good autism treatment plan will involve the parents
Precautions
Every child diagnosed with ASD is unique, so treatment programs differ so significantly from person to person. Above all, the most important in diagnosing the problem is that ASD symptoms are overlapped with other disruptive behavioral disorders.
So it is very crucial to have multiple expert opinions.
Hi, my name is Eva. I am currently practicing as a clinical social worker, that being my childhood desire. As a licensed therapist holding MPhil in Clinical Psychology, I am now on biomadam to provide the natives with the best family advice! Do you have any questions? See you in the comment section.
Thank you madam for this medium. l have just watched my grandson of age 24 months with autism symptoms most especially eye to eye contact, failing to adapt to his name, fear or integration, always calm, isolating not word of infancy like ma ba pa, scattered, inability to take or hold and deafness so am really worried.