As a parent, you have the power to make a difference in your child’s life. An autism diagnosis might have you feeling otherwise. But take heart! There are many things you can do at home to help your child make progress and your whole family be happier together.
This article will provide you with a handy list of 8 different ways you can take control and help increase your child’s well-being, while also improving your relationship with them and creating a more harmonious household for everyone.
Many parents feel overwhelmed at the beginning of their autism journey, so we don’t want to make things worse. To make sure that doesn’t happen, we’re going to break up this article into two parts. This is Part 1, exploring the first four items on our list. Then, in Part 2, we’ll take a look at the rest.
If you’re ready to get started, you’ve got this!
4 ways parents can bring out the best in their child with autism
It’s really important to mention that our list below is in addition to and serves to complement early intervention care your child receives, like ABA therapy and other important services provided by medical experts.
You and your medical partners should always work as a team to bring about the best outcomes for your child and family. This list of parent to-dos will help you do just that.
Now on with our tips!
- Intentionally observe your child and get to know them better than anyone else.
Become an expert on what they like, what they don’t like, how they interact with their environment (people, situations, and things), what they struggle with, what comes easy, what causes them stress, and so on. You’ll naturally become an expert over time. But when you make a point to watch for these things, you can gain insights quicker and solutions can be put into place sooner that can make life better for you and them.
- Create a safe and sensory-friendly environment for your child.
Children with autism can be sensitive to bright or flashing lights, loud noises, how things feel to the touch like their clothes, how things taste, and how things smell. Their sensitivity can cause them to act out, so eliminating those things that can cause stress and discomfort is important. Start with their room and work out to other areas of your home. If your child doesn’t have a room of their own, be sure you create a calm space where they can go if they are feeling overwhelmed.
- Find alternative to communicate with your child other than talking.
Communication is often a challenge for children with autism, making it hard and frustrating for them to tell you their wants and needs using words. To help overcome any communication gap, find the ways your child communicates their feelings and provide them with strategies for being understood. For example, give them tools for talking using pictures, signs, or special speech devices. Paying attention to your child’s body language, gestures, and facial expressions are also a great way to understand what your child is trying to tell you.
- Add structure to your child’s life by creating daily routines and sticking to them.
Change can be a big deal for kids with autism. They tend to prefer routines and consistency from day to day, because they know exactly what to expect. You can help them by setting up routines around bedtime, getting up in the morning, when you have meals, and all the daily events of life. Beyond routines, you can help them maintain consistency in other areas of life, like allowing them to wear the same clothes for specific occasions or serving foods they like to eat together. They’ll have the usual!
Well, we’re going to stop there and pick this up in our next post. If you have any questions, which is natural, ask your ABA therapist or other members of your medical team for support. Lean on them. They know well what you’re going through and can help in all kinds of ways.
Our autism and ABA experts would love to help if you live close by. You can find our hives in North Texas as well as Boulder, Colorado. We’ve been helping children and their families achieve their full potential for more than 20 years. We’re here for you, too. Reach out anytime.
