Every year, on April 2, World Autism Awareness Day is celebrated worldwide with the aim of informing society about this type of disorder and promoting the social inclusion of people with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Next, we will talk about how to help the parents of a child with autism and how to behave with them.
What is Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)?
Autism or Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) refers to a broad set of conditions that affect neuro development and brain function that manifests itself during the first three years of life and that will last throughout the life cycle. Fundamentally, it affects the ability of a person to communicate and the interaction with others, as well as in the flexibility of the thought and the behavior of the person who suffers it. Also, it is associated with routines and repetitive behaviors.
Despite this, outside the familiar and specialized environment, there is still a lot of ignorance about what autism is and many people do not know how to differentiate a person with autism nor do they know how to deal with them. This puts families in a difficult situation, and they often feel judged or questioned by strangers in the face of certain behaviors that are interpreted as strange and that is when people look, judge and talk without knowing. This is really very difficult for families.
Should Parents Modify Their Behavior with a Child with Autism?
The behavior modification should be from the parents when we have a child with autism at home because the educational challenge is much greater and not everyone has neither the knowledge, predisposition, time, patience, or all those skills that will be necessary for the learning process of a child with autism, and if in addition, nobody explains anything to you, nobody advises you, and no one guides you, the probability of making mistakes is high.
Although the child has autism, it is not about us doing what the child wants. Obviously, the situations and techniques will vary depending on the age of the child, it will not be the same with a child of two years old that with one of eleven, here we will see generalities, but it is also that each house is different and each child too.
It is important that there is good coordination between the couple (mom and dad). There is nothing worse than Mom's standing firm when she is trying to teach the child something and Dad does the opposite. It will be necessary to be a coordinated team and do not discredit each other, much less in front of the child. Well, this applies to any child, but let's get into the more specific aspects of the child with autism:
Be immune to fatigue and mental exhaustion.
Do not give in to requests considered incorrect. You must be firm.
Do not turn the child into the permanent center of attention.
Make sure that the child is understanding what we want him to do and what we do not want him to do. For this, visual aids will be very helpful, children with autism are visual thinkers.
NEVER physically assault the child. The child is not really aware that he is doing something wrong, and if he receives a slap, in addition to assaulting him, the child will not know the reason for that blow.
Be absolutely tenacious and coherent. Nothing is worse than not allowing something today and pampering it tomorrow.
It is important to work in a team, both family and professional, and never confuse the child with contradictory positions.
Become an Expert about Autism Topic
To help your child first you need to study and be an expert in Autism Spectrum Disorders, and second, in your own child, because there is a great variability in the characteristics and difficulties that each person with these disorders has.
You must know very well the autism (or the Syndrome of Asperger), because only then you will be able to understand the behaviors of your child, the difficulties that he/she has, the different forms that he/she perceives the world, to express him/herself and to communicate and the ways in which you must adapt and you can help him/her.
If your child was diagnosed with this disorder, read about it, investigate and ask for professional help for both your child and you and your family to understand that Autism is not cured, it is treated and the professional will give you the tools and possible resources so that you help your child to be able to function as well as possible and have a full life as for example, they will help him to try to find a way to make him/her communicate with you in a better way and adapt to each other.