How To Support An Autistic Child With Day-To-Day Life?

Raising an autistic child is different and difficult. As parents, we need to be more attentive to their personal needs, understand their cues, work on their emotions along, and establish a direct communication style with fewer expectations. If you’re a parent of an autistic child, please know that you’re not alone. The symptoms of each autistic child are different, and so are their needs.

Therefore, one of the best ways to support an autistic child is never to compare and embrace the uniqueness of your child. In this blog, I have created a comprehensive guide on how to support an autistic child. So, let’s get started!

How to Fill in the Communication Gap with your Autistic Child?

Communication issues are one of the major issues experienced by parents of autistic children. Some autistic children understand simple, clear, and direct language, they will never know you’re talking to them until and unless you start mentioning names. They are not able to comprehend complex emotions or gestures, therefore, it’s important to understand the needs of your autistic child and reflect according to them.

For example, if your child is able to understand his or her name, try to mention their name so that you can improve active and direct listening skills in them. Here are some more tips to improve communication skills in your autistic child:

• Use simple, clear, and direct language to help your child understand effectively.
• Allow some extra to understand and reflect.
• Seek the help of a speech therapist for more tips and strategies.
• Understand your child’s issues and work on them slowly.
• Avoid asking a lot of questions.

How to Deal with the Anxiety of Your Autistic Child?

Anxiety is one of the major symptoms of autism. It can affect children and adults differently. It usually develops when they are not able to bring out sense, feel misunderstood, feel unaccepted, and are present in a crowded or noisy place.

Anxiety is generally triggered because of constant changes in routines, the presence of complex emotions, and others. Here’s what you can do to help your autistic child cope with anxiety:

• Try to stay consistent with routines.
• If you’re planning for a day out or shopping, start preparing them prior so that they can understand and reflect.
• Avoid showing complex emotions in front of them as such feelings may lead to anxiety in them.
• Ask CBT therapists or health providers for more tips and tricks for dealing with anxiety.
• Understand the personality of your autistic child and avoid going to places that might bring complex emotions in them.

How to Deal with Difficult Behaviors in Autistic Children?

Stimming, autism meltdowns, and difficult behaviors are part of autism. Research shows that autistic children use some behaviors to manage complex emotions. Sometimes, they can result in stimming, meltdown, being overly or under-sensitive, anxiety, aggression, self-harm, lack of senses, and more.

It’s important to know more and more about autism so that you can understand your child’s needs and can reflect on them. Here’s how you can help your autistic child deal with difficult behaviors:

• Reinforce positive behaviors in your autistic child.
• Understand the problems behind such behavior and incorporate healthy and direct communication styles.
• Take the help of visuals to make them understand.
• Set short and achievable goals to make them understand complex behaviors.

How to Fulfil Nutritional Deficiencies in Autistic Children?

Autistic children and adults are usually picky or fussy eaters, they prefer certain textures or colors, they might develop pica, or they might not eat at all or eat too much in a day. There are certain behaviors of autistic children that need to be understood well and corrected.

For example, eating too little or preferring certain textured foods might lead to nutritional deficiencies, in such cases, parents must take appropriate actions to fulfill the nutrition deficiencies. Here’s what you can do to fulfill nutritional deficiencies in autistic children:

• Maintain a food diary and mention likes and dislikes.
• Learn about alternative food options that also fulfill nutritional deficiencies.
• Add more fibrous foods to autistic children’s diets to prevent constipation.
• Take the help of a nutrition practitioner to learn more about your child’s eating patterns and customized diet plans.

How to Help Autistic Children Cope with Sleeping Difficulties?

Sleeping difficulties are mainly caused by anxiousness, negative thoughts, sensitivity, disbalanced sleep hormones, hyperactivity, the presence of a health condition, and more. Therefore, it’s important to be consistent with their routines and sleep schedules.

Apart from this, you can take the help of below-mentioned tips to support an autistic child with sleeping difficulties:

• Maintain a sleep diary and notice symptoms troubling them to understand the core issues and reflect on them accordingly.
• Be consistent with bedtime, maintain sleep hygiene, and promote good sleep habits before entering the bedroom.
• Understand their sensitivities and maintain their bedroom according to their preferences.
• Let them do whatever it takes to sleep deep, for example, if earplugs work for them, don’t deny them.
• Talk to a mental health professional to understand how to improve their sleep pattern.

How to Improve Social Connections of Autistic Children?

Autistic children are not able to express themselves socially, therefore, building and maintaining social connections is a big challenge for them. You can help them maintain social connections by teaching them the importance of social support.

Additionally, one of the best ways to help your autistic child succeed socially is to connect with other autistic children and establish a bond with their parents, this way you will be able to learn more about autistic practices and additionally, you will be able to find an autistic friend for your child.

Along with this, here’s what you can do to help your autistic child succeed socially:

• Teach them social skills, it will improve healthy growth and social development.
• Practice communication skills with autistic adults first, this way your child will be able to understand the importance of social support.
• Initially, script their conversation to help them understand how to begin and establish conversations.
• Provide more exposure to peers, this way they will understand more about their preferences and personal needs.
• Learn about your child’s uniqueness and embrace it.

How to Help Autistic Child Calm Down?

One of the best ways to help an autistic child calm down is to learn about their meltdowns, symptoms, and anxiety triggers. This way you will understand what triggers them and what helps them during those challenging times. Generally, anxiety and meltdowns are triggered when they feel overwhelmed. In such cases, autistic children need the right support to understand what to do.

Here’s what you can do to help an autistic child calm down:

• Practice breathing exercises or muscle relaxation exercises to help them feel mindful and relaxed.
• Try to leave or avoid noisy or crowded places to make them feel better.
• Take the help of sensory aids.
• Engage your children in activities such as listening to music, playing with their pets, and others.
• Try not to say or communicate much during those phases, instead be with them, take care of them, and practice calming strategies along.

Frequently Asked Questions

• What support do autistic children need?

Along with treatment and therapy, parents can try autistic therapies at home which include techniques of occupational therapy, nutritional therapy, behavioral therapy, play therapy, and others. The idea is to not limit your autistic child with one therapy mode instead applying therapy techniques in different areas to improve real-time practice.

• How to deal with a child with autism?

One of the best ways to deal with autistic children is to develop positive reinforcement techniques and establish healthy communication with them. It improves their communication style and helps them understand their personal needs and wants.

• What is the hardest part of raising a child with autism?

For parents with autistic children, communication issues are the hardest part of parenting. Parents are unable to comprehend the actual needs of children and children are unable to express their needs or desires which makes the parenting part most difficult.

• Can a child with autism improve?

Autism is an incurable neurological disorder however, with time, therapy, and the right techniques autistic children can improve their communication skills which makes it easier to adjust to this world.

• What is the recovery age for autism?

Research shows that early diagnosis and proper intervention before the age of three can help an autistic child recover within six to nine months.

• How to calm an autistic child?

One of the best ways to calm an autistic child is to provide them with space with low lighting and sounds. Let one parent speak to the child and let them calm on their own.

• What parenting style is best for autism?

Simple parenting techniques with a direct communication style and lower expectations are known to be the best parenting style for autistic children.

I hope this blog helps you with a comprehensive guide on how to support an autistic child. Comment down and share your views on the same or you can also write to us at Calm Sage.

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Thanks for reading!