Ways Your Family Can Help a Loved One With Autism

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When you have a family member with autism, you'll want to do everything you can to help them. This is especially true for young children who are struggling to adapt and keep up with other kids their own age. The following tips can help you relate better to your autistic loved one, and you'll be able to help them perform better in school.

Reward Good Acts

If your child does something good or acts in a positive manner, rewarding them can encourage them to continue working at that type of behavior. This doesn't necessarily have to involve rewarding your child for doing a chore. If they succeed in school or exhibit empathy towards another child, be sure to recognize them for that behavior. In doing so, make sure your child understands what action earned them the reward. Additionally, try to avoid rewarding with sweets or junk food. In place of candy or something sugary, buy your child a small toy or take them to their favorite park. By keeping rewards healthy, you can give out more of them as your child tries to earn additional recognition.

Promote Consistency

Autistic children don't adapt well to change, which is why it's important to take a bigger interest in your child's activities outside the home. Stay in contact with teachers and therapists to learn how they are helping your child. Once you learn about their techniques, you can implement them at home to provide a more consistent experience. For example, some therapists find that there's a link between trains and autism. Autistic children find comfort in learning about trains because facts about trains never change. You can build on this correlation by giving your child a toy train that they can use for play and for learning.

Learn to Speak Their Language

One of the difficulties someone with autism faces is in communicating with others. Since they're usually not adept at verbal communication, they will find other ways to make their wishes and feelings known. They may make noises, such as grunts or moans, or they may use hand gestures. Even facial expressions can be read to help you and your other family members understand an autistic loved one. This requires learning to be more observant, which can take a great deal of practice and conscious acknowledgement. However, you and your family will eventually learn how to understand an autistic child's language.

Make Your Home a Safe Space

You should also take steps to make your home a safe space for your autistic loved one. Someone with autism is more of a visual learner than other children, so using colors will be especially helpful. For example, use red tape to mark off areas that are out of bounds to the child. By putting tape down around a stove and furnace, your child will know to stay away from that area. You can also tape pictures to items for easier identification. If you store cereal in plastic containers, tape the picture from the cereal box to the container. This will help your autistic loved one recognize the foods that are okay for them to eat. You can also buy notebooks and folders of different colors to make it easier for your child to keep track of school work.

Join a Support Group

You can find support groups that meet within your community or those that meet in an online chat forum. You should choose the option you prefer. Joining a support group for families of autistic individuals will give you a place to discuss your experiences. You'll receive the support and insights of others in the group, while giving you the opportunity to offer similar support to other group members. This is often helpful in dealing with the emotions that come with trying to raise an autistic child. You may also find out about more helpful practices that you can employ at home to help your autistic loved one.

Conclusion

You can learn more about helping a loved one with autism by doing a little more research. In addition to searching the internet, talk to your autistic child's doctor to learn about tools, technology, and new practices that can help. Taking steps now to help them develop and learn will ensure they adjust better to social situations in the future.