Navigating Autism Spectrum Disorder in Children: Three Important Elements
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) affects millions of children all over the globe and is considered incredibly variable and complex. It presents a wide range of challenges for children to face as they go through their most formative years across a broad spectrum of developmental facets – be they behavior, social communications, sensory processing, and many more.
Every child is unique, and every presentation of ASD is unique: understanding your child’s quirks and idiosyncrasies in the hope of best supporting them going forward can be hard, and at times, very stressful. In this article, you’ll learn about three key elements to helping a child with ASD, and how you can create the most nurturing environment possible for their long-term development.
Understanding What an ASD Diagnosis Means
ASD is less of a mental diagnosis and more of a different way of being, and thankfully, social shifts have occurred so that people are more accepting and understanding of the ways in which different people’s brains work.
Part of the key to understanding ASD is in the ‘S’ – this is a spectrum disorder, and where your child falls on that spectrum, from mild to more severe forms, can make a huge impact on how tailored their upbringing should or needs to be.
It’s also important to realize that while some children may struggle severely with speech, for example, they may excel at other skills to an extent that far exceeds what a neurotypical child is usually capable of. In other words, it’s common to see less balance in individuals with ASD.
Obtaining a formal diagnosis early is crucial for accessing the resources you’ll need going forward. As much as you have a crucial role in your child’s ongoing development, the help of therapists, psychologists, teachers, and other professionals is going to be essential moving forward.
Creating a Supportive Environment
Having a wide support network of loving family members, friends, and diligent professionals is the cornerstone of any child’s development, and it’s particularly important for those with ASD. As a parent, you’ll need to closely collaborate with each of the above to ensure your child’s needs are met at home, school, and in social environments.
Where the home is concerned, routine and structure are everything. It’s important to foster predictable patterns as this can help autistic children feel more secure in their environment. In school, care must be taken to adjust the child’s education appropriately to cater to their needs, whilst also ensuring not to instill a sense of ‘otherness’; a proper social life is just as important for children on the autistic spectrum as it is for those who are not.
That said, many children with ASD struggle in social settings, having a hard time understanding social cues. This can make traditional play dates challenging, though perseverance is key. Take care to foster your child’s interests and source like-minded friends for them to play with and encourage them to engage in after-school clubs and events.
Proven Therapies
Once someone has been diagnosed with ASD, they have it for life – but that doesn’t need to have a negative connotation, and there are therapies that can help make your child’s situation more manageable as they transition through their early years.
Many centers like Metroehs (https://www.metroehs.com/) offer a form of therapy called Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA): this sort of therapeutic intervention teaches certain helpful skills in a non-invasive way through positive reinforcement. A therapist may take something the hild struggles with, say, communication, and use wordplay to get them to request a favorite toy which they’re then rewarded with. For more severe forms of communicative problems, traditional speech therapy can be employed, whereby therapists help children to articulate words and develop key social communication strategies.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is another practice that can help. CBT is a very broad type of psychotherapy that can be applied in many different ways to suit the individual, and those with ASD can benefit through the learning of new strategies for identifying and managing emotions. CBT can be particularly helpful for those with high-functioning autism (those on the less severe end of the autism spectrum) who need help with their anxiety or difficulties in social settings.
Wrapping Up
The prospect of looking after a child with autistic spectrum disorder may be disconcerting at first, but it doesn’t have to be. These days, there are a huge range of measures that can be implemented to support them so that they can have as normal a childhood as possible. Hopefully, you now have some helpful tips to get started!
Unfortunately, when the child grows up, they are no longer given adequate support. Adults with autism need jobs and places to socialize with others like themselves. They are forgotten about when they turn eighteen.