How to Parent a Child with Social Emotional Learning Autism

If your child has autism and has difficulty with traditional forms of learning, their emotions or dealing with social situations, you’ve come to the right place. As listed below are helpful tips for parents of children who are on the autistic spectrum.

How to parent a child with social emotional learning autism:

Come up with a routine for your child:

Most children with autism feel more comfortable having a consistent routine to follow. So it’s a great idea to get your child used to a preplanned routine. As an example, you may want to start off with serving their meals at regular time slots and ensuring that your child has a set bed time. If your child attends therapy sessions, you may want to book the same time slot, with the same therapist each week. As individuals with autism usually cope much better with their symptoms if there are less unknown variables in their life and they know roughly what to expect when they wake up in the morning.

Ensure that your child still has fun:

Unfortunately many parents focus too much on their child’s therapy and education and forget to schedule play time for their child. Play time is a great way for your child to grow and to become more confident and also gives you an opportunity to bond with your child. It’s a great idea to schedule fun activities for your child such as regular family board game nights. Alternatively some autistic children may enjoy playing video games or shooting basketball hoops. The key is to find activities which your child genuinely loves.

Take your child with you on errands:

Although your child may not be keen on spending extended periods of time in public, it’s still well worth taking your child with you when you run everyday errands. As exposure to the world and public situations is highly beneficial for your child. As your child will get used to the sensations involved with being in public and should grow more confident with being in public.

If you want your child to be independent enough to live on their own as an adult, it’s a great idea to get your child used to the outside world by taking them to the grocery store or the post office with you. Just be sure to keep your outings relatively short. So that your child doesn’t become overwhelmed by all the stimulants which are present in public. Such as loud noises and bright lights.

Make sure that you still have alone time to recharge:

While you may worry about your child’s wellbeing when you’re away from them, it’s still important to prioritise your own health and to make sure that you still have some time alone each week to recharge your batteries. You have multiple options when it comes to care, you can pay an in home carer to come in and watch your child, you can ask for help from trusted friends or family members or you can choose to put your child into respite for a couple of days.

So if your child is on the autism spectrum, it’s well worth testing out the effectiveness of some of the wise parenting tips for parents of autistic children which have been listed above.