Teaching a child with autism is not easy, but educating them sometimes seems like an impossible task.
But with the constancy of the parents and a coordinated work with the specialists who attend to him, very satisfactory results can be achieved so that life at home is as harmonious as possible. That’s why from this article, we want to guide you on how to educate my autistic son.
Index
- Do not demand what he is not capable of doing
- Instructions
- Rules
- Coordinated work
- Recognize what is right
Do not demand what he is not capable of doing
When educating an autistic child, it is important to know what they should learn according to their developmental age in the different areas. If the autistic child does not learn at the same rate as children his age, you should not give up. It is important to offer him different supports and resources and insist on him without overwhelming him.
We must take into account:
- visually tell you what is expected of him and what is not expected.
- The excess of verbal information can become very annoying, blocking them.
- divide the task into small steps, with their corresponding images.
- always insist with love and patience in the tasks to be carried out.
Instructions
The instructions must be given in an appropriate way, otherwise they will not understand the words that are said to them and it will seem that they do not listen to us.
First, we will start with simple instructions: stop, sit down, give me, take it, look, put it away, take it out of the drawer… The adult has to give him the instruction by looking at his face with short sentences of no more than three words(this way we make sure he gets the message). If after a few moments the child does not do what we have asked, we accompany him to do it. Once completed, it is good to congratulate him, so that he knows that this is what was expected of him and thus motivates him to repeat it on his own.
When you are able to do it alone, you can ask other family members or acquaintances to give you the same orders so that you also comply with them and do not stick only to when your father or mother asks. When you internalize the orders, you can gradually increase the words in the orders.
It’s important to have on mind:
- Not giving directions when the child is distracted.
- Do not give the order from afar or when the child is doing something else.
- Give you face-to-face instruction.
- Do not repeat the instruction. Once is enough.
- Do not leave the instruction unfulfilled.
- Avoid words or phrases that may confuse the child.
Rules
The norms of behavior are important at home, like any other child. You don’t have to excuse yourself because you have autism, and it is important to demand appropriate behavior from you.
The expected behaviors are anticipated. Illustrating in a part of the house that looks good the rules or habits that are expected of him and those that are not.
Coordinated work
In order to educate your child with autism, it is very important that both the family members and the professionals who work with the child carry out a coordinated effort to handle inappropriate behavior, favoring socialization, communication and, above all, well-being and quality of life of your son.
Recognize what is right
Like any child, when they achieve progress, he likes to be praised for the effort invested. And like everyone else, failure is hard to digest. It is very useful for children with autism to use positive phrases and gestures that indicate that they have done well and that is what we expected of them.
It is important to empower them with what they are good at, be it singing, drawing, making postcards… discover what your child does well and empower him.
This article is merely informative, we do not have the power to prescribe any medical treatment or make any type of diagnosis. We invite you to see a doctor in the case of presenting any type of condition or discomfort.
