At What Age Do Autistic Children Start Talking
While some parents wonder why their two-year-old child has still not started speaking, there are other parents who are still waiting for their 6-year-old child to say his first words. There is no age for learning but its normal for parents to worry about when their child will talk. Reports show that autistic children mostly start learning from the age of 6 and older.
Provide Structured Social Interactions
Children with autism appreciate structure and stability. Change can be difficult. Routines are important.
As a result, it can be easier to teach new skills and enhance social skills when working within a structure that is expected. Parents can set up small, structured social interactions to work on social skills before children need to carry these skills into a larger setting, such as a classroom.
During these structured interactions, lay out the expectations clearly up front, so everyone knows what behaviors are anticipated and expected of them. Skills can be taught ahead of time at home and then translated into small group settings with one or two peers initially.
These high levels of structure in early interactions can actually encourage an autistic child to be more flexible. They learn how to interact and evolve within the set parameters, and they feel more comfortable in their actions. This gradually allows them to be more flexible in situations with less structure.
Children With An Education Health And Care Plan
If your child has an EHC plan you still have the legal right to home educate your child. Your local authority will be responsible for maintaining and reviewing the plan for as long as it remains in force. You dont have to make the provision set out in the plan, but you do have to take account of your childs special educational needs. You must make sure that your child receives an education that is suitable to their age, ability and aptitude.
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Remember They Are Just Kids
Autistic kids may not act a lot like neurotypical children, but remember youre still talking to someone whose thoughts and attitudes are being formed in an immature brain.
With a little practice, you may find that you can talk to autistic kids just as easily as any kid. The results, for both you and the child, can be both positive in terms of their development of communication skills and enjoyable as you make an interpersonal connection.
Please Be Patient With My Child
Children on the Autism Spectrum often have a slew of sensory issues and meltdowns in common. Because no one would expect a family with autistic children to stay home all hours of the day, these meltdowns often happen in stores, at parks, and in other public places. Parents of children on the Autism Spectrum simply want others to understand that these meltdowns are not brought on by bad behavior, and to please remain patient with both the parents and the child. Rolling your eyes or mumbling snide comments are not helpful. It will not change the immediate situation and can even add further stress to both parent and child.
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Tip : Create A Personalized Autism Treatment Plan
With so many different treatments available, it can be tough to figure out which approach is right for your child. Making things more complicated, you may hear different or even conflicting recommendations from parents, teachers, and doctors.
When putting together a treatment plan for your child, keep in mind that there is no single treatment that works for everyone. Each person on the autism spectrum is unique, with different strengths and weaknesses.
Your childs treatment should be tailored according to their individual needs. You know your child best, so its up to you to make sure those needs are being met. You can do that by asking yourself the following questions:
What are my childs strengths and their weaknesses?
What behaviors are causing the most problems? What important skills is my child lacking?
How does my child learn best through seeing, listening, or doing?
What does my child enjoy and how can those activities be used in treatment and to bolster learning?
Finally, keep in mind that no matter what treatment plan is chosen, your involvement is vital to success. You can help your child get the most out of treatment by working hand-in-hand with the treatment team and following through with the therapy at home.
Set The Environment For Success
Autistic children thrive on structure and routine. They often have sensory issues, such as sensitivity to loud noises or bright lights.
Consider both these points when working with your child on social interactions. During teaching moments, keep outside distractions to a minimum. Choose times when your child is most relaxed and apt to want to work with you.
Keep room lights dimmed and minimize loud noises to promote learning. Make sure your child is not hungry or overly tired when trying to teach something new. Social communication is most effective when offered in a comfortable setting.
Focus on only teaching the specific social skill. It can be difficult for an autistic child to absorb a social lesson if they are focused on something else as well.
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How To Teach Autistic Children
This article was co-authored by Laura Marusinec, MD. Dr. Marusinec is a board certified Pediatrician at the Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin, where she is on the Clinical Practice Council. She received her M.D. from the Medical College of Wisconsin School of Medicine in 1995 and completed her residency at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Pediatrics in 1998. She is a member of the American Medical Writers Association and the Society for Pediatric Urgent Care.There are 19 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page.wikiHow marks an article as reader-approved once it receives enough positive feedback. This article received 18 testimonials and 92% of readers who voted found it helpful, earning it our reader-approved status. This article has been viewed 261,675 times.
Autism Spectrum Disorder is a complex and multi-layered neurological variation that manifests differently from person to person. This creates a challenge when determining how to teach autistic children. Although each child is an individual who responds to teaching methods differently, there are a few strategies that are generally applied to help autistic children succeed in educational goals. These strategies build on the characteristics of autism, including differences in communication, social skills, behavior, and sensory issues.
Not All Autism Is The Same And Neither Is Every Child With Autism
Its called the Autism Spectrum because autism actually covers a wide scope of complex disorders in brain development. Included are Aspergers Syndrome, classic autism and Pervasive Developmental Disorder, among others. The types of autism range in everything from communication skills, anxiety, social interaction, and repetitive behaviors, among other things. As with any kid, a child with autism should be treated as an individual with his or her own set of abilities and preferences.
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Things Parents Of Children On The Autism Spectrum Want You To Know
It is estimated that one in 68 children are now diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum disorder, and yet, this diagnosis remains as misunderstood as ever. We simply do not live in a society that is accommodating or even accepting of those who are not neurotypical. Fortunately, parents of autistic children are wonderful at communicating who their children are and why. Below are 30 things those parents of children on the Autism Spectrum want you to know.
What Are Life Skills
Life skills are sometimes referred to as independent living skills or daily living skills. Basic life skills include self-care activities, cooking, money management, shopping, room organization and transportation. These skills are learned over time, beginning at home at a very young age and developing further throughout adolescence and adulthood.
Learning a wide range of life skills that apply to many areas of life is critical. It is also important to include executive function skills or thinking skills such as organizing, planning, prioritizing and decision making related to each life skill being taught. Categories of life skills include:
- Health and safety
- Peer relationships, socialization and social communication
- Community participation and personal finance
- Transportation
- Home living skills
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Homeschooling A Child With Non Verbal Learning Disability
If your child has been diagnosed with NVLD, non-verbal, or developmentally delayed speech, you may have experienced difficulties in the school system where your student is expected to communicate with various teachers, therapists, and students daily. While students are taught alternative methods of communication, often the stimulation or environment in a school can become overwhelming for a student who is already struggling.
Online learning that provides a curriculum with pre-recorded lessons, can remove the pressure from having to communicate and also adds the factor of student-paced learning, where a student can review or move forward only when he or she is ready, rather than working within a groups schedule. When students are stressed, it can amplify already difficult activities such as communication, which can distract from the lesson at hand.
Physically Demanding Activities & Exercises For Kids With Autism
Children of any age with autism will have moments throughout the day where they just need to get their wiggles out. Being at home all day will only add to the stir-craziness, which can result in some difficult behaviors. Take a couple hours out of the day, which can be broken up into several minute intervals, to run your child through physical exercise. Heres a few in-home exercise for kids ideas:
- Army Drills: A combination of pushups, situps, jumping jacks, and running in place.
- Stair Relays: Have the child retrieve toys at one end of the stairs and then run up to place toys in a basket.
- Dance Party: Get your music list rolling and have a dance-off.
- Indoor Obstacle Courses: Using furniture, pillows, blankets, and other items you dont mind having your child climb on to create a fun obstacle course. Check This Out
- Hopscotch: Outline a hopscotch game on the carpet with tape or sidewalk chalk outside. See How
- Crawl Relay Races: Use a combination of bear crawls, crab walks, and alligator crawls.
- Pediatric Yoga: Pull up a few Youtube tutorials about yoga for kids. Heres One We Love
- Indoor Tag: Use nerf guns, bouncy balls, bean bags, or other soft tossable items to duke it out over a game of tag.
- Nature Walks and Jogs: For some quarantine orders, you can still go outside and walk around your neighborhood.
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Tip : Find Help And Support
Caring for a child with ASD can demand a lot of energy and time. There may be days when you feel overwhelmed, stressed, or discouraged. Parenting isnt ever easy, and raising a child with special needs is even more challenging. In order to be the best parent you can be, its essential that you take care of yourself.
Dont try to do everything on your own. You dont have to! There are many places that families of children with ASD can turn to for advice, a helping hand, advocacy, and support:
ADS support groups Joining an ASD support group is a great way to meet other families dealing with the same challenges you are. Parents can share information, get advice, and lean on each other for emotional support. Just being around others in the same boat and sharing their experience can go a long way toward reducing the isolation many parents feel after receiving a childs diagnosis.
Respite care Every parent needs a break now and again. And for parents coping with the added stress of ASD, this is especially true. In respite care, another caregiver takes over temporarily, giving you a break for a few hours, days, or even weeks.
Affordable Online Therapy for Help and Support
Get professional help from BetterHelps network of licensed therapists.
Our Home Is Safety Proofed
Youre probably familiar with baby proofing a house. But while most families can take down the safety gates and doorknob locks once the child ages, families with children on the Autism Spectrum often have these items and more protecting their child from their homes inherent dangers. This is because many children on the Autism Spectrum are prone to behaviors that can bring about self injury.
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How To Boost Social Skills In Autistic Children
If your child has limited social skills, it doesnt mean they are destined to live this way for the rest of their life.
Autistic children can benefit greatly from therapy, particularly applied behavior analysis therapy, which is considered the ideal treatment for autism. If a childs social skills are further limited by communication issues, such as speech issues, speech therapy may also be recommended.
Parents are key to a childs success. With conscious efforts to implement the lessons learned in therapy on a regular basis and positive reinforcement, parents can help their children better communicate with the world around them.
Oftentimes, autistic children can see substantial improvements in their social skills due to therapy and parental work at home.
Here are five ways to improve your childs social skills:
Sensory Activities For Children With Autism
Because children with autism are often hyper aware of sensory input, its helpful for educators to provide accommodations so their students can focus in class. These activities involving sensory stimulation can keep kids with autism grounded in the present and comfortable learning with the rest of their classmates.
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Teach Your Child To Read In 100 Lessons
Parents of struggling readers may find this book to be helpful. Written to help parents help children, Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Lessons walks parents through the research-based approach to get their child reading without cutting and pasting, without flashcards, and without difficult-to-decipher directions.
Teach Students About Historical Figures With Autism
Although the disorder wasnt discovered until the twentieth-century, people with autism have made important contributions to history, and its important to educate students about themnot just in April but throughout the year. Here are a few well-known figures who are diagnosed with or believed to have had autism to get you started:
- Greta Thunberg
- Emily Dickinson
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Rise To The Challenge
Positive Action recognizes the value of each and every person. We help special needs students integrate into mainstream classrooms while equipping them with the essential skills and motivation to thrive.
Positive Action can help you assess your special education students needs and plan how to meet them with Individualized Education Plans.
I am very grateful for these lessons. They fulfill a need that so many children are lacking in the educational process today. Linda Davis, 2nd Grade Teacher, Davis Elementary
If you want to see how Positive Action can increase educational success at your institution or organization contact us by phone, chat, or email or schedule a webinar with us below.
What Is Autism Spectrum Disorder
ASD is a child developmental disorder that causes significant challenges in social skills, communication, and behavior in young children and lasts into adulthood.
The learning, thinking, and problem-solving abilities of students with autism can range from gifted to severely challenged. Thus, some require more help in their daily lives while others need less.
An ASD diagnosis now includes several conditions that used to be diagnosed separately:
-
Autism
These conditions are now collectively referred to as autism spectrum disorder.
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Offer Accommodations For Students With Limited Motor Skills
Some students with autism may have more trouble with activities that require fine motor skills than others. In an article with the Indiana Resource Center for Autism, renowned scientist and advocate Dr. Temple Grandin suggests offering accommodationslike typing on a computer instead of writingto mitigate these challenges.
When it comes to specific accommodations, it may depend on the individual. Its always a good idea to reach out to a students family to determine the best resources for their child.
No I Dont Just Need To Discipline My Child More
Meltdowns are not tantrums. They are not the result of a lack of discipline on the part of the parent. Children on the Autism Spectrum have sensory issues. One child may be a sensory avoider, while another is a sensory seeker. And kids with sensory issues do not respond well to physical punishment. Spanking, time out, and yelling are not usually effective tools of discipline for a child with autism. Rather, parents of children on the Autism Spectrum rely on routine and repeated exposure to teach their autistic children rules and boundaries.
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Stick To Your Schedule But Take Frequent Breaks
Children with ASD often thrive on routine and structure. Having a daily schedule that is visually posted for your child to reference will be helpful. Keep in mind that your child will need frequent breaks to decompress, find sensory input, or simply take a break from learning. Create a safe spot filled with soothing items like books and music that your child can use just for these times. You can also use this spot as a reward or if your child is having a meltdown or struggling to transition from one task to another.
What Is Aba Therapy
In short, ABA stands for Applied Behavior Analysis.
But what exactly does that mean?
Simply put, ABA therapy is a scientific approach to understanding behavior and how it is affected by the environment. An ABA therapist will look at specific behaviors a child engages in , attempt to understand why and under what circumstances those behaviors occur, and apply ABA principles to teach more appropriate ways of doing something.
The overarching goal of ABA therapy is to increase desired behaviors while also decreasing undesirable behaviors based on a childs individual challenges. ABA therapy is used to help improve a childs social and communication skills, academic performance, gross and fine motor skills, and basic life skills so her or she can lead a functional and happy life.
What makes ABA therapy so effective is that it is tailored for each individual. While the same basic ABA principals will be used, ABA therapists will evaluate your childs skills and challenges, and will build a plan based on his or her specific goals and learning capabilities. Each goal is broken down into simple, teachable steps and positive reinforcement is used to increase positive behaviors and decrease negative ones.
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