As a parent of a child on the autism spectrum, I have come to accept them as a neuro diverse population. We all are born with certain differences. Some are visible and some or not. The differences in these children are more visible because of certain mannerism and characteristics.
Though my son achieved all his milestones at the appropriate time, but some of the differences which I started noticing around 12 months were - not responding when we called his name, lack of eye contact , being spaced out, no babbling, recurring sleep issues, chronic constipation, no imitating gestures like clapping or pointing. Being a professional working with the differently abled children, I have noticed similar traits like lack of eye contact, zero sitting tolerance, some are fixated with different objects like switching on and off the light switches, fixation with cars and lining them up, hand flapping, making a repetitive sound vocally.
Some of the possible early indicators includes the following:
- Poor eye contact
- Non meaningful gestures or babbling
- Being busy in his or her own world
- Not responding to his or her name
- Lack of language or social skills
- Doesn’t seem to know how to play with toys
- Excessively lines up toys or other objects
- Attached to one particular toy or object
- Doesn’t smile
- At times seems to be hearing impaired
Treatment and management of Autism
Many parents Have this question, can Autism be cured?
ASD is not a disease to be cured, it’s a disorder and a lifelong condition. But with early intervention many of the skills can be taught.
Research shows that Early intervention programs help children in the autism spectrum to function better in their day to day life like their neurotypical peers. Children on the spectrum benefit from behavioral interventions or therapies that can help them to function independently in their daily environment. Every child with autism is unique. So, the intervention is individualized to meet specific needs of the child. These interventions address language and communication skill, social skills, daily-living skills, play and leisure skills, academic achievement, and mal-adaptive behaviors.
There are many therapies available out in the market claiming to treat autism. As a parent, I always suggest go for a therapy which is evidence based. Every child on the spectrum is unique and needs an individualized intervention. Focus on your child’s requirement and decide what therapy will suit the needs of your child. ABA therapy is one such intervention which is evidence based and helps children on the spectrum to teach new skills and works on mal-adaptive behaviors.
I would suggest every parent to read this book ‘Let Me Hear Your Voice’ (Maurice 1993) and ‘Behavioral Intervention for Young Children with Autism’ (Maurice, Green and Luce 1996).
The first step towards management of autism or treatment to autism as a parent of a child on the autism spectrum is acceptance of your child. Once you accept and understand, the child with different ability will need different approach, the road ahead becomes little easier. Create and maintain a happy and healthy environment at home. Play and engage with your child more. The more you involve your child in daily activities of your life, the better they become. The objective is to focus on conceptual skills, functional skills and social and communication skills. Children with Autism lack some of these skills to function in their environment. The Conceptual skill focuses on the all the basic concepts of living, general science, reading, writing, concept of numbers and maths, alphabets etc. It is more focused towards academic skills. The functional skills are the activities of daily living. Operating independently in the house, school or social environment like, brushing skills, bathing skills, dressing up, taking a public transport, or cycling, attending to schools, going out in the park., doing laundry and cooking skills.
Many of these skills needs to be taught to children on the spectrum. Many parents focus on teaching the ASD children only academics and neglecting the functional skills. But as a parent, I believe functional skills are more important than academics, the child needs to function independently in her or his environment. At some point of life, they might be alone and have to navigate on their own. The social skill and language and communication skills are equally important for the children to communicate to their immediate environment or world. Many of the children on the spectrum are non-verbal, it is equally important for us as a caregiver or parents to focus on their communication in order to express themselves.
If the child is non vocal, there are AAC (Augmentative and alternative communication) methods to teach language communication. Many of the mal-adaptive behaviors or inappropriate behavior develops because of lack of communication. Every behavior is a communication and if we give a medium to communicate to non-vocal child, it will make their life better.
Physical activities, sports and games are also equally important skills to be developed in children with autism spectrum. Most of the children on the spectrum are highly energetic and it is important to channelize that energy in the most appropriate manner. Cycling, swimming, football, basketball, skating are the games these children and enjoy and more productive use of their time. Music, playing instrument are also therapeutic for some children.
To conclude, as a parent, I also emphasize that parents of ASD children also need to take care of their mental and physical health too. Sometimes its mentally and physically exhausting, but do take care of self. Autism is a life long journey, and let’s make it a happy and positive one!
