Raising a child in today’s times is challenging enough. However, raising a child who is on the Autism Spectrum can be down right overwhelming, exhausting and often leaving you with a helpless feeling. The following is a list of ideas to ease the stress parents often experience when faced with raising a child with Autism. 
- Be an advocate for your child. Use your voice, speak out loud and often. After all, you are your child’s favorite cheerleader and you know their needs better than anyone. If they need something done differently in order to succeed, let it be known!
- Add structure to your routine by timing specific activities. You can make this playful by adding a fun timer and let your child be in charge of setting it when you start an activity or task. Make it even more fun and engaging for them by making the activity a race or competition.
- But also remember to be flexible when something unexpected comes up. Don’t be so rigid that your child becomes anxious. Practice deep breathing and other calming strategies to assist your child with transitions that weren’t planned.
- Try teaching them to recognize when they need a break, and let them take a break whenever needed. Teaching kids to recognize changes they feel in their body is a good way to help teach them to recognize when they are becoming anxious, overwhelmed, sad, frustrated or overly excited.
- Don’t compare your child’s abilities to others. Every child is different and has different skills, talents, and abilities. Comparing them to a neurotypical child only adds more stress to you, which in turn snowballs a situation into a full force meltdown.
- Never underestimate how much they actually understand. Empower them to solve their own problems. Remember that a diagnosis doesn’t define your child.
- Help your child learn how to apply new skills to different situations. Practice these skills playfully with your child. Allow them to self-soothe.
- Take interest in their interests. Listen to your child. Use eye contact and put down your phone or computer. Let them know you really want to hear what they have to share.
- Appreciate the way your child sees the world. Have a family art night where you all create a picture of your “world” as a family. This allows your child to expressive his ideas, thoughts and feelings about his world and the way he experiences others in his world. Ask questions and engage in conversation about the world as a family, this shows your child you are truly interested.
- Try to laugh through all the bizarre situations you end up in. Laughter is the best medicine, after all!
- Build relationships with your child’s school, and be prepared to advocate for your child’s needs. Remember #1, above, you know your child best!
- Know when you need to take a break, and have people around who can support you. Do you remember the old saying, when flying on a plane, “Put your oxygen mask on first, then put your child’s mask on?” This reinforces the importance of first take care of yourself so you are then able to care for your child.
- And finally, remember that other people’s opinions of you or your kid aren’t actually important at all. This is easier than said, but the more you can put this into practice, the happier you and your child will be.
