What is Autism Awareness? How can the world become aware? Familiarity brings comfort. With the current rate of Autism at 1 in 59 children, more and more people are becoming familiar with someone with Autism. For the families that have a child with Autism, I would like to first start by helping them become aware of what Autism is, how to develop realistic goals, and the evidence based teaching methods proven effective to reach those goals. The first step to Autism awareness starts at home with the immediate family and extended family. We can then broaden our teaching to friends and neighbors, and then the community at large. When the parents are more aware of the communicative functions of behavior and why their child behaves the way he does, they will better be able to explain their child’s needs to the world around them. The first step to understand is learning. When we understand more about Autism, we ourselves become aware and are better able to bring Autism awareness to the world around us. Here are a few bits of knowledge to get the awareness started:
- Children with Autism demonstrate self-stimulatory “stim” behaviors to help regulate their sensory system when they are over-stimulated (very excited) or under stimulated (bored). Instead of telling a child “stop clapping,” find another appropriate replacement behavior to help him regulate himself such as holding a stress ball, playing with play-doh, swinging, carrying something slightly heavy, or some deep pressure rubs on his body.
- One of the primary deficits for children with Autism is language development. He may cry, scream, hit, or kick because he can’t tell you what he wants. Take pictures of items around the house and create a choice board for him to point to the picture of what he wants.
- Children with Autism thrive on routine, structure, and predictability. To help teach your child to maintain appropriate behavior when there are changes in the schedule, create a visual schedule of the day, or only part of the day and switch things every so often. The visual schedule and seeing that after the change he gets to go home and play with his favorite toy, will provide predictability and comfort that will increase the likelihood of appropriate behavior when the change in the schedule occurs.
Now we are a little closer to Autism awareness and can start to spread our light to the hearts and minds of the world.