Is your child or young person aware of their diagnosis? Have you provided an open, honest space for your child or young person to talk about their autism diagnosis?
The importance of children and young people knowing and understanding their diagnosis cannot be underestimated
Many children already have an awareness of the challenges they are experiencing in daily life. They may even have been given other labels by their peers/ adults. Often we fear the word “different” as we think it means less… Sometimes we need to examine our own thoughts around autism…..
Speaking the truth to your child about their diagnosis lets them know that they need not be ashamed of it nor keep it a secret. Letting your child know that they have autism is not a one off chat. It is an ongoing conversation that will change as your child grows and develops
How best can we support the autistic people in our lives?
Advocacy
Adjustments
Avoid ABA
Provide a robust communication system
Connection -It is important to support your child in connecting with the autistic community.
Parents also need to connect and seek information and advice from the autistic community. By connecting with autistic adults they will learn about autism from people who had autistic childhoods (lived experiences)
Some of these lived experiences include:
Way their child socialises is perfectly normal for an autistic person
Social communication differences go both ways (double empathy problem)
It is important to respect and work with a child’s communication style. For example: echolalia, scripting, using longer communication turns/ monologues, use of direct language, use of different modes of communication other than spoken word, that ability to communicate may vary from day to day/ in different situations/ with different people
Find out that strong interests bring deep joy
Repetitive movements bring peace
Stimming is not something that needs reducing or eliminating
Insistence on sameness helps them to cope in an unpredictable world
Understand that some things some people consider “no big deal” are actually a very big deal. For example:
Noises
Flickering lights
Consistency
Processing delay
Surprises
So where do we start in supporting our children and young people who are at the beginning their journey of self discovery
Neurobears is a course all about the autistic self https://www.pandasonline.org/catalog/629d766a0f9cbf4f558d121e
Standing up for myself is a book that addresses consent, personal boundaries and how to advocate for your needs
https://ausometraining.com/product/standing-up-for-myself-book/
Spectrum Gaming
What have you found helpful?
Sarah Winstanley, SaLT
Communication Lincs Ltd. ………because Speech Therapy Matters