When to tell I recommend sharing earlier rather than later.Sometimes the child is informed as part of the diagnostic workup. If that was not done, I would wait until you as the parent have read up on what the diagnosis means and have a good understanding yourself of the associated strengths and weaknesses. Check out [...]
In today’s post I am responding to a question from a reader about explaining high functioning autism to siblings. If you are going to talk to siblings about the diagnosis, make sure the child himself knows about the diagnosis, so that if he hears reference to it he’ll know what you are talking about! I’ll [...]
I see many ASD kids who have high anxiety about being in a room by themselves, leading to an inability to go to the bathroom or even to their own bedroom alone. This fear often leads children in this situation to insist that someone else accompany them everywhere they go. What can be done, other [...]
Aggression is the number one area of concern for the parents of the ASD children and teens I see in therapy. It really is understandable why this problem would be more common for ASD youth once you think about it. One reason is that ASD children may have difficulty with empathy and perspective taking skills. [...]
One of the diagnostic criteria for ASDs is difficulty with changes in routine. Therefore it is not surprising that if you change the driving route you take from one place to another that your ASD child may get anxious or frustrated. Routines help ASD children (and all of us, at times) feel safe and secure. [...]
Today’s post is focused on intervention strategies for children who are already toilet trained, but who continue to have accidents during the day, either wetting or soiling. Autism spectrum children are more prone to have these problems for several of reasons. One is that they are less concerned about the impact of the problem on [...]
This is designed for ASD kids who are verbal and have good understanding of language, for the approximate ages of kindergarten through 6th grade, although it could work for some children younger or older depending on their developmental level. It’s a simple intervention but effective. ASD children struggle with following instructions. Often, they just [...]
Last post I talked about helping children sleep in their own beds rather than in their parents’ beds. Today I want to talk about just trying to help the child fall asleep period, no matter where they are (although a regular spot does help!). Most of these ideas help any person fall asleep, not just [...]
Although children sleeping in bed with their parents is not unusual, it seems even more common for children on the autism spectrum. That is just based on my clinical experience though, not on any research. It often seems to be rooted in anxiety. It just gets harder at night. There are noises and shadows, worry [...]