7 Practical & Effective Parenting Tips to Help Your Autistic Kid

According to World Health Organization (WHO) 1 in every 100 children is diagnosed with High functioning autism all around the world. It is difficult for your child and for you to live with autism but who said you can’t make it easy?

Parents play a vital role in the lives of high functioning autistic children. High functioning autistic children need help but not any kind of help, they need the right kind of help from the right kind of people.

Living with autism can be challenging but with the right type of parenting, your child can not only lead his/her/their life independently but also achieve the desired goals.

Here are some effective and practical ways to raise your high functioning autistic children and parent them well. But first, let’s brush up on our knowledge about high functioning autism and autism signs.

Here you go…

What Is High Functioning Autism?

Autism also known as autism spectrum disorder is a severe condition in which the child has problematic communicating skills, disorganized and disoriented behavior. Autism becomes high functioning when your autistic children are able to perform all their basic tasks independently like getting dressed, talking to people, having basic eating skills, etc.

Autism Signs

• They do not respond to their name
• Don’t reciprocate social gestures like smiling, eye contact, etc.
• Get wildly upset on minor discomfort like food not being as per their taste or some smell, sound, etc.
• Unstoppable, repetitive movements
• Maladaptive daydreaming
• Repeating phrases

Want to know more about Autism? Here you go- Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD): Symptoms, Causes, Treatment and More

Lets now quickly look at some effective parenting tips for children with high functioning autism, shall we?

7 Parenting Tips To Help Your High Functioning Autistic Child

Effective parenting can be of great help for children who have been dealing with autism. All you need is a lot of patience, compassion and these practical and effective parenting tips…

1.Build a rapport with your high functioning autistic children

Building a rapport is not just about having friendly terms with your autistic child. It’s also about building a trustful relationship with them. Making them feel comfortable with you and having them respond to your behavior is also needed. There are two ways you can do that; 1. Active listening and 2. Engaging in child-led conversation and activities.

2.Work on increasing social awareness

In children with high functioning autism, there can be differences in the way they comprehend other’s perceptions, that’s why it’s difficult for autistic children to understand how others feel. To increase social awareness you need to talk to your child about other people’s perceptions. The more you discuss social incidents with them the better will be their social awareness.

3.Identify their communication asset

We all have different types of communication skills and so does an autistic child. All you have to do is examine their communications and identify which type is their strongest, is it pragmatic language (waiting for their turn to speak), expressive language (outgoing language, writing, speaking) or receptive language (incoming language, reading, listening)? Once you identify their communication asset you can coach them and make them even better.

Also read: Debunking Myths About Autism Spectrum Disorder

4.Teach them some calming strategies

Emotional dysregulation is a part of high functioning autism and it disturbs the limited but normal functioning of an autistic child. Firstly, Help them know that always feeling overwhelmed is not normal, secondly, introduce them to some calming activities that they can perform on their own.

When you notice that your child is beginning to have an emotional outburst, distract them and use calming techniques with them. You can say, “you look disturbed, should we do something else (their favorite activity)” or “you look upset, should we do some breathing exercises?”

5.Help them learn to become flexible and adapt well to sudden changes

Children with high functioning autism do not respond well to sudden changes. Sudden changes are actually anxiety provoking to them.

You begin with giving the 10 minute warning before making changes and gradually reduce the time. You can also try making sudden small changes to see how they react and this will also help them adapt to change.

6.Tell them about their condition to increase autism awareness

You children need to know about their condition not only to increase their awareness but also to answer a lot of questions that are stuck in their mind.

They often struggle with feeling different from others, knowing about autism will help them feel better. Make sure you don’t just focus on the negative aspect, tell them about the positive and bright side of autism so that they feel motivated.

7.Meet with other parents

Taking care of high functioning autistic children can be exhausting and overwhelming. Try to have a social network where you can meet with and talk to other parents. You can join support groups that talk about problems and solutions related to raising an autistic child. Spend time with other parents and have some self-care routine.

That’s All Folks!

That’s about it, these 7 parenting tips are practical and effective while dealing with high functioning autistic children. Even though your child can perform basic tasks there is a lot that you need to take care of and I am sure these parenting tips are sure to help your children live with high functioning autism.

Thanks for reading.

Take care and stay safe.