How to Help an Autistic Child?

Anxiety and curiosity is a part of growing children and their development. However, teenagers and children with extreme anxiety and repetitive behavior can be different from other people. The children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are usually more anxiously and intensely sensitive than other children. These nervous expressions may stem the requirement for a professional evaluation. However, focusing on the scenario of the anxiety is important.

Children who have Autism Spectrum Disorder may or do feel the same anxiety and same fears and worries but in a very intense manner than the other children. They might behave in an obsessive and stimming manner. Also, they resist changing anything in their routine because they are afraid of change. There is a ritualistic streak visible in their behavioral pattern. They show some of the characteristics that are also quite common with other children as well.

The Effects Of Autism Spectrum Disorder In Teenagers And Children

Autistic children feel the world to be a very confusing place to live. It is difficult for them to adjust to the constantly changing world. Since they are a little confused, they find the unfamiliar social situations very awkward and hard to understand. They are constantly thinking what the other person may think or feel about them. They are conscious of the fact that how the other person might react. The unpredictable and uncommon people or situation can turn them into being more anxious and stressed.

The most challenging thing with the younger children is that they are not even able to express their feeling to their parent’s as well. They feel scared of telling their parents that they are afraid and anxious. You being the parents, have to observe the behavioral difficulties yourself. Some of the symptoms that they might show can be these:

#1. They might have trouble in sleeping. Long and alone sleeping hours can scare them.

#2. They can insist you to have the same and common routine for them. Change scares them. Therefore, they prefer to follow a monotonous and routine life.

#3. The children with autism spectrum disorder can also avoid social gatherings and situations. You can notice that they will be afraid of school activities or family gatherings and functions.

#4. Showing unusual tantrums can a specific behavioral pattern that they can show. They have temper tantrums, and meltdown is common in them.

#5. They stim or mentally stimulate themselves by spinning flapping hands or rocking. There can be some other activities as well that might stimulate the mind of your kid. They might try all those activities.

#6. They more or less rely on rituals and obsessions. In order to do that they usually spin things around or use activities like lining up.

#7. In worse cases, the child suffering from autism spectrum disorder can also try to hurt themselves. They try to hurt themselves by banging their head around or hand biting. They often scratch their skin in order to hurt themselves.

How To Manage Anxiety In Your Autistic Child

Anxiety is as natural as anger or excitement. It is an emotion that almost everyone feels in certain stages of your life. Therefore anxiety is not something that can be cured or be removed from your child. Since a child having autism syndrome disorder experiences extreme and intense anxiety, that can be tamed and eased. There are some ways which can be immensely helpful in calming down the anxiety of your child:

#1. Find Common Triggers That Makes Them Anxious

Since the teenagers and children with autism syndrome disorder lack the capability of sharing and expressing, being parents, it is your job to know what triggers your child. Even friends or people around can also detect the triggers and help the kids accordingly. Some of the common triggers are usually the things we discussed above like change in routine or environment. Autistic children are often afraid of change. They like routine life. Change triggers them big time. 

They are also afraid of an unfamiliar environment and social gathering. You can also avoid this to calm your child down. There are some sensory sensitivities like particular noises or flavors, the voice of vacuum cleaner or balloons. Some children are also afraid of bright light or even sleeping alone or on their own bed. If your child feels any of these things make a list of things, you do that triggers them. Also let your relatives, child care workers, teachers and friends of your child about these situations to avoid them from happening around your child.

#2. Make The Children Realize Anxious Feelings

Your child might not realize what they are going through. You can let them realize these anxieties and make it more common in front of them. So that, they don’t feel uncommon or different from others. You can teach them that when their palms get sweaty or heart starts beating fast they have anxiety. Once they will realize it, they will be a little more conscious and try to control them. This will help them in future to calm themselves down in such situation when they are feeling anxious.

#3. Use Relaxation Strategies

There are various strategies which are made in order to calm down the anxiety of anyone for that matter. You can practice those strategies to help your child. Also, let everyone around your child to practice the same. The strategies include taking five to ten deep breaths, counting to 10 very slowly, running in the garden for 5 to 10 minutes, jumping 50 times on trampoline, closing the eyes for a couple of minutes or sitting in the silent and quiet part for some time. Also, reading their favorite books or even looking at their favorite collection or things can also calm your kid down. If you practice these things often, you will see the changes in their anxiety.

#4. Use Visual Aids

The autistic children are usually fast learner from audiovisual aids. You can provide them visual schedules of their change in routine. The photos of them can be used to make them understand how to react and control their anxiety in certain situations. Also, using this strategy daily and then weekly will boost the confidence of your child. Looking at the pictures will make them a little familiar with the changed routine. It will be helpful for them to initially know about the change that is about to happen in their life.

#5. Rehearse Anxiety Situations

Precautions are better than cure. Preparation for an anxiety-prone situation is the key to calming them down before the situation itself. Rehearsing and practicing the situations where your child is usually anxious can add to their mental and physical preparation. For example, if your kid is in a social gathering, take them with you to a park where he/she can themselves try and interact with other kids and try to play with them. These activities can bring a lot of change in them. Ensure that the situations are simple and short and also praise and encourage your child while practicing the situation.

#6. Take Professional Help

In the cases where your child is having a severe anxiety disorder, or you are not able to take time for them, take professional help. A psychologist can help them to get comfortable with the unfamiliar situation. Also, they can train their mental health conditions to develop confidence. The strategies like cognitive behavior therapy, interventions using exposure, relaxation training or probably social stories can help in this case. Medication and mental health occupational therapy can also reduce anxiety.

Medication should be recommended to the children for reducing anxiety symptoms. You can take whatever option that suits you the best. Let us know your thoughts about it in the comment section below.

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