Having a child with autism or any other developmental disorder in the family is not easy, especially for the child above everyone else. Unfortunately, in spite of our best intentions, we often fail to provide them with the help they need because we simply don’t know how to do that. If you can relate to this, then the following tips on how to help a child with developmental disorders are meant for you.
Consistency
Consistency is something that children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) particularly benefit from when it comes to learning. Their condition makes it hard for them to use the knowledge and skills they learn at special school or therapy to some other external environment. This is why you need to be aware of the curriculum that’s in place at those places and repeat them at home to build a consistent environment for the child. You should also keep in mind that your behavior with him/her must also be regular as any significant deviation from the way you usually behave might trigger panic in him/her.
Schedules
To an autistic child, the schedule is of the utmost importance so you need to be consistent with the schedule that you have built up for him/her. Meal time, therapy time, play time, school time, bedtime and just about any other daily activity should be done in the same exact time schedule every day. Now, in the real world, that’s not always a possibility, so when there’s a chance of the established schedule being broken, prepare the child by letting him/her know about it well in advance.
Education
Completing a quality online Behavioral Analysis program will not only allow you to understand your child’s condition better, it will actually enable you to treat him/her as well. Any child with developmental disorders who at least has one parent with an online Behavioral Analysis degree will progress faster and better than others in his class. The advantage is quite obvious really; while every other special child has only school and therapy to rely on, he/she will always have someone at home who fully understands the problem and how to deal with it methodically.
Rewarding
Rewarding or what is known as positive reinforcement in technical terms is a great way to encourage learning and general positive activities in children with developmental disorders. Whenever you find something positive about their actions which you want to encourage, reward it with extra play time, favorite food or anything else that they enjoy.
Communication
Even when they are capable of speaking, autistic children will sometimes choose not to. That however, doesn’t mean they are not communicating with anyone or at least trying to. This is why it is important to understand the specific non-verbal cues which a troubled child usually exhibits in absence of verbal communication. These are not particularly hard to pick up really since they exhibit similar and repetitive behavior which you can learn to interpret with time.
Patience and knowledge are the two keys to understanding and helping your child overcome his/her developmental problems and these tips should give you an idea regarding how to go about it. However, if you take the time to get an online BA degree in Behavior Analysis, things can become a lot easier and more productive for everyone.
