Baby Steps To Teaching A Child With Autism

When my child got diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder one of the things that I worried about was if she would be able to learn and how would I be able to teach her (forgive the ignorance but at that time my daughter was not responding even to her name). I prepared myself for some extensive training that may be required for me to learn some special techniques that I could employ. When I was finally inside the loop of speech, occupational, and aquatic therapies I realized that the teaching strategies that are actually being used are not that different from teaching any other kid. 

I want to share with you some of the things that I learned on how to teach my daughter a few things, in her own pace:

• Have the right attitude. Be firm and assertive but also be mindful of your child's limitations. Children in different age levels have their own attention span and focus. Some children can listen and learn effectively within 10-15 minutes and then lose interest. 

When my daughter first started out her occupational therapy, she couldn't last for 5 minutes, the rest of the therapy session were all tears and tantrums. Now, she enjoys the whole hour of occupational therapy and sometimes, I think, she looks forward to it. We do the same thing at home. I try to reinforce the things that she was able to learn during therapy and even teach her little household chores. Like in therapies, the first times where always tear-filled scenarios but eventually, things got easier.

• Persistence is key. Be open to the fact that your kid might or might not get your instructions the first time or the second and even the third but never get tired of repeating them. In my case, repetition lead to exhaustion and frustration in those first times of teaching 'hi' and 'hello'. And don't even get me started with potty training! But trust that that bright day will come when she will finally do her first wave and say her first 'hi' and make her first pee in the potty.
• Do a little bribing. Most of the time if not all the time, my daughter works best with a little encouragement. My daughter loves to play with wooden blocks so I use that to encourage her to do what is requested of her like putting her plate on the sink after eating. When she finally does what is requested of her, I give her the reward. Pick out the toys that she likes the most or the food that she likes to eat. Eventually you won't even need to give her a reward for doing a task anymore, your kid will simply do it out of habit.
• Do not give in to manipulation. Sometimes, kids with autism can be master manipulators. Screaming, crying and other times head banging can be their way of telling you to do what they want done but don't let them get their way. If you give in, you will just reinforce the habit. In our case, the things that I did was to ignore until she calms down or make her count to ten and sit down before you give her what she wants. I make sure that she finish every task that she started like packing away her toys. Sometimes, it pains me to see her crying and revolting her heart out while packing away her toys but when she got the hang of it, crying was just a thing of the past (with packing away her things, that is. She still cries when taught new things). 
• Teach her something new when both of you are ready. I don't teach my daughter two skills at a time because I do not want her to get too overwhelmed. Once I see that she has already done that particular skill properly then I go ahead and introduce another one. More importantly, I teach her new things when I am ready. It can be emotionally and physically exhausting. I am often in an emotional roller coaster when I teach her new things and it drains me out so I make sure I fully recharge before taking on another one.

In a span of 5 months since diagnosis, she has learned a handful of things but not without struggles. I think the cycle will go on for a while until she reaches that level of maturity when we do not have to work extra hard to help her learn and I am hoping and praying for that day to come. It will, for you too! :)