Activities for autistic teenagers and guides for parents? A parent can help their child learn across the curriculum by using their special interest. For example, a student who is interested is space could work on a project in which they learn about early scientists who developed the solar system (history), write about the importance of space exploration (English, science) and design a new space station (maths, art). Technology-aided instruction can help students on the autism spectrum learn a range of skills. It can also help them understand task requirements, communicate their concerns and complete tasks.
“All children with autism engage in sensory behaviors or stereotypy,” Leichtweisz explains. “This can look like hands flapping, focusing on parts of objects such as spinning wheels, making loud and repetitive noises, jumping up and down and many other behaviors. Having places in the room where children with autism can go to cool down when these behaviors occur can help ease both their frustration and the teacher’s a great deal. Some examples of items to have in this area include bean bags, pillows, Play-Doh, squishy balls or fidget spinners.
Music helps regulate the brain’s activity and is found to be of much help to these individuals with Autism. Thus, listening to it frequently and with the right music played, it helps increase their behavior and function. Playing it in the background while doing other chores is good, so a good wireless speaker should come in handy. Sports have proven to be effective in individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Involving in sports not only helps them cope with their general health and well-being, but it also helps them cope with sensory processing issues and eventually a change in social adaptation. Read more information on Mike Alan.
Sometimes autistic kids have a delay in verbal language. For many autistic children, anxiety is a common comorbid disorder that can lead to situational mutism. Situational autism (also known as selective mutism) is an anxiety disorder in which a person normally capable of speech cannot speak in specific situations or to specific people if triggered. No matter the cause, there are are other methods to establish a channel of communication. Just because a child is non-verbal, it does not mean that they have nothing to say. Here are just a few ways to help an non verbal autistic child communicate.
We live in a development-obsessed culture, where disabilities like autism are often represented as realizations of parents’ worst fears. This is largely because autism is treated as a medical pathology rather than as a diverse and legitimate way of being in the world. For this reason, some neurotypical parents of autistic children believe they must “fix” their child, while others try to un-learn associations with pathology to embrace autism as inherent to their child’s personhood. Wherever parents of autistic children are in the process of addressing or accepting their child’s disability, posts celebrating developmental milestones like first steps, first words, or graduations can often bring up feelings of loss over abilities or accomplishments they may never experience. For autistic children deemed “high functioning” (more on this as a problem below), the outside appearance of typical development may leave you unaware of substantial challenges around sensory sensitivities, communication difficulties, or pressures to appear “normal” in order to prevent bullying and stigmatization.
