Autism Soccer: 3 Helpful Tips to Control Your Child’s Anxiety

You can use toys to help them soothe and to teach how to play with them by themselves to control their anxiety.

Stress and anxiety are things that affect everyone, whether it is by personal experiences or situations that are not in our hands, the truth is almost every time we are prone to feel this way. However, adults know how to react when things get dire, but kids on the other hand, are sponges. They pick up everyone’s mood and often copy other’s behaviors in certain situations, specially when it comes to the way people react to problems. Something you need to keep in mind as a parent or caretaker is that they need your help to handle the constant emotions that could be a part of their day to day experiences. In fact, it’s important for them to know you are 100% on their side and that they can rely on you when stress levels go up for any reason.

Teach them how to express proactively: Children need to be taught coping mechanisms that are positive in the long run. This means that although outburst and crying are accepted, they can not be the main response when it comes to trouble. Anxiety can be paralyzing and increase their heart rate as well as their breathing rate, which can lead to emotional asthma or hyperventilation. Teach them it is fine to express talking coherently and threading their ideas for others to understand how they feel.

Encourage relaxing activities: Children love to play and one of the things they can do to cope with stressful situations is to use this natural impulse of enjoyment to deal with emotions. Relaxing activities and sports are great ways to let them see not everything has to be awful and problematic. For example, instead of acquiring hurtful behaviors like self-harm, teach them to shake the stress away by stretching, doing yoga, playing a game or drawing how they feel.

Focus on problem solving: Avoid focusing on problems, as this can lead to a sense of helplessness. Teach them that although problems might seem to be big, overthinking can cause more stress. That’s why it's important for them to find other alternatives to solve them. Let them know you can both work together to find positive ways to resolve the problems and that focusing on that and the lessons they can learn from them are great ways of experiencing the world. It will also help them gain a sense of personal achievement.

One of the things you can do to impulse the control of anxiety and stress is to teach them how to have another point of view when it comes to expressing their anxiety. Remember you need to encourage communication and cooperation for them to have a great life. And if you want guidance with the physical exercise that can help them manage stress, look no further than Autism Soccer. They offer great alternatives for your kid to experience sports in a whole different way!