The Correct Behavior that Parents of Children With Autism Should Have

Often, parents are the only ones subjected to behavior modification processes, which are provided by children, whether they have autism or not.

The children modify their parents’ behavior, and not the other way around, as is usually thought. Yes, as you read. It often happens that parents are the only ones subjected to behavior modification processes, which are provided by children, whether they have autism or not.

In this article, we explain everything about it. Keep on reading!

Autism and parents: behavior

Not everyone has the knowledge, the disposition, the time, the patience, or all the skills that are necessary for the learning process of a child with autism. And if nobody explains anything to you, nobody advises you, and no one guides you, there are many chances that you’ll be making several mistakes.

In many cases, the children have perfect control of their house. They do what they want, get away with it, and they can do things that other children are not allowed to. The main reason for this is the autism. We can’t forget that the children with autism are, above all, children; therefore, they will do the things that children usually do.

The misbehaviors of the children with autism are encouraged, or awarded, or allowed, or excused since the child has autism. The result: the child has no limits, no discipline, and learns to get what he wants, when he wants, and in an inappropriate way.

How to prevent our son from modifying our behavior?

We must be very clear about what behaviors we want to eliminate, and to what point we have encouraged them. This is something to consider: we could be the ones encouraging these behaviors, without realizing it.

• Don't give in to requests out of place.
• Don’t turn the child into the center of attention.
• Ensure that the child understands what you want him to do.
• Be tenacious and coherent. Nothing is worse than not allowing something today but accepting it tomorrow.
• Teamwork and constant communication with the therapist or school. Establish the same guidelines and limits in all contexts of the child's life.

It’s important to avoid being managed by the children, this will lead us to very complex situations. Controlling the behavior of children with ASD is not easy, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible; having professionals who support and advise us is always a great help. But don’t forget that a teacher or therapist only spends a couple hours with our child, while we parents are with them all the time; we must strive to educate and establish a good relationship with them. This will result in a good quality of life in the family.

There are many techniques to handle these situations, but we must keep in mind that each child is a world, so a little creativity and analysis will come in hand to manage their character and help them to have good behavior.

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Early ASD Diagnosis: The Faster, the Better!

Early diagnosis of ASD is essential and beneficial for children.

Identifying a child with ASD at an early age is important for good care and treatment on time. Not all children are the same or acquire the same skills at the same time. If we see anomalies in behavior, interaction with others, or how they pay attention, they could be warning signs. A delay in speech doesn’t directly mean that the child is autistic, but in combination with other characteristics may indicate that the child should be observed carefully.

In this article, we will show you some warning signs of ASD risk that children from 12 to 24 months can present. It’s important to remember that only a professional is able to correctly diagnose whether a child has ASD and that all children can present some of these characteristics.

Children from 12 to 24 months at risk of having ASD may have:

-Babbling and speaking in a strange voice.

-Holding an object for a long time.

-Constant and strange movements with hands or body.

-Little assets when participating in any activity.

Children from 12 to 24 months at risk of having ASD may NOT have:

-Good eye contact.

-Interest to relate with other children.

-Variety of facial expressions.

-Common stories and clear body language.

If the child has autism, the earlier the treatment starts, the better the results will be. If you notice any of the above signs of autism in your child or if there is something that worries you about your development, talk to your doctor.

Knowing when to worry about seeing a delay in the development of our child is fundamental.

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Can Autism be Genetically Investigated?

Scientists are looking at the genetic code to identify the patterns and causes for autism.

Almost everything that defines who we are is rooted in our genetics. If you have read stories about identical twins separated at birth, you’ll find a similar pattern in their behavior and certain life decisions. Taking out the fact that each person life's conditions are different, there’s an obvious pattern in genetics that can be traced down. Now, autism is still clouded with some uncertainty about its origins and occurrence, but can autism be genetically investigated?

Getting back to the identical twins referent, there’s a lot of information about their genes that is related to the investigation of autism. It happens that if one of them has autism, the chances of the other to having this condition as well are higher. Since genes are shared among identical twins, this evidence indicates that the roots of the spectrum have a lot to do with the genetic.

Autism is not such an uncommon disorder. According to this study, 1 out of 68 people has it. The chances of having other children with it increase to 15% and it doubles if there are two or more children. Of course, this doesn’t mean autism can't occur out of anywhere. DNA always changes over generations, which means that determined new genes or the lack of them can easily lead to an autistic newborn, even if the family didn't have autism records before.

Most of this research was done in groups of less than 100 families who have at least one autistic child, which means these results require a closer look and further investigation. But the truth is the concern shouldn’t be if autism can be studied genetically, but to find tangible solutions for autistic individuals to be successfully understood in society.

It is clear that genetics play a role in the autism puzzle, and given that information, scientists can continue to unravel the mysteries that hide behind it. As for now, the labor of helping autistic individuals to accomplish their goals remains. Autism Soccer is continuously trying to support the development of autistic children: they have the facilities ready, a staff of professionals and the good will to help. Reach for them and see it yourself!

This condition has been studied for years, but in the last decade genetics are beginning to be a crucial key to scientist.

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Reading Comprehension in Autistic Children

Autistic or not, there are certain basics about reading comprehension that children need to understand frst.

It’s widely known that autistic children can develop some skills further than other people. Their improved word recognition is one of the reasons why they can learn so quickly, but they also have problems when reading. What does it mean having an impaired reading comprehension?

When reading, your mind usually associates words with images and then turns them into a general idea of what the text or article is trying to say. When there’s an impairment in reading comprehension, you can’t turn those ideas in a context that makes sense, which leads to confusion and misinterpretations of what you’re reading. This worsens if there happens to be an unfamiliar word in the text, making it harder to translate what’s being read into a structured idea.

Another factor that complicates reading for autistic children is the language and communicational skills. It is hard for autistics to understand vocabulary they don’t use (due to their difficulties to express) in their daily routines. This difficulty directly affects in their written language decoding.

Early literacy development requires reading comprehension, and it’s a critical part of learning. As a parent or teacher, it’s necessary to instruct yourself into teaching autistic children effectively.

To help you out, we have a set of steps you can use to help autistic children improve their reading:

1.- Build background knowledge

Before getting into reading, it’s important to assist them showing them concepts and information related to what the children are about to be taught. You need to be the most explicit you can be and avoid leaving anything to the imagination.

2.- Develop mental images

Mental imaging improves the skills of autistic children. Before getting to the subject, try to preview a story using pictures as an example. Encourage their participation by asking them what they see, and if they don’t know, make a short and easy explanation of it. Keep in mind that images are highly efficient and will be determinant to develop associative skills.

3.- Create connections

As they read the contents, help them by creating a graphic organizer so they can sort out ideas and connect with the text. Guide them into making connections. For example, you can explain the meaning behind certain metaphors by putting them as an example.

You could use: “The swan is swimming under the sea,” and then create another sentence saying “I am swimming under the sea,” and create a Venn diagram, with each sentence two sentences. In the center of the two circles add “we swim in the water” and “both places are filled with water.” Guide them carefully when joining of both ideas.

4.- Promote discussions after reading

This part of the process is what children require the most to face reading and communication challenges. Engage children in discussing and ask wh- questions such as: “What do you think happened there?" or “Who was that person?” These questions will help them understand what’s the text all about. Use reciprocal questioning (allowing the children to ask) as a way to approach them. It will engage them into speaking their thoughts regarding the text.

5.- Conclusions after reading

Don’t let the discussion be the end of it. Summarize all information around the text to recall what happened and ask questions about the main idea of the story. This part encourages children to think profoundly about what they just read. It’s important you assist them as it could be hard for them.

As you can see, reading comprehension development requires a little more effort for autistic children. With these tools, there’s no doubt your kids will be able to understand and extract valuable information from texts.

Exercising the mind is mandatory for growing children, but the body also demands some care. If you’re looking for a place for them to train, Autism Soccer will undoubtedly shape them up, both physically and mentally. They are a team of professionals that will assist your children in their growth as individuals. Check their website, and you’ll see!

Before letting your children read something make sure you explained them all concepts and words you can.

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How to Become a Cyber-Parent

Checking on blogs and social media about what's common is a way to stay updated about the tendencies in young children.

In order to keep a safe control of what your children are doing, you must be vigilant and prepared. Being a parent is letting your children know that they’ll be okay and no matter what happens, you’ll be there for them. There are some things that might go out of your hands somehow, like the internet and how your children interact with it.

To be able to keep up with the way internet works, you need to stay informed of how young children use it and which networks they tend to use. Also, you must watch out for strangers on the internet that might want to take advantage of your children’s disabilities.

The point of doing this is to watch over your children and make sure they’re not accessing inappropriate websites or exposing on the internet. There’s a limit for this too, you can be logged in at all times. Talk with them before allowing the access on the internet: explain the risks of the internet, how he must stay out of risks. You’re a parent, not a security camera, and you must trust your children in this.

A parent who knows how to navigate through the internet will be able to find information to stay updated about special needs children. It’s important to investigate everything you can to be prepared for anything that might happen related to your children’s autism. It’s not necessary to be an expert in computers: with basic knowledge of how the internet runs, you have it covered.

With the internet as your tool, you have a positive tool for helping your children out when they need it. But try not to rely too much on this, as most of the information could be false and mislead you into making a mistake. Remember to look for the experts in the matter to get assistance if you feel lost. You can count on the experts of Autism Soccer, to make your children forget about the internet for a while and practice some sports. Contact them for more information.

Allow them to have their space on the internet, they're children and their identity must be developed in order to have a solid self-esteem.

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Peer Pressure: How to Teach your Children to be Themselves

Children often feel pressured by classmates or peers in general to do things they don't want to do.

Teaching children how to face the challenges in their lives is not an easy feat. In fact, one of the concerns for parents, when their kids are in school-age, is how to teach their small children to deal with the pressure that other’s can put on them to do certain things. Although it’s less than obvious, kids mostly look for ways to contact and feel a sense of belonging in their classrooms. Doing the same thing as the others can lead to friendship, but in some cases, the complying nature of children can make them prone to be victims of peer pressure.

This can happen for a variety of reasons when it comes to what we know as bad behavior: it can go from simply skipping a classroom activity, to bullying other children as a result of being pressured by others kids with the promise to be accepted in a group. As you can see, there is a wide range of situations in which a child might feel compelled to bend to the will of a group, whether by fear or simply to feel like he belongs to something. What can you do to help him avoid these situations? The reality is that you are not with your child 24/7, and there’s no realistic way of pulling him out of these situations if it's not by dropping the child out from the normal school system and homeschooling him. For some parents, this might sound like a viable, however radical way of helping your child cope with peer pressure, but there are some other ways in which you can help him stand out by himself and avoid being pressured into doing things he doesn’t want to do.

For example, the group of children that play with your child wants to do something bad, like bullying another child. What will your kid do in this situation? This is when the education you give him will kicks in. Some will jump right into the action without thinking twice about it, guided by the mentality of bending to peer pressure. However, an assertive child will recognize the mistake in the behavior, and will more likely react against it, whether by looking for ways to deter the others from doing harm, or getting an adult involved in the situation to prevent it from escalating from that.

Here are a few simple ways to avoid peer pressure that you can teach your child:

• Let him be assertive.
• Show him the importance of saying “NO”.
• Make him walk away from situations they don’t feel comfortable.
• Instill the feeling of responsibility and liability in their actions.
• Ask him to contact other adults if he sees something strange.
• Let him know that it’s ok to be selective with friendships.

Teach your child to stand out and defend himself, as this is going to help him understand the situation in other people’s shoes and he’ll be more than willing to defend and stand up against peer pressure. One way to make him connect with other children in different environments is Autism Soccer. The fact that this organization reunites children with different special needs, makes it the perfect place to share and relate with others outside of school, helping your child form a strong and assertive personality with the help of sports.

Letting children know how important it is for them to be unique and true to themselves.

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Is Your Child a Screen Addict?

Nowadays, TV and the internet are alternatives to make life easier. But, these can bring some risks along to our health and to our children's.

Screens are part of our everyday lives. It’s quite common to have one or some of those at home and also at the office; especially for people who have a direct contact with screens to do their job, like engineers, movie critics, etc. In this way, it’s not a problem, but it is when it comes to children. Nowadays, people have access to all kinds of information through cable TV, computers, and cell phone screens because of the internet, and this might turn into a big problem when it comes to kids at an early age.

It’s known that more than 60% of the population spend a good chunk of their day using screens, apart from their formal obligations, such as work or studies, which make this technological tool one the preferred choices to spend free time. You, as a parent, need to spot the signs of screen addiction before it becomes a severe problem. But how can you identify this as a problem? We’re here to help you with that!

What’s a screen addiction?

Although screen addiction is not recognized yet, it's important for you to know exactly what it is. This is defined as the unnecessary hours spent using screens, avoiding obligations that people normally have. For adults, these hours count on work time; for children, they count on the time they spend doing academic tasks. Normally, children should spend less than 2 hours a day in front of a screen. Also, it’s important to define something early on: most people think screens are just the ones from a computer or a smart device like a tablet or smartphone but TV units are in this category too, which also cause addiction.

Signs of screen addiction:

• Anxiety without screens.
• Compulsive behavior (gaming, betting, social, etc.)
• Dishonest behavior: Mostly negation of being addicted to a screen.
• Self-imposed isolation. Only interacting through screens.
• Sleeping problems, such as frequent nightmares.
• Frequent headaches and eye soreness.
• Carpal tunnel syndrome and other conditions related to overuse of computers.

Your children count on you to know better how to deal with problems that affect them. Be aware of the signs that might indicate a screen addiction on your child and be aware of the things you need to do to fight against it. One of the best alternatives is to introduce them to sports, such as the ones that Autism Soccer offers. It’s important for them to have a proper activity in order to reach their goals and avoid those screen addiction problems. Encourage them to spend time doing other enjoyable things with the help of the right people. Contact them now!

Give your children time to use technology, but also spend quality time with them.

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