More Information on Teaching Autistic Children

Sounds and visual distractions are other areas for concern when teaching the autistic child. Sounds such as school bells are fire alarms can hurt their ears and cause either a violent reaction or bad behavior. Record the sounds that the child should be used to and then let them playback the sounds at the volume of their choice. When they are comfortable with one sound, encourage them to increase the volume the volume until they can take the sound at the volume it will occur. Visual stimulation is also a problem for the autistic child. Place them at a desk with blinders and very little visual stimulation except for the task that they are doing. Even the flickering of fluorescent lighting can cause the mind and the eyes to wander from their intended task.

If you are trying to teach eye contact during conversation, physical activity or interaction is best. Swinging has been shown to increase eye contact. Only when the child wants to swing should the parent or teacher use this method. As the child is swinging talk to them. The motion that is fluid in front of them and their peripheral vision will be to much for them to concentrate on. The swinging motion will force the child to give you eye contact as you talk to them. This method takes a long time to work so the teacher or parent has to have patience and perseverance.

Don’t just rely on sound and sight to teach your autistic child. You may want to try touch, especially if the child is older and the other two senses are not helping. If you want to teach your child numbers and he or she is not getting it. Try to make or buy some plastic numbers. Give them a plastic number and let them hear the word of the number. As they feel it, some connection might be made to the word and their association of touch along with the verbal connection might be enough for them to learn the word of a number. You can come up with many kinds of manipulatives, but if one doesn’t work then change the manipulative before the child learns the wrong concept.

The articles was started with the idea that the parent had to schedule teaching time in their child’s and their schedule. It might be a good idea to hire a nanny or baby sitter particularly trained to teach a concept. It might even be for two to three hours a day. This will give you time to get your daily tasks complete and at the same time you know your child is being looked after by someone who is sensitive to their condition. A good activity that might work well for a nanny would just be playtime. She could teach concepts like taking turns, winning and losing, and following specific rules of the game. The child could have a social interaction lesson while you go to the grocery store or get your hair done.

Remember the education and the educational schedule for your child is important, but you have to have some ‘me’ time. Even if you have the patience of a god, anyone will be worn down by the constant attention to their child. If a child has speech therapy for an hour a day, schedule yourself a nap, a reading time, or just time to take a hot bath during that time. You have to break yourself away from being the constant care giver. Sure you can do it, but the stress and mental anguish you would suffer would not be a good thing for you or your child’s education. You can’t give up eighteen or more years of your life just to be a hero to your child. You know you can do it, but schedule time for yourself.