Autistic children enjoy play and learn through play, just as typically developing children do. Through playing with others, your child can learn and practise new social skills and abilities. These skills are important for your child's overall development.
They usually prefer to play alone and have challenges working together with others. Various types of therapy are available to help kids with autism and their families to play together and build relationships.
It is common for some children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to have very limited play skills. This can mean that a child plays with only a few toys, plays in a repetitive way or doesn't play with toys the way most kids do.
Making Friends with an Autistic Kid. Daniel Share-Strom, a Children's Media graduate, has recently written a children's book that insightfully explores what friendship may look like for a child who has autism, but from the perspective of a child who does not.
Many siblings of kids on the autism spectrum say that they love their siblings, play and fight with them, as usually happens between siblings.
For some children, sensory toys such as squeeze balls and fidget toys, weighted blankets, their favorite videos, or activities can help them manage their emotions. You can set up a calming routine that the child practices on a regular basis, and make it part of their daily schedule.
Language, communication and autism
Many autistic children develop language skills at a different rate and in a different order from typically developing children. This means they might not understand what you say to them or might have difficulty following instructions.
Unfortunately, no. There's no way to grow out of autism. An autism diagnosis will last for a person's lifetime, and treatment is intended to lower the reactions and characteristics of symptoms. As a developmental disorder, autism has no known cure.
Research says that autistic children spend more time on screen than children who do not have autism. About 64.2 percent of young adults with ASD spend their free time on TV, and video games and 13.2 percent of young adults with ASD spend time on social media sites, emails, and chatting.
It's common for autistic children to show so-called restricted interest – that is, they like a particular subject so much that they focus only on it. They love to read, know more, and talk about it, becoming practically experts.
We do know that children with autism don't always naturally generalise skills. They may only follow instructions the person who normally gives them or they may only follow them in the situation where it normally occurs.
Two types of reaction are typical of autism meltdowns – an explosive reaction or a withdrawal. Explosive reactions may involve screaming, shouting, aggressive behaviour or crying. On the other hand, less explosive reactions may include refusing to communicate or interact, withdrawing themselves or shutting down.
Strategies to consider include distraction, diversion, helping the person use calming strategies such as fiddle toys or listening to music, removing any potential triggers, and staying calm yourself.
Here's the reality: every child will throw a tantrum at some point, whether they have an autism diagnosis or not. But for children with autism, tantrums can be more frequent, distressing, and difficult to quell. However, it is in no way impossible; you'll just need to be a little more patient.
Your child might not understand the consequences of their actions, which can be frustrating. However, you should refrain from any kind of physical or verbal punishment that could have a negative effect on your child. Instead, be gentle with your words and actions.
You can help autistic children cooperate by setting limits, giving effective instructions and offering choices. Changing the environment might make it easier for autistic children to cooperate. Helping autistic children with social interaction and communications can encourage cooperation.
Many autistic people feel they should be allowed to stim because stimming helps them to manage emotions and overwhelming situations. But if stimming is hurting your child or affecting their learning, social life and so on, it might be best for your child to stim less often.
But Paige Davis and colleagues have previously found that although autistic children are less inclined to create imaginary friends, when they do create them, they are similar to those of neurotypical children in terms of their social attributions (e.g. mental states, personality traits), reported function (e.g. social, ...
The main results revealed that children with autism expressed jealousy in situations similar to their typical age mates but manifested it in different behaviors. Moreover, children with autism revealed a less coherent understanding of the feeling.
For your child with autism, siblings are often extremely beneficial for developing social skills and supporting the child with ASD.