[International Guest Post]
I live in a joint family and am taking care of an autistic girl child who is ten years old. She was two years old when her mother (my sister-in-law) took her to a pediatrician who diagnosed her as an autistic child.
An autistic child is very special and needs special care. Though they look normal, they have very unusual behavior and speech pattern. But even before the doctor could diagnose her mother felt that something was wrong with her.
She started sending her to a special school. She would just walk around in the class, wouldn’t listen when told stories and didn’t play with other children. She would repeat the same thing again and again for a long period of time and express her needs rather than her emotions. The problem started when the school was not using appropriate methods and her condition started deteriorating. It was always very stressful for my sister-in-law to look after the child. So I decided that I should also help her in taking care of the child so that she is relieved of the stress and became a caregiver for her day to day care.
She is very hyperactive and prefers to stick to the routine and dislike
changes. She also gets upset very fast for no apparent reason and always
avoids eye contact. She appears indifferent to heat, cold, pain or
danger. Initially it was very difficult for me to understand but then I
underwent an intensive training program on teaching autistic children.
Slowly she started responding to the techniques I used to teach her and she started showing remarkable improvement. I used to communicate with her through sign languages. Once she started showing improvements I decided I should open up a special school for autistic children and first counsel their parents. Now my niece goes with me to the school and the new method adopted has brought about dramatic progress within her. The methods that were adopted by me were:
-
To stick to a particular routine: From my observation, I learned that
these children are very consistent in their routine and strongly dislike
changes. So it was very important for me to stick to their demanding
behavior.
- To be reliable: The best way to understand them is to be consistent.
- Praise and reward them: When the child learns a particular technique,
praise her/him for the good work.
- The child should feel relaxed and safe. As they cannot differentiate
between hot and cold, the room temperature should be such that the child
does not get irritated easily.
- Always be available for the child. Form an autistic parents group where the child can react and sometimes have fun and enjoy. Arrange get-togethers with those families.
These children develop problems in their oral health. They are reluctant
to brush their teeth so a particular time, position and place should be
chosen for the brushing. Tooth eruption is commonly delayed because of
medication. They need special care and should be looked after well and
not exploited.
The most important thing is that parenting by itself is a tough task and bringing up an autistic child is very challenging. One has to have a lot of patience. I am very satisfied with the care given to her by both me and sister-in-law and the significant improvement that she has shown.
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