I’ve been an autism parent for over 11 years now so it’s fair to say I’ve learned a few things along the way.
For instance I’ve learned that my kids need downtime each day or my life will be a whole lot harder than it needs to be. A whole lot harder.
I’ve learned that my kids never forget ANYTHING. A random promise or passing comment made two weeks, two months or even two years ago WILL come back to haunt me.
I’ve learned so many details about their respective special interests – Telstra payphones, Shopkins, escalators, Minecraft, ATMs, Five Nights of Freddys, space & the solar system and My Little Pony, for instance. Fascinating things that I never sought to know but now form part of my collective memory.
I’ve learned that I need to be very specific when it comes to making promises or I’ll find myself in a wee spot of trouble. This may have happened on more occasions than I care to remember…will I ever learn?
I’ve also learned there are so many positives that come with an autism diagnosis. Positives that have made me a better person and, I hope, a better parent for my children.
So in the interests of sharing some of my knowledge, I’ve put together 12 autism tips for everyday life. These are tips that will help in your interactions with anyone on the spectrum.
And you know what? They will also help you in your interactions with pretty much anyone – a lot of it comes down to courtesy and consideration – something we can all benefit from.
I hope these tips can help. If you do find any of these tips of value feel free to share this post or any of the tips individually. I would love for them to reach those who may need them most.
Linking up for the first time in ages with Jess for #IBOT.
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These are all very handy. My little boy is still very small, we still have a lot to learn, but we are getting there (and realising that he needs to know what is going on and what is going to happen) and this week I emailed his grandma in NSW to take photos of her house inside and out in preparation for us spending xmas there (last time he was there he was only 18 months old).
Thanks for these tips.
Great post Kirsty, I have friends with autistic children so this was very informative for me.
Thank you for posts like this! I have learnt so much from bloggers who so generously share their experiences in articles like this. I have learnt so much from you, Dani @ Sand Has No Home and Jane @ Almost Jane.
This is a great, I think we all need to be aware of these things whether our kids are autistic or not because we are more than likely going to be involved with someone who needs us to understand these things. Thanks!
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Thanks for sharing Kirsty. I’ll keep these in mind when I’m with some of the autistic kids in our world. It’s handy to learn from someone with experience.
My niece has autism so I’m going to pass this post onto my SIL. Our speech therapists also said bub may have sensory processing issues and a few of the tips you’ve mentioned are things we’ve been trying with her and they are working great. I’m going to try and use visual cues more though as I think she’d really respond to these.
A lot of these tips are definitely ones that we have realised are important from experience with our Mr 21, even though he’s not autistic or asperger’s (that we know of anyway). I guess it really is true that we are ALL on the spectrum – some of us more so than others.
I thought bringing up my boys had its difficult moments. You have my sympathy.