Parenting a child with autism is one of the most difficult and confusing roles in life.

It is sometimes easy to ignore warning signs of ASD. Some parents may justify it as ‘my child is still young, so let’s just wait and see’. Even worse, some parents may already have a gut feeling that something is wrong, but social pressure makes it difficult to accept this, and hence they avoid the issue.

Since early intervention in autism is a critical part of success in autism therapy, the earlier you seek professional diagnosis and advise, the earlier you can start

Below are some advises on how you as a parent of an autistic child can help your child.

1. Be your child’s advocate: speak up for them always, ask questions on their behalf
2. Educate yourself on Autism, therapies, the latest trends in special education. You need to be able to discuss issues from a point of knowledge
3. Repetition helps: Continue practising skills learnt at therapy while at home. Make sure homework is done.
4. Take your child out to social events if possible: social skills need to be practised often.
5. Encourage exercise, healthy eating habits and maintain good hydration
6. Report any changes at home to your therapist: in Behavior, environment, sleeping, eating. They all impact your child’s progress and ability to learn
7. Attend all meetings, training and follow up appointments with your therapist: you need to know what is going well and where improvements are needed
8. Plan your vacations around your child’s schedule: minimize interruptions. Remember the more aggressive and consistent the therapy and Instruction is the better the outcome.
9. Be patient: it’s a marathon, not a sprint. It’s all about practice and more practice.
10. Celebrate your child’s success no matter how small, it is important to look back at where you have come from.