A parent who herself has an autistic child and works with a non-profit organization relating to autism, Joanna Jaeger Board Chairperson of Parents Helping Parents, has the following to say about autism to other parents with autistic children:
- Getting in touch with other parents of autistic children is very important. It eases the isolation, acts as a source of information, helps in the process of understanding, and provides a sounding board as well as a reality check.
- Good, structured and intensive education and intervention are necessary for autistic children to make progress. The levels of progress may differ, but family involvement is important. It is also important to tip into a child’s motivation, and to encourage learning and behavioral change.
- Programs should be initiated as early as possible for greater success and expansion of abilities and skills.
- Evidenced based practices and therapies are effective in teaching autistic children new skills.
- ABA (Association for Behavior Analysis) strategies are useful for teaching labels, and skills and compliance.
- Programs such as RDI (Relationship Development Intervention) and play based therapies are also effective in helping autistic children adjust to the regular world around them.
- Speech and language therapies are also seen to be beneficial for children with autism.
- · Dietary and other biomedical interventions can also make a positive difference.
Source: SF Gate
