No parents like to see their child struggle in any condition. For parents of autistic children, this struggle often occurs in a social environment such as a classroom, playground, or social gatherings.
Parents and families at home can make a big difference by helping their autistic children learn social skills. Attending the forum meet-up for caregivers of an autistic child is another way to provide a compatible environment for your child, where he can learn from other children. Mostly the work begins with a therapy session, but it’s not the only one.
With proper understanding and practice, parents can play an essential role in raising their children.
Here are some points for parents to help their children with disabilities and teach them social skills.
Parents should start learning with their children.
• Forget social assumptions
Social behaviour happens naturally to most of us, such as greeting people when you enter a room and making eye contact when talking. For many children with autism, reminding parents that these behaviours are not automatic may be necessary.
Acknowledging and remaining patient while learning this behaviour is essential in advancing an understanding-based relationship. Please take additional steps to recognize these differences; it is beneficial to include them in your actions towards your child.
Social gatherings with close family and friends and Forum meet-ups for caregivers of autistic children will act as a helping hand to make your child learn some basic etiquette.
• Parents should be raised with their children.
This is a crucial step to helping children with disabilities and making them learn some social skills that are necessary for them. Parents should be encouraged to educate themselves about the condition of their children. In addition, many social skills courses include components for parents. The more parents know, the more they can strengthen their social skills with their children in real-time.
• The behaviour parent’s use with their autistic children is essential:
Autistic children can learn from their parents and how they behave and react in different situations. Many children with high-functioning autism only want to be right and do not accept the word calling wrong behaviour.
As a parent, you need to talk about expected and unexpected behaviour. Explain to the child that people expect attention when speaking. Suppose parents try to focus their child on one person during a conversation rather than walking around or looking elsewhere. In that case, parents should be careful to provide concrete examples of the behaviours that their children are expected to observe and practice.
• Parents can help their children practice.
Social skills are not learned alone. What happens in a therapy session is essential only if the parents are consistent after the session.
Learning social skills is a three-step observation, practice, and self-control process. Parents can be there to help their children interact with others and encourage their children when they see their own expected or unexpected behaviour.
The Bottom Line:
Parents can give their children a good starting point in their lives by helping them understand their social skills. As the child grows up, the behaviour becomes more natural as the child gets better and better with conversation skills.