Autism in the Family

This is how my son feels in school when he is rewarded for things that don't make sense to him.  Know wonder so many of our children develop low self-esteem and eventually become suicidal as one mother put it on one of my email lists "when do our children try to stop killing themselves."

School Activities -- I feel that during school social or life skill activities should be kept to a minimum because they interfere with the child's concentration as far as the learning process is concerned. 

-- This is a high sensory filled environment and first thing you have to do is figure out what is bothering your child so that they can learn and the supports they are entitled to in your area.

-- No matter how low an I.Q. a child is tested at they can still retain some knowledge and this should be the main focus.  I.Q. tests were developed for the N.T. population and have little bearing on the way autistics think.

-- Once you figure out what the child's best subject is then you should pursue that area.  Most of the time if they are doing poorly they are bored and understimulated it is not because they don't understand.

After School Activity -- The best way to do this is to find a place where your child is accept for who they are.  This can be a Mom and Tots organization when they are very young.  Or a Scouting organization when they are a little older. You have to remember that autistics will naturally be very good with people who are not in their peer group so although it is good to have them go out with aides to teach them the basics they are just learning how to interact with adults.  The problem is they find their peers boring, or insulting, or they have some kind or revenge thing going in their mind. 

If you enroll them in groups with other autistics you just have people with bad social skills trying to learn from each other.  Just because we are autistics doesn't mean we are going to get along with each other.  If we have a common interest we will.  Try to find a group where your child has an interest, we all have an obession.