Children with autism may find it difficult to establish and maintain social relationships. They may be unwilling to make direct eye connect, they may find it difficult to understand people or deal with conflict. Share your experiences, doubts and queries on gradually building social skills in children with autism!
Join a community to interact with like-minded parents and share your thoughts on parenting and more
Hot topics people are discussing right now ... dive in and share your thoughts!
A compilation of the most-read, liked and commented stories on parenting, learning, wellness and lifestyle
9 Mins Read • 16.5K Views
3 Mins Read • 11.6K Views
4 Mins Read • 15K Views
5 Mins Read • 9.5K Views
5 Mins Read • 65.4K Views
7 Mins Read • 7.4K Views
Comments
Team ParentCircle Dec 27, 2019
Here is an insightful article by the University of California - San Diego, about why social interaction is difficult for children with autism. Click here to read>>>> <a href="https://medicalxpress.com/news/2019-12-children-autism-social-visual-neural.html" target="_blank" style="color: #0065f6;">https://medicalxpress.com/news/2019-12-children-autism-social-visual-neural.html</a>
Click here to read>>>> https://medicalxpress.com/news/2019-12-children-autism-social-visual-neural.html
Team ParentCircle Jan 3, 2020
@Team ParentCircle
Team ParentCircle Jul 31, 2019
Team ParentCircle Jun 21, 2019
Ho wonderful it would be to help your child with autism learn about new games and toys. She will not only enjoy them but it will also improve her social interaction abilities. And, kids are kids they are always game for toys, play and some fun. Read this article to know about some special toys for your little one>>>> <a href="https://www.fatherly.com/gear/best-toys-for-children-with-autism/" target="_blank" style="color: #0065f6;">https://www.fatherly.com/gear/best-toys-for-children-with-autism/</a>
Read this article to know about some special toys for your little one>>>> https://www.fatherly.com/gear/best-toys-for-children-with-autism/
Team ParentCircle Jun 26, 2019
@Team ParentCircle
Team ParentCircle Jul 10, 2019
@Team ParentCircle
Team ParentCircle May 22, 2019
As a parent or caregiver of a child with autism you may be trying hard and wondering how to improve his/her social skills. Ever thought photography could be a great way to help your child interact better. Read this story of how a Mother Uses Photography To Help Her 4-Year-Old Son Learn Socialization And Communication. Click here to read >>>> <a href="https://www.momspresso.com/parenting/article/mother-uses-photography-to-help-her-4yearold-son-learn-socialization-and-communication" target="_blank" style="color: #0065f6;">https://www.momspresso.com/parenting/article/mother-uses-photography-to-help-her-4yearold-son-learn-socialization-and-communication</a>
Click here to read >>>> https://www.momspresso.com/parenting/article/mother-uses-photography-to-help-her-4yearold-son-learn-socialization-and-communication
Team ParentCircle May 24, 2019
@Team ParentCircle
Pallavi Chaudry Apr 9, 2019
Pallavi Chaudry Apr 10, 2019
@Pallavi Chaudry
Pallavi Chaudry Apr 10, 2019
@Pallavi Chaudry
1. Teaching stories: Use charts, pictures, or stories to depict sequence of events in common social situations such as going shopping, having a play date, or going to a restaurant. This helps teach the child what to expect in different social situations and what behaviours are expected of her.
2. Reading: Encourage your friend to read simple stories to her daughter regularly. Getting acquainted with the different characters and plot will help her understand different social situations better.
3. Modelling: This means explaining social situations to the child, as you go through the situations together. Demonstrate appropriate social behaviour (e.g., saying hi to a parent you've met at your child's school) and then explain to your child what you did (e.g., I met a parent so I said hi to her, looked at her eyes, and then smiled). It helps to explain the rationale of your actions to the child and encouraging her to ask questions.
Try these strategies to help your friend's daughter make more sense of social situations and unfamiliar people around her. As she becomes more skilled, she will have higher comfort in interacting with others in such situations. All the best!
Team ParentCircle Apr 3, 2019
Team ParentCircle Apr 8, 2019
@Team ParentCircle
Team ParentCircle Mar 22, 2019
7 Summer Activities For A Child With Autism
Team ParentCircle Mar 14, 2019
Gardening Can Help Children Suffering From Autism
Priya Sahay Feb 20, 2019
Priya Sahay Feb 22, 2019
@Priya Sahay
a) Surrounding herself with supportive and positive people who help her in seeking professional help (such as occupational therapy, special education, structured teaching etc.) for her son.
b) Cutting out or turning a deaf ear to unsolicited advice and criticism from family members or relatives. Trusting her own intuition with her son while also educating herself about autism from reliable sources, such as ParentCircle. This will help her internalise that autism is never anyone's fault.
c) Joining parent support groups for autism (both face-to-face and online) to receive emotional support and scientific knowledge.
d) Taking care of herself. Too often parents of children with autism don't prioritize self-care. Regular routine for her own sleep, exercise, and recreation is extremely important.
I hope your sister feels supported and strong enough to handle the negativity and feels empowered to take steps in the right direction!
Best wishes
Team ParentCircle Jan 29, 2019
Team ParentCircle Jan 30, 2019
@Team ParentCircle
1. He is going through a tough physical, emotional and sensorial transitioning.
The changes he is going through are very much a part of his growing up. If we can help this child through this phase, he will be able to transition from the future stage to stage much better.
Transitioning from a youngster to a young adult is very traumatic for the children with autism. Their voice breaks, sexual maturity starts taking place, emotional spikes just rock their very foundations.
Least amount of instruction is needed. Any other communication to him has to be as a suggestion and offered for choice making. Please allow time and space for him to make a choice. He may not make a choice before he is fully ready to do so. Please respect his wishes. If you hasten him to make a choice before he is ready it can result in regret and remorse within him which may cause adverse reactions such as anger, anxiety, aggression, frustration etc.
Listen, listen with your heart for his wishes. Make it easy for him to transition. He is probably terrified of these changes. Probably misses the child in him too. Allow him the space to grow up gracefully. You will rest assured have a well grounded, well rounded young man showing you a new way to live.
Trust the process, trust your child.
2. It also appears that he is no different from any other teenager going through these exact same shifts.
No teenager likes to be told what to do. So is it with your son. Due to the communication difficulties of the nature of autism it appears rather bigger than what it is.
Please talk to the grand parents about the growing up and reason it out with them. Explain that any teenager will react in exactly the same manner. It is not personal for them, he has nothing against them but only is experiencing growing up pains.
Love & light,
Nandini
Dr. Meghna Singhal Jan 17, 2019
THE FOLLOWING IS A REAL-LIFE EXPERIENCE OF HOW I USED PLAY THERAPY TO HELP A CHILD WITH AUTISM :- Mukit (name changed to protect identity) was 6 years old when I first met him; his family comprised his parents and a younger brother. Mukit had been diagnosed with autism when he was 2.5 years old. I made unstructured observations of his behaviour and play at his home and after an initial assessment of his communication and cognition, decided to initiate him on non-directive play therapy. Mukit was attending a special education class. His communication with others was mainly through gestures and physical guidance of the person to the object he wanted. He had outbursts of energy, running around clapping his hands and screaming, and had occasional tantrums. He did not play in any way with his brother or other children; his rare play with toys was always mechanical. A total of 16 sessions of play therapy were planned. The first 12 sessions were conducted weekly, with two 1-week breaks in therapy and one 3-week break, due to school holidays. Until the ninth session, Mukits play was very much the same in every session, with only small variations. He used the finger paints, play dough, and musical instruments, and ignored my presence in the play therapy room. From the ninth session onwards, Mukit still used all these activities, but he also began to engage in pretend play with some other toys. The new activities he chose to engage in also affected his social interactions with me, with a significant increase in mutual play. The building block activity, the play with the pretend food, the feeding of the dolls, and use of the toy phones were all activities that involved me as a full participant in his play. This was very different to the activities he chose during the first part of the therapy, which were all solitary play activities, and allowed no space for me to participate. During Mukits later activities involving me, he appeared to experience real pleasure; his feelings of fun were communicated by smiling and laughing. His social interactions with me became decidedly more intense; Mukit often imitated my actions; and when we played together, he initiated interactions involving me having joint attention of the toys with him. Mukits level of concentration changed during therapy; in early sessions while he was playing, Mukit often stopped to tap his ball or clap his hands for a few seconds before returning to his play activity. Towards the end of the therapy he was able to sit quietly for about 15 minutes and engage in a play activity, without engaging in any ritualistic behaviour. Towards the end of therapy Mukit had begun initiating contact and rudimentary social interactions with me. These social exchanges built up to Mukit bringing me a clean nappy to put on him. This action of Mukits surprised his mother. She was emotionally moved by Mukits interaction with me and stated that he had previously reserved this task exclusively for her to perform.
Mukit (name changed to protect identity) was 6 years old when I first met him; his family comprised his parents and a younger brother. Mukit had been diagnosed with autism when he was 2.5 years old. I made unstructured observations of his behaviour and play at his home and after an initial assessment of his communication and cognition, decided to initiate him on non-directive play therapy. Mukit was attending a special education class. His communication with others was mainly through gestures and physical guidance of the person to the object he wanted. He had outbursts of energy, running around clapping his hands and screaming, and had occasional tantrums. He did not play in any way with his brother or other children; his rare play with toys was always mechanical.
A total of 16 sessions of play therapy were planned. The first 12 sessions were conducted weekly, with two 1-week breaks in therapy and one 3-week break, due to school holidays.
Until the ninth session, Mukits play was very much the same in every session, with only small variations. He used the finger paints, play dough, and musical instruments, and ignored my presence in the play therapy room. From the ninth session onwards, Mukit still used all these activities, but he also began to engage in pretend play with some other toys. The new activities he chose to engage in also affected his social interactions with me, with a significant increase in mutual play. The building block activity, the play with the pretend food, the feeding of the dolls, and use of the toy phones were all activities that involved me as a full participant in his play. This was very different to the activities he chose during the first part of the therapy, which were all solitary play activities, and allowed no space for me to participate. During Mukits later activities involving me, he appeared to experience real pleasure; his feelings of fun were communicated by smiling and laughing. His social interactions with me became decidedly more intense; Mukit often imitated my actions; and when we played together, he initiated interactions involving me having joint attention of the toys with him. Mukits level of concentration changed during therapy; in early sessions while he was playing, Mukit often stopped to tap his ball or clap his hands for a few seconds before returning to his play activity. Towards the end of the therapy he was able to sit quietly for about 15 minutes and engage in a play activity, without engaging in any ritualistic behaviour.
Towards the end of therapy Mukit had begun initiating contact and rudimentary social interactions with me. These social exchanges built up to Mukit bringing me a clean nappy to put on him. This action of Mukits surprised his mother. She was emotionally moved by Mukits interaction with me and stated that he had previously reserved this task exclusively for her to perform.
Team ParentCircle Jan 3, 2019
Click here to read >>> https://www.parentcircle.com/article/how-to-talk-to-your-child-about-an-autistic-sibling/
Team ParentCircle Jan 3, 2019
@Team ParentCircle
Dr. Meghna Singhal Dec 17, 2018
Social disconnection is one of the most striking features of autism. Children with ASD appear unable to interpret the social world and its oft-unspoken cues. For this reason, they appear aloof and distant. It is not uncommon for children with autism to disregard the whole person, focusing only on one body part at a time. They are said to have mindblindness or the lack of ability to take another persons perspective, and respond accordingly. This makes it difficult for them to display social and emotional responsiveness. Thus, neither are they able to express their own needs clearly nor are they able to understand and interpret the needs of others.
Children with ASD display limited use and understanding of non-verbal communication, such as taking into account changes in facial expression or gesture. They have difficulty making and maintaining eye contact, one of the most essential micro skills required for social interaction. For most children, basic social skills (e.g., turn taking, initiating conversation) are acquired quickly and easily. For children with ASD, the process is much more difficult. Whereas, many children learn these basic skills simply by exposure to social situations, children with ASD often need to be taught skills explicitly.
Due to all these difficulties in social interaction, children with ASD have difficulty making and maintaining friendships or other meaningful social relationships.
Dr. Meghna Singhal Dec 27, 2018
@Dr. Meghna Singhal
Dr. Meghna Singhal Dec 31, 2018
@Dr. Meghna Singhal
Team ParentCircle Dec 6, 2018
Team ParentCircle Dec 6, 2018
@Team ParentCircle
Show all 14 comments
Edit
Comment Flag
Cancel Update