Effective Support Strategies for Autism
As a parent, or someone who loves an autistic person, it is likely that you will want to support them as best as you can. However, as a neurotypical person, it can be difficult to know what to do to support someone who is struggling or who sees and interacts with the world in a different way. Then, here are some of the top support strategies that you should try to help the autistic child or adult in your life navigate the world.
· Autism Apps
Information about possible support for autistic people can be difficult to come across, and you might not even have heard about the concept of autism apps before. However, there are many apps out there that have been designed with both autistic children and adults in mind. These apps can help people combat the challenges that are unique to them, such as speech and language development or time management, and communicate their needs and emotions with others. These apps can help them feel more connected to the world and can even be used in place of or alongside therapy. However, each app provides a different service, and so you should look into all of the potential autism apps for adults before you opt for one that you believe could be the answer.
· Therapy
Although there are some positives to being autistic, there are drawbacks, too. The challenges of being autistic can lead to mental health struggles in children and adults, and many people only get diagnosed after seeking help for depression or anxiety. To prevent these mental health issues from overwhelming your loved one, you should consider seeking out therapy for them. However, when you are looking for a therapist, you should consider looking for one who specializes in autism or who has previously worked with autistic people. This is important as many standard therapy practices are not effective for autistic people and could end up causing them distress or being a waste of time or energy.
· Person-Led
Every autistic person is different and needs a different level of support. Rather than reading up about how best to support an autistic person, you should take the time to ask them how you could help them, especially when they are experiencing a shutdown or burnout. By doing this, you will not feel helpless the next time that they are upset or finding a situation hard, and you will be able to implement techniques or behavior that might be able to calm them and allow them to combat the problem that they are facing.
· Sensory Aids
A lot of autistic people benefit from using sensory aids as they might be hypersensitive to noise or other sensations. Not only this, but sensory aids could calm them down when they are stressed as they might be able to use them to stim. These sensory aids include fidget toys and noise-cancelling headphones. You might also design a comfortable and quiet space for them to go to when everything around them is too loud and busy for them to deal with and when they might need a few moments to gather their thoughts and emotions.
