How to Teach the Siblings of Autistic Children
Teaching siblings of autistic children is a challenging job. The siblings must understand that they play by a different set of rules than the autistic sibling. It is highly important to educate the siblings without autism about their sibling's disorder, and this education needs to be ongoing. It is also important for acknowledgment to take place that being a sibling to an autistic child has its challenges and that along with typical family emotions a lot of questioning and confusion may be present. Coping with autism is challenging for siblings, but it is a challenge that can be met, and it can be a positive experience.
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Things You'll Need
- Autism fact sheet
- Internet
- Rewards selected by child
- Behavior intervention plan created by family
Instructions
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Ways of Teaching Siblings of Autistic Children
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Siblings of autistic children should be educated early on about autism. The non-autistic child can be included in doctor visits, IEP meetings, and in meetings with other professionals. Education is often the key to non-autistic children realizing what is normal for autistic children and allows better understanding to take place. This can take place in daily life as well as in reading informative brochures and fact sheets; these can be easily obtained through Internet searches.
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Parents need to acknowledge that their non-autistic children have valid feelings and emotions in dealing with their autistic sibling. These siblings are exposed to a large amount of stress early in life, and it is important to acknowledge their feelings and the fear, embarrassment and guilt they may be experiencing. Parents often have guilt that their "typical" child is suffering with dealing with more than most children, but there are benefits to learning patience and care giving at a young age. This will surely instill great character and benefit them in the long run.
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Reward children for helping with their autistic sibling. Extra great behavior deserves extra great acknowledgment. Rewards should be based on the child's interest. Anything from having a friend over to one-on-one time will work. It is important to ask your child what rewards she finds valuable.
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Join sibling workshops. Meeting other siblings of autistic children is a great way to realize they are not alone. Children will have fun simply spending time with the other kids and do not have to view this as a support. This is an opportunity to discuss joys and concerns, and and it can be used to learn how to cope with difficult situations involving the autistic sibling. This is a good way to meet friends who can be supportive of one another as they journey through life with an autistic sibling.
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Create a safe place for the typical child for the times when the autistic child has fits or needs to be disciplined so the typical child will not feel overwhelmed. This might be going to their room or a certain space in the home where they can get a reprieve from the noise. This child also needs an explanation of what happened to better understand the occurrence. An intervention plan may be put into place so both children know what to do when a behavior issue occurs, and this can be to help teach both children how to deal with feelings and learning correct behaviors.
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Tips & Warnings
It is very important to seek ongoing advice from a doctor for children with autism. Doctors can best determine stages of development and help determine how to best work with and treat an autistic child and the family.
References
- Photo Credit sibling love image by Anne-Marie Walker from Fotolia.com
