Simple Life

Once you come to know that your child suffers from autism, you should start on a treatment plan. There are a number of treatments available for autism. Often people worry about using medication that might prove dangerous to the child. But this is not justified. Not all children need medication. Apart from prescription medication, there are a number of other options for treating an autistic child. While some prefer to stick to the standard treatment plan, many others opt for the alternative natural plan. Here are some different treatments for autism.

Medication

In autism, a number of different types of medications are used for treatment. These medicines cover different aspects of autism. There are some medicines that help with the anxiety that many autistic children are prone to, while some medicines help autistic children who have trouble falling asleep. For children suffering from behavioral problems, antipsychotic drugs are used. These medicines do not actually cure the autism and in addition to this certain medicines have very bad side effects. If the child is on medication, he or she needs to be monitored very closely.

Occupational Therapy

This therapy helps the Autistic child learn independence. They are taught daily skills that are needed such as taking a bath, dressing up etc. Their fine motor skills are worked on. Children are also taught how to use devices that are helpful in daily life. Safety measures are also taught whether it be safety inside or outside the home.

Physical Therapy

Physical therapy is one of the most common forms of treatment among autistic children. Children with relatively lower muscle tone gain an immense amount from this therapy. In this the basic motor skills of young children is also dealt with. This includes walking, rolling and standing. Autistic children can suffer from many other health problems. Physical therapy helps solve these problems also.

Behavioral Therapy

This therapy will help teach the autistic child different behaviors that are appropriate. Usually a form of reward system is included. Children learn how to behave in social settings. Usually this therapy is done in the setting of the child’s home only. Parents, too, need to learn how to deal with unwanted behavior from their kids. Generally, the autistic child learns that certain behavior can give him or her, a reward and so consequently the bad behavior stops.

Speech Therapy

Communication is one of the toughest problems that autistic children face. The autistic people do not understand non-verbal cues. There are a few autistic children who do not speak altogether, so they need to be taught how to communicate with other people. They need to learn about body language. Sign language or pictures are often used to help some autistic children who have speech defect. A non verbal child can be taught how to speak by a speech therapist.

These are only very few of the treatment options available to autistic children. All children do not require all the treatments. It is very important to decide on a treatment plan that works well for your child. Autistic children can thrive if they are treated properly and in time.

Parents of autistic children often struggle to get them to sleep, and therefore struggle with their own sleep as well. However, we all know the importance of ensuring children get the sleep that they need in order to get the most out of the various therapies and efforts being made to improve their symptoms. However, it can be easier said than done!

Over-sensitivity to stimuli can be a frustrating challenge for both autistic children and their parents. Over-reaction to various sounds in the child’s environment, as well as smells, lights, or any other sensations may make it difficult for a child to fall asleep or stay asleep. Many autistic children have sensory issues within their sleep environment. This can make it difficult for them to relax enough to fall asleep or to find a comfortable position in which to sleep.

In Siegal’s book The World of the Autistic Child, it was suggested that the sleep problems faced by autistic children may also be a result of the way autistic neurotransmitters in the brain function. It stated that about 56 percent of autistic children struggle with sleep-related issues that they will rarely “grow out of”.

So one of the first steps for remedying the lack of sleep is to try to identify what is causing your child to struggle to sleep. Is it anxiety, sensory issues, medical issues, attention seeking, or something in the bedroom itself?

The following tips are for parents to help their autistic children get to sleep and stay that way until morning:

- Set a bedtime and stick to it, including the routines that occur before bedtime. This allows the child to experience a degree of consistency and predictability, which is often vital to an autistic child’s proper functioning.

- Provide your autistic child with visual rules that indicate the rule for staying in one’s room or bed at night. These visual rules should be posted in various visible areas of the bedroom.

- Pair the bedtime rules and routines that you create with social stories that can help to speak to your autistic child’s sleep-related anxieties.

- Change the bedroom environment to make it more appealing to your autistic child. While some autistic children respond well to having a nightlight, others require total darkness with a black out blind over the window for blocking the exterior light as well. Many autistic children sleep better when their bed is pushed up against the wall, as they feel more secure; a corner is even better. To block out any sounds that may be distressing your child, use a white noise machine or run a fan in your child’s bedroom.

- If you usually sleep in the same bed as your autistic child and he or she is struggling to sleep alone, “replace” yourself with a sleeping bag or body pillow to mimic the pressure that would usually exist if you were lying in the bed.

- Use layers for your child’s pajamas and tuck him or her in well so that any tactile sensitivity will be minimized.

By rooting out any disturbances causing your child not to sleep and by introducing routines and an effective sleeping environment, your autistic child should be able to enjoy a great deal more sleep - as will you.

References: http://www.hsc.mb.ca/autismprogram/topic_of_the_month.htm