Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi, I am new to this forum! I have wanted and maybe needed support from people who understand being a parent of a non verbal autism. My son can be really hard to deal with in certain situations. Leaving places for example the park is really hard as he runs away, kicks and screams when I try to put him in the car. Sometimes I will avoid going out without another adult with me because he is so difficult. I am now facing half term with my 7,6 and 5 year old autistic son, pretty much alone and I feel so anxious about how I will manage!! Any advice or just people that understand?
Hello, I understand what you are going through and wish to send you a message of relief. Many parents have experiences this peak of behaviour around 5 years old which slowly gets better with age. Running, kicking and screaming are the only ways he has to communicate what he wants. Using alternative communication tools can help him express himself in a different way, it is however a slow learning process. Have you tried to use a timer for example, some kind of visual and exact measue of the time he has left to do an activity so he feels more in control? Another way is to have him think of what comes next to shift his attention to the next activity for example: we leave the park because we are going to do this other nice thing you like at home. Anyway it is a difficul phase and you need a lot of patience and faith that it will go away in time to relax and place it in context: it is only a phase.