Time spent at school can help children with autism expand their knowledge base, but it also can be daunting socially when compared to the familiarity of home. Leaving home to enter school marks an important step along their educational journey though, and parents can prepare their children to make the most of the opportunity with a few simple tips and practices at home.
Setting a strong framework of at home support is essential to help children understand and integrate more fluidly within the community. Particularly in the area of socialization, students stand to benefit from setting the stage with regular practice months or years in advance. In doing so, these children gain an understanding of how to interact with teachers and peers and deal with new and potentially challenging circumstances.
Some children with autism struggle to read social cues vital to many school interactions, but with enough preparation and practice, this skill can be developed and mastered. Identifying social situations and learning the best reaction results in increased positive relationships with their peers, and builds important cognitive and language skills along the way.
When taken together, the stability and safety of home life, combined with the exploration and experience of school, can be the perfect formula to develop strong social skills. Once understood and internalized, these skills will continue to serve children well beyond their time in school, and help them navigate the world wherever they go as adults.
Set the Table for Socialization Success
For children with autism, it’s vital to create a system that is clear and easy to refer to when encountering new situations. This acts as an anchor point that provides order in the face of the unknown; a reference point that can bring about clarity and ease anxiety.
Two methods that are sure to set children up for success are roleplaying and subsequent reinforcement of positive behavior.
Roleplaying can be understood as practice rounds for children for new social situations; it provides a safe space in which they can experience a mock version of what will occur at school. Interactions like boarding a school bus can be stimulated with a car, and similarly entering and leaving a classroom orderly with their belongings can be practiced between any two rooms. With a parent or helpful neighbor, children can practice how to greet and interact with a new teacher or classmate.
By providing a controlled environment in which to practice social skills, while still letting their personality shine, some of the potential nervousness is removed as they gain a blueprint for social success.
Parents can then review the interactions afterward with their child, and discuss any questions or concerns that might arise. Once the desired behavior is both understood and exhibited in these roleplaying games, parents can then quickly reinforce them with positive feedback or rewards to ensure they become the norm.
Roleplaying and rewards are tried and true methods to build confidence and dispel worry about new social situations. After these methods are implemented, the next step is to track progress as it occurs in day-to-day life.
Track and Celebrate Progress
Tracking progress with any new behavior works wonders for motivation, as it encourages positive actions and results until the behavior becomes habit.
For children with autism, tracking progress is particularly important as it gives a sense of continuity and improvement from one day to the next. This journey is best reflected with visually stimulating reference tools, which add an extra dimension to further cement understanding. A calendar with bright colors, stickers, and other markers is ideal to maintain a child’s attention and link a child’s action with results.
Give your child some input into choosing these markers, and have them physically help construct the calendar, as this will further their sense of ownership with the project. Once completed, set a time each day after school to review the happenings of the day and fill out the calendar as needed. This also provides an easy avenue for conversations about areas of question or ongoing struggles with social interactions.
Provide Entertaining and Educational Tools
Tools are an essential part of any child’s development, and having a few handy specifically for socialization purposes can help further promote positive growth.
After a child completes a day at school, they are unlikely to be eager to dive into more purely educational activities. Parents can work around this by blending the line between education and entertainment to make it more appealing, and it’s never been more accessible than now.
Tools based on stimulating technology can be the perfect fit here, as they maintain attention while still teaching important social lessons. Video calls with friends, family or tutors are incredibly beneficial to conversational skills.
Age-appropriate online games teach children how to follow rules, take turns, and work as a team. For parents who want to limit screen time, board games are a time-honored tradition that accomplish the same goals in a more controlled environment.
Reading or listening to stories, whether alone or as a group, also has been proven to increase empathic awareness and build emotional intelligence.
Suffice it to say, there are almost endless options when it comes to tools that support a child’s socialization efforts. Finding one that fits your particular child’s needs and taste is the first step, and the next is simply steady and regular implementation.
Keep Communication Channels Open
Beneath all the tools, tables, and external things, there’s no replacement for a clear and open conversation between a parent and their child.
Socialization efforts throughout the early, formative years can be a difficult time to navigate for anyone, and what works in one family might not suit the next. Many lessons children with autism will have to discover and learn on their own accord, but parents can provide a consistent avenue for a child to express both their positive and challenging social developments. This level of trust is critical and can be just the steadying presence they need as they develop emotionally.
Social skills require years of experience to cultivate, and with the right framework at home, parents give their children a sturdy base upon which to build.
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