What should parents do when they know their child has autism?

Posted by Psychologist Nguyen Thi Thu - Unit of Regenerative Medicine Clinic and Educational Psychology - Center of Regenerative Medicine and Cell Therapy at Vinmec Times City International General Hospital.

When receiving the results of the diagnosis of their child with autistic child syndrome, surely parents and everyone around will be extremely sad, worried, confused about how their child will turn out and we should start. How to help your child. Here are some suggestions for parents to do after learning their child has autism.

Intervention programs for children with autism should begin as soon as possible. Currently, there are many intervention methods for children with autism and can be divided into groups:
Behavioral intervention therapy: Including applied behavior analysis (ABA), ESDM, Floortime, Teach.... Speech therapy: Speech therapy, PECS Functional and operational therapy: yes OT method, sensory conditioning... Social therapy: interventional approach in developing relationships RDI, interactive games, social skills... There is no one method that works for all children and solves all of a child's problems. Each method tends to focus on one or areas of a child's weakness, so each method has strengths and weaknesses. So. The choice of how to overcome a child with autism needs to be consulted by well-trained professionals. In addition to choosing an intervention model and method, parents need to try to give their children continuous and regular intervention to achieve the best effect. According to a study by the US National Research Council, children should be actively involved in intervention activities 25 hours per week.

When learning that a child has autism, perhaps everyone in the family will experience negative emotions, depression. Facing that truth can be difficult, but more than ever we understand that your child needs more attention than ever. Even many families have a parent who quits their job to seek treatment for their child with autism and spends most of their time with their child. That's good and your child is lucky because of your parents' efforts. However, we should also not forget about ourselves and our family members.
Therefore, parents need to know how to arrange reasonable care time for other family members, especially the wife (or husband) and the remaining children. Because everyone wants to receive your attention and care. The words of encouragement, sharing together and the support of people around are the motivation for us to keep trying and relieve our worries and fatigue. Besides, spending time with close friends to rest and recuperate is also great for reducing stress. This is also a time for us to recharge, rest, and take care of ourselves and other family members.

Joining groups of parents with children with autism will help parents gain more experience, skills, and materials. In addition, this is also a place for parents to share stressful emotions, find empathy, and share concerns in child care.
Surely accepting your child as a child with autism will not be easy for any parent. But first of all, parents still need to calm down, learn carefully about intervention methods and take their children to medical centers for examination as soon as possible
Psycho-Educational Unit - Autism, Vinmec Times City International Hospital is a pioneer in applying scientific and artistic methods to assess and treat children with autism, with high efficiency.
Areas of intervention to educate children with autism at Vinmec:
Pediatric psychiatry Clinical psychology - educational psychology Special education Speech therapy Meditation - yoga therapy Music therapy Fine art therapy Doctors Doctors, therapists and teachers at the Center are trained at prestigious schools: University of Education, University of Social Sciences & Humanities – Hanoi National University, Academy of Educational Management ... and regularly learn to improve skills through short-term and long-term training courses at home and abroad with leading experts from the US, Australia, India, Italy.