Caring for a child with autism can be challenging. There are, however, several recognised strategies that can help you provide the right help and support to your child:
- SPELL is the National Autistic Society’s framework for responding positively to children and young people on the autism spectrum. It stands for Structure, Positive approaches and expectations, Empathy, Low arousal, and Links. Basically, SPELL emphasises the need to change our approach to autism, so that we can provide the right support, help, communication and interaction to everyone on the autism spectrum.
- TEACCH is recognised by the National Autistic Society as one of the most positive strategies parents and carers can use when interacting with an autistic child. TEACCH stands for Teaching, Expanding, Appreciating, Collaborating, Co-operating and Holistic, and it prioritises building understanding around the ‘culture of autism’ and the use of visual structures to aid development, learning and communication.
- Social Stories is one of the newer coping strategies recommended by the National Autistic Society. It involves the use of social stories, which aim to help autistic young people understand social situations through visual learning. Social stories have proved extremely helpful in developing greater social understanding for autistic people, and families are encouraged to create their own comic strips and storyboards to help young people develop their social skills.
