Contents:
- Medical Video: Autistic Brother Meets Newborn Baby Sister
- What is felt by children who have brothers or sisters with autism?
- Give understanding to children whose siblings have autism
- 1. Explain about autism
- 2. Designing time to play together
- 3. Trying to be fair
Medical Video: Autistic Brother Meets Newborn Baby Sister
When raising a child with autism, parents often forget that the condition that one of your children has is also very influential on his brother or sister. Therefore, parents must understand that the child whose siblings have autism requires clear understanding and direction about autism.
The problem is, children may not really understand why parents have been so busy taking care of their brothers or sisters who have autism. While itself is required to be independent by parents.
In addition, the child will also see that there are differences in expectations and standards set by parents towards him and his brother or sister who have autism. For example children are taught to eat improperly. In fact, his brother or sister who has autism is very voters about food to the extent that parents must prepare a special menu for him.
Then how to give understanding to children who have siblings with autism in order to understand the situation? The following are explanations and tips for raising your brother and sister to stay in touch and be loving.
What is felt by children who have brothers or sisters with autism?
Many parents feel guilty when they cannot spend time with other children because they are busy taking care of and caring for children with autism. This can lead to negative feelings in children. For example the following.
- Jealous because parents or other family members pay more attention to siblings or younger siblings who have autism than they do.
- Feeling discouraged because they assume that their own siblings don't want to play or interact with them.
- Shy due to the negative assessment of other people towards their siblings (especially when in public).
The various feelings mentioned above are not fixed prices. Not that every child who has siblings with autism must have such an emotional pattern. However, the child does become more vulnerable to these emotions if he is not guided and given an understanding of the situation of his brother or sister.
Give understanding to children whose siblings have autism
1. Explain about autism
First of all, you really have to explain first related autism syndrome owned by one of your children. To get started, find out what your little one thinks about his sister or brother. Ask simple questions such as what the child thinks about his brother or sister and what the child feels when the brother or sister is showing symptoms of autism (such as rampage).
After that, explain about autism, from needs to limitations of children with autism. Make sure that you use simple but clear language.
What needs to be emphasized is that autism is not a sign of character disability (it does not mean that your brother or sister is intentionally annoying). Autism is a medical condition that interferes with a person's development. Also let us know that these conditions cannot be controlled completely by his brother or sister, parents, or even a doctor.
Don't be tired to explain it many times because autism spectrum disorders are indeed not concepts that are easily digested by children.
2. Designing time to play together
Make sure all your children have time to play and interact together. For example read the book together. You can also accompany children while playing together.
Not only trying to bring the child closer to his brother or sister, you also have to spend quality time alone with your little one. When you are alone, make sure you really focus on the child. Don't play handphone or cleaning the house.
3. Trying to be fair
It's hard to equate family rules or discipline children fairly when their conditions are different. Therefore, you must always explain to the child why the rules are different.
Fair does not mean giving the same treatment, you know. Fair means adjusting parents' expectations with the capacity of each child which is certainly different. Over time, children will learn to understand the condition of their siblings and see that parents can still be fair to him.
