The Importance of Helping a Child With Autism Gain Independence

Raising a child with autism, or any child, can have its challenges, but with the right tools and assistance, you can encourage and facilitate your child’s independence. It’s important your child understands how much they can accomplish on their own. Having special needs doesn’t have to hold your child back!

Focusing on independence is another way to help set up your child for long-term success. The feeling of “I can do this on my own” boosts a child’s self-confidence, helps with social inclusion, and lays the foundation for a fulfilling future.

8 Tips to Help Your Autistic Child Become More Independent

Introducing independence from an early age helps set up your child for success. Use these easy tips to help teach your child how to be more independent.

#1. Start Small
Set realistic goals for your child. Think about your child’s strengths, abilities, and limitations, and create goals that are attainable and meaningful to them. For example, if your child can’t tie their shoes or use buttons – that’s a great goal to work toward!

#2. Introduce Self-Care Skills
Encouraging self-care is an integral part of nurturing independence in children with autism. Learning these skills helps them become more self-sufficient and builds confidence.
One way to encourage self-care skills is by creating a visual checklist. Daily steps can include brushing your teeth, getting dressed, combing your hair, and bathing.

#3. Don’t Do Everything
Can your child put on their shoes solo? Do they know how to zip up their jacket? If your child has mastered a skill, ensure they have multiple opportunities to practice. This is a crucial time for your child’s self-confidence, so it’s important to let them handle these tasks independently, even during the morning rush.

#4. Work on Household Chores
Having kids help with age-appropriate chores, like putting dishes in the sink, cleaning up toys, etc, teaches them responsibility.

#5. Promote Decision Making
Another great way to help teach independence is to offer your child choices. Empower your child to make independent choices and express preferences. Start small. For example, give your child two outfit options and let them pick one or select their own snack from the pantry.

#6. Reinforce Independent Skills
In general, children on the spectrum need extra reinforcement and encouragement. So when your child is engaging in an independent behavior, like putting on their shoes or putting away toys, reward them so these behaviors continue.

#7. Be Practical
As parents of children on the spectrum, life is filled with unique challenges and triumphs. Don’t push your child to do more than they can handle. If your kiddo has fine motor delays, expecting them to do up buttons without help would be unreasonable. However, they could start by putting on a shirt themselves.

#8. Build Social Skills
You can work on social skills through structured playdates and activities, helping your child develop the confidence to interact and play independently with peers.