Discipline

Discipline and Autism

 

 

Too often parents make the mistake of not disciplining. For instance my son is typical in many ways and delayed in others. In the mischief department I'd say he's right up their with his typical peers. I like to say that my son is selectively autistic...LOL! So, when he commits typical offenses, he gets typical disciplines like; time out, no ipad, kurio, and etc.

 

In my opinion it's very important to treat your special needs child as you would your typical child.  I recently encountered a mom who allowed her 5 year old on the spectrum terrorize his siblings. I'm talking hitting, biting, and any of brat behavior...Yes I said BRAT! The siblings were miserable and the 5 year old was happy as a clam. The mom claimed that the child didn't understand and that everyone needed to conform to his world. Grrrr? So, you just let him have his way? She said yes, because autism causes him to not understand. I asked if she let her other kids get away with this sort of behavior and she said no. I said so can you tell me again why he gets to act like this? She said he gets upset when he can't have his way. Then I said SO DOES EVERY OTHER KID!

 

Autism is many things but it doesn't eliminate the ability to know right from wrong. As parents surfing the spectrum it's important for us to instill right and wrong. You want your child to be considerate of others, so that they can be considerate of them. There is so much baggage associated with autism, so don't throw another suitcase on the pile by allowing mayhem all under the guise of "He doesn't understand". The reality is "He Understands More Than You Know". When this sort of behavior is taken into the "typical world" the outcome can be not so great. In the outside world most people don't delve any further than what they see on the exterior. And when they see a kid doing something inappropriate...Most only see a kid doing something inappropriate and not a child with Autism.