1. Exceptional Lives
  2. Louisiana Guides
  3. What to Do if Your Child is on the Autism Spectrum
  4. Taking care of your child
  5. Helping your child at home

Knowing your child's strengths and challenges

But it can still take effort to make sure that you understand how autism affects them. The better you understand this, the better you can help them navigate their environment with less stress, and learn new things more easily.

Look for your child's strengths

  • All kids have strengths!
  • Find the things your child does well and encourage those activities!
  • Praise them and help them know that they do these things well.

Know what's hard for them

  • Adults and kids with autism may have a hard time with certain skills and situations.
  • Does your child have trouble with social interactions? Do they get upset when something unexpected happens? Do they have trouble communicating, moving around or using their hands?
  • If you know what they have trouble with, you can help them to get the right kind of support.

It can be helpful to write down notes about these things. You can use these notes when talking with doctors, therapists or people evaluating your child.