First time parents and autistic children

So a close friend of mine is pregnant and due to have her first baby soon…

I’m super excited for her, but I’m also really hoping she isn’t going to be like loads of the other first time parents with her baby…

You know the ones that take 1300 photos of their baby on the train…

Then send ALL of these photos to all the immediate family & friends….

They stare at their baby wide eyed for hours…

Constantly check that their child is breathing when they’re sleeping…

And put layer after layer on their baby to make sure they’re not cold then panic and take the layers off because they’re worried they’ll over heat.

Yes, you know the ones!

You may have even been there yourself, it’s a pretty normal thing to do.

Bless them!

Anyways…

There’s another thing these type of new parents do…

They claim that the baby is a “baby genius” the first time he/she babbles.

You must have seen this…

They record their baby babbling “Abbbbuuuuu” …

Then suddenly they jump out of their skin and become hysterical, telling everyone that their “baby genius” just infact said “Apple”

These type of parents remind me a lot of some people that work with autistic children.

These people work with a child for a period then they turn around and tell their superior (or worse still, the child’s parents) that the child spoke in 6 word sentences…

Or completed an activity independently…

Or wrote a few sentences on their own…

Or played with a classmate with no promoting.

When in actual fact it wasn’t quite like that.

They needed help to set up the activity or they were promoted to use finger spaces and given a rubber to erase their spelling mistake or they were told what to say when their classmate was brought over to play with them.

You see the thing is, it’s great that people are keen for their child or student to be independent…

But, it’s essential you give an honest and precise report of what the child actually did  independently because otherwise it’s setting them up to fail.

Now I know that may sound a bit silly when I relate it back to first time parents but it’s true, think about it…

The new mum goes over to aunties house with their “baby genius”, auntie is excitedly waiting to hear their niece/ nephew speak.

It doesn’t happen (obviously) and they’re disappointed.

Just as the parents would be if their child was unable to do this certain activity independently at home.

It’s unfair on the child.

While you’re here…

In my new paperback book “A Guide To Unlimited Autism Success” I’ll be talking about how to give your child a boost at school and how to support this progress to keep the momentum going….

Get your copy here

I give away heaps of tired and tested ideas to promote language through play, fun games which the whole family can play to encourage independence for your child at home.

Click here to get your copy
Speak with you soon, until then

Live every moment, Love beyond words and make a difference today

Emma Ottaway

The Ambitious Autism Ambassador