8 Tips to Help your Autistic Child with Anxiety

Kids with autism need lots and lots of structure. They need to know what's going to happen next! When my son was very young, it was nearly impossible to take him anywhere without a 30 minute fight. It was then that I learned that if I prepared him for a trip beforehand, he was much calmer about it.

I had to tell him things like, "First, you go to grandma's, then when mommy comes home, we will go to the grocery store, and then we will go home."

I've learned that you can also use a Social Story to help a child cope with changes that might happen in the day. Social Stories are customized stories created for your child that have pictures in them of the places they might go, the feelings they might have and the story is all about the child. It's a great way to teach your child about their feelings, appropriate social behavior or what will happen in a new situation!

Some parents will even take video of a new place that their child has never been to before to prepare them for the journey! I have never done this personally as my son seems to do just fine if I explain things using my words but different children find that different things help them.

Much like a toddler, any child with autism is unlikely to cooperate much if he or she is tired and therefore, cranky.

The over stimulation can/will happen even quicker if your child is tired.

Be sure your child is well rested before you take him or her out with you. Your child will cooperate much better if he/she is rested.

Many autistic kids find it difficult to communicate the feeling of hunger.

It's always a good idea to make sure that your child has eaten before going out anywhere, unless perhaps, the place you are going is a restaurant.

Again, like a toddler, if an autistic child is hungry, he or she is uncomfortable, cranky and uncooperative.

Even if you are taking your child out to eat, be sure to bring along your own snacks just in case your child's food takes too long for their liking.

For autistic children, having something familiar with them in an unfamiliar world can be very comforting.

Bring a favorite toy, blanket, clothing article, food or music to help calm your child if he or she becomes overstimulated.

Autistic kids have skin sensitivities.

If your child's clothes are uncomfortable, they can become irritating.

Tags on clothing are a big culprit to this factor.

For "us" tags can be a mere minor annoyance; but to an autistic, it can feel like steel wool scraping against the skin.

Many autistic kids love video games.

For my son, I bring along a Gameboy Advance for him to play if he gets bored. Otherwise, he may get distracted, be overly loud or overly friendly to strangers.

This is also one of his familiar things from home from suggestion #4.

Other items might be a pad and pen, colors and a coloring book, a book to read or picture book to look at or for some children, they wear headphones to keep out unwanted noise.

Every child needs boundaries but none more so than the autistic child. Tell your child BEFORE you leave the house whether or not he or she will get to have a treat, (balloon, candy, toy from the store, etc.)from the place you are going.

Tell your child that he or she needs to try to be quiet and stay with you when you go, and that if he or she doesn't, that there will be consequences.

When you set rules down for any outings with your autistic child, there must always be consequences, and you must always follow through with an autistic child.

Most children learn well from regulation and repetition but none more so than the autistic child.

Sometimes when you have to go to the grocery store, and your child is busy playing a video game (or whatever he or she does for amusement) and doesn't want to leave, it can end in a major confrontation.

To avoid this, you might give him or her a time limit to play (or do whatever) and after the time limit is over, the child has to turn off the game or stop what he or she is doing and come along.

Be sure to remind the child frequently and count down the minutes too.

Tell him or her: "Okay, 10 more minutes, 5 more minutes, 1 more minute, 10 more seconds; 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Okay turn it off, it's time to go to the store."

This technique works 99% of the time for my son.

These are some of the the things that I have learned, or more accurately, what my son has taught me, about dealing with an autistic child in a public place.

There will be times when your autistic child is just not comforted by anything and you may have to just go home and either try again another time or perform your outing alone while someone looks after your child.

However, I believe that any autistic person can overcome the anxiety they might feel over leaving home or encountering social situations with a little bit of practice.