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Autism Spectrum: What Can Be Done to Improve Your Quality of Life
Almost 1 in every 160 children in the U.S. have autism. If the statistics of this disease are so high, it proves how common it is, right? Well, Yes. But just because the disease is a serious one doesn’t mean people can’t do anything about it. In fact, there are lots of people with autism who can live as independently as one can imagine without any hassles. However, there are therapies and other ways that can help one improve the quality of life in an autistic patient, which is why you must bear with us till the end and we will tell you all about them.
What Is Autism Spectrum Disorder?
Autism spectrum disorder is a group of diverse conditions and they are characterized by a certain degree of social interaction difficulty. There are certain symptoms associated with this disease such as difficulty in transitioning from one activity to another, hyper reaction, attention to sensitive details, etc. The abilities and requirements of autistic people evolve over time. Some of them can live independently but some of them require long-term care and support. Some childhood vaccinations, environmental and genetic factors are the probable causes of autistic spectrum disorder. However, people with autism also face other health issues like depression, anxiety, epilepsy, attention difficulty, etc.
How Can You Improve An Autistic Person’s Quality Of Life?
There are different techniques that can help improve an autistic person’s quality of life. However, not all of them work for everyone. Although autism health supplements can help, you can’t just give your autistic child a nutritional support supplement and expect everything to go away. Here, we have enlisted the best ways to improve the quality of life of an autistic person. Let’s take a look:
1: Integrated Play Groups
These playgroups combine children with autism disorder and those who do not have the disease. It is the best way to teach autistic children to learn from their peers and figure out the techniques to play a game. Adult teachers set the tone for the game and the children eventually take over. Thus, children end up spending a lot of time outside and can also work on the improvement of their social skills in an integrated manner. This therapy session continues for 3 hours a week and after 4 months sessions, autistic children learn to play better.
2: Occupational Therapy
Occupational therapy is a specific therapy type that helps autistic children learn how to do everyday chores without anybody’s help. There is no specific way to go about it. The therapist works on the person’s needs and goals and teaches him better ways to do those without getting excited or hyper. For example, if an autistic child is good at school but doesn’t know how to use forks in dinner, the occupational therapist will work accordingly. However, this therapy can also work well on autistic adults because when they go to the office and face a new problem, they often find it more difficult to deal with than people without autism.
3: Relationship Development Intervention
This therapeutic technique is dedicated to the parents of autistic children. There are ample examples to be included in RDI but floortime is one of the most prominent ones. RDI has certain goals and activities that help autistic children build trustworthy relationships with their parents. If the therapy does its magic, autistic adults can also stay as close to their parents as they used to be when they were children. There could be a developmental therapy for your child with a definite program, and a consultant, which could be customized from one autistic child to another.
4: Speech Therapy
People with autism have grave problems with verbal and nonverbal communication. Thus, they face enough issues in talking to people outside their trusted circle. Hence, speech therapy is essential for their treatment and it teaches them nonverbal cues in communication, the importance of body language, gestures, etc. If the autistic child undergoes this therapy session, his life will be 2 times better because he will get a talking window with people rather than his parents and teachers.
Take Care!
If you have an autistic child, that doesn’t mean you’ll have to worry about living 100 years to support your child. There are ways that will help your child learn new skills to spend his life without anybody’s support. So, apply them and let us know how they are working for you.