Autism in Toddlers

Autism in toddlers is being diagnosed at rapidly growing rates making an increasing number of parents to be forced into roles they are unfamiliar and unprepared to handle.

For families facing the struggle of raising children stricken with autism, the isolation, lack of support and judgement from other parents can be overwhelming at times.

Autism is a very serious disorder that affects so many children in a lot of different ways.

Parents are going to need to learn a whole new set of skills that will help them better understand how to interact with their autistic child.

Skills to deal with autism in toddlers

One problem reported often by parents of children with autism is the isolation they feel from the rest of the world when at home with their child. Parents report extreme difficulty even taking their child with them to the grocery store.

They say that they feel they are struggling alone because no one understands the problems or the work around solutions they have had to develop to deal with the autism in toddlers and children as they age.

Lack of time away from their children also poses a problem. While most families can hire a babysitter, it’s not as easy to find someone to sit with a child who has autism, especially as autism in toddlers gives way to autism in older children.

Diagnosing Autism in toddlers early

Another struggle facing parents of autistic children is the lack of support from schools and government programs. Evidence shows that autism in toddlers can best be combated if it’s diagnosed early. But so many parents can’t afford the expensive private help and governmental programs and testing often times takes years of waiting on a list to obtain.

Many times schools will diagnose a child with autism late in his development instead of early on, making successful treatment much harder to come by. It’s important to recognize an early sign of autism as quickly as possible.

A common thread expressed by parents experiencing autism in toddlers is criticism from other parents, even friends on their child rearing practices. Autistic children often have unusual eating habits, leading to critical comments from friends or strangers who hear of the issue.

Additionally, they see an autistic child having a moment and assume the parents should be stronger disciplinarians rather than understanding it’s an autistic issue and not a discipline issue.

Support groups are available for parents of autistic children and they prove extremely helpful in dealing with the litany of individualized parenting issues that come from autism. Most offer child care and activities and should be utilized to help combat the stress, isolation and frustration that often accompanies autism. So if you are having to deal with autism in toddlers, take heart, there is help out there.