Fall has arrived! It’s time for cozy warm drinks, choosing Halloween costumes, and visiting pumpkin patches. Fall is also a season with lots of change as kids return to school and adjust to new schedules. With all these changes, it’s important to make time for some fun. And as you know, kids with autism often need sensory experiences to regulate well. Here are six DIY fall activities for kids with autism that are easy on the budget and engage the senses.

1. Sensory bins

Fill a small plastic bin with dried corn, chestnuts, pinecones, or any other dry fall goods. Kids with sensory needs are sure to love running their hands through the corn and feel the smooth or rough textures. Incorporate fine motor skill practice by having your child pick up items with a pincher grasp or use tweezers. Visit here for more sensory bin ideas.

2. Bake treats

Baking is a step-by-step process with a yummy result at the end. It’s a great activity for older kids working on following instructions and taking turns. Whip up pumpkin muffins, Halloween cut-out cookies, or a seasonal fruit crisp and see your child enjoy the tasty reinforcement of creating!

3. Apple stamps

Fall often brings an abundance of apples. If you’re tired of baking them into pies and breads, try utilizing them for a fun craft. Cut an apple in half, dip into paint and press onto paper for cute stamps!

4. Leaf rubbing craft

Take some of those leaves covering your yard and turn them into a sensory craft. Cover a fresh or dried leaf with a piece of paper and rub crayons or oil pastels over the paper.

5. Corn squish bag

There are so many fall activities you can design with corn, but here’s a fun one for kids with autism who love squishy things. Fill a Ziploc bag with clear hair gel, corn kernels, and food coloring. You could also draw a fall-themed design on the bag!

6. Carve pumpkins

It’s a classic fall activity but carving pumpkins is full of sensory experiences, from feeling the smooth outside of the pumpkin to smelling the slimy, squishy seeds and membranes as you clean out the inside. You could even extend the activity by baking and tasting the pumpkin seeds or another pumpkin flavored treat! And as always, it’s fun for kids to choose a design, work with an adult to carve it, and then see the pumpkin light up with a candle inside.

In addition to all of these fun fall activities for kids with autism, you may also want to start preparing them for Halloween. If this is their first time dressing up, going trick-or-treating, or they’ve struggled with these holiday traditions in the past, we have some ideas to help you prepare them. Head over to our blog post Halloween and Autism: 6 Tips to Prepare Your Child.

Fall is filled with opportunities to add some sensory fun for your child. Whether at home with these fall activities, or out in the community with cider mills, apple picking, pumpkin patches and hayrides, we’d love to hear your family’s favorite fall activities. Let us know in the comments!

Many kids with autism prefer activities in solitude rather than with other peers. Screen use is a big preference among these activities, as you and so many other parents can probably attest. In fact, kids and teens with autism tend to spend more time engaging in screen activity than their neurotypical peers.

Managing screen time is a common battle for all parents, and particularly parents of children with autism. You may wonder how much screen time is too much, or perhaps you are desperate for ideas to avoid the screen time battle with your child. Maybe eliminating screens altogether feels like your only option to ensure your child will engage in anything else interactive. While it’s unrealistic to try and rid screens from kids’ lives completely, there are plenty of ways to monitor time spent on them. Screens don’t need to be demonized, but rather managed and used with good boundaries to preserve physical, psychological, social and neurological health.

Screens don’t need to be demonized, but rather managed and used with good boundaries to preserve physical, psychological, social and neurological health.

Let’s look at the pros and cons of screen time and some methods of management so your child can live their best quality of life.

Pros and Cons

Pros of screen time? It might seem unlikely, but they exist. Technology is an incredible tool that we’re blessed to have in our lifetime. Screen activities offer:

• Motivation (utilize screens as motivators for performing less preferred activities)
• Connection with friends and family
• Educational content
• Learning opportunities (discussing current events, emotions, communication, how-to videos)

On the other hand, and of which many of us are aware, cons of screen time include:

• Poor sleep
• Higher risk for ADHD-related behavior
• Impaired vision
• Impaired social skills

How to manage screen time

With screens so readily available to us all these days, we often have to set our own boundaries for healthy use. We all mindlessly use them more than we probably want unless we have a clear intention for use. Thus, teach and model intentionality in screen use for your child. Try these specific intentional methods of managing screens for more mindful use and better health.

1. Designate screen use areas

Designate areas of your home for screen use to set physical boundaries on appropriate use. You could establish rules such as keeping tablets and laptops at desks and living areas only. Setting boundaries on the location of use can help kids be aware of social setting expectations and to focus on one activity at a time. (Not to mention, location boundaries keep electronics safe from areas prone to messes, such as the kitchen.)

2. Create schedules

Come up with a schedule that includes slots for screen time or choose a time limit. For example, one hour on weekdays and 3 hours on weekends. Setting timers and giving warnings for how much time is left are helpful tools for easing transitions as well.

 3. Monitor

This is an obvious one to many parents. Manage electronic devices with passwords, know exactly what your child is doing on the screen, and check age-appropriateness of the material.

4. Model healthy boundaries

Kids watch us as adults, and especially as parents, whether we realize it or not. Your screen use behaviors directly influence your child’s behaviors. Model healthy screen use boundaries for them, such as having no phones at the dinner table or during family time. A big one is avoiding multitasking while a screen is in front of you. Kids with autism may already have trouble with focus so demonstrate keeping your attention on one activity at a time.

5. Self-empower with self-monitoring

Ease the burden of managing screen time with your child with autism by involving them in self-monitoring. This way, it’s not just you holding all the power and “keys” to fun. If possible, engage in discussion with your child about what appropriate screen time looks like, including content, time length, relation to other activities, etc. In our technology saturated world, empowering your child to self-monitor is a valuable lesson they could take with them into the rest of their lives.

On a final note, be sure to inform your child’s BCBA or counselor of any screen time rules at home to implement during therapy to maintain behavioral consistency. Screens are a huge reinforcer for many in-clinic kids at Healing Haven so make sure screen time rules at the clinic don’t interfere with home expectations.

Additional Resources

If you’re looking for more help in the area of managing screen time for your child (with or without autism), we have an article over on Metro Parent with tips from our Director of Clinical Standards – Reducing Screen Time (and Replacing with Play!) for Your Child With Autism.

And this post over on MyTutor – The Screen Time Diet: helping your teen find balance with their tech – lists out some “good” screen time options and finding balance as a family.

Applied behavioral analysis therapy (ABA) is considered the “gold standard” for autism treatment. But is ABA therapy harmful? Or is it helpful? Though ABA is backed by scientific research, misinformation still surrounds the practice. You may be considering ABA therapy for your child but have concerns. You might also simply want to know more about it before choosing it as a treatment option. Here we debunk five ABA myths to ease any lingering worries and to give accurate information so parents like you can make informed decisions.

1. ABA is only for children with profound impairments.

ABA therapy treats individuals with autism across the spectrum, not just those who have an intellectual disability, or those without functional language. Likewise, therapy will be different depending on the person. For example, a verbal person may work on conversing with peers while a non-verbal person may focus on basic communication through a PECS® (Picture Exchange Communication System) book or an AAC (Augmentative and Alternative Communication) device. ABA providers assess the child and discuss working towards goals parents want achieved, regardless of their level of ability. Even if your child has a typical IQ and is verbal, there are a variety of methods within ABA that could help them engage in their environment and learn critical life skills. ABA therapy tailors to the needs and skill level of the client, rather than a one-size-fits-all approach. At Healing Haven, we witness children with a wide range of abilities benefit from ABA. 

2. ABA doesn’t work for older kids

Though many parents begin ABA early when their children with autism are young children, ABA most definitely helps older children and teens, even through adulthood. We know learning doesn’t stop in young childhood. Many older kids and teens on the spectrum may struggle with tasks and communication that younger children usually practice, such as dressing or asking for help. Therefore, ABA has much to offer kids in its wide variety of approaches. Whatever the age of the individual, any progress and success in independence is achievable and is worthy of celebration.

3. ABA is robotic.

This is a fairly common ABA myth. ABA is the most efficacious intervention for children on the autism spectrum when implemented properly. Therapists should give careful consideration to teach functional skills that the child can carry over outside of a teaching environment. When such consideration is not given, robotic behaviors may emerge. Children engaged in teaching programs that are highly repetitive and structured in an unnatural way are at a higher risk to exhibit this behavior.

Parents should look for ABA programming that selects target skills and behaviors that are relevant to the child and their life. They should also provide opportunities for their child to practice the skills in a natural setting. When done properly, children receiving ABA therapy acquire skills that are far from robotic.

4. ABA uses aversive techniques.

This myth comes from controversial practice when ABA first started. Unfortunately, back in the 60s, physical punishment was sometimes a part of the practice in teaching children to behave appropriately. Thanks to progression in science, this is far removed from ABA practice today. Science now fully embraces the importance of a supportive and encouraging teaching environment. Today’s ABA is much more focused on identifying functional behaviors to reinforce and thereby increase.

5. ABA is all the same.

ABA tailors to the child’s needs and goals. What may work for one individual might hinder another. BCBAs utilize a vast array of approaches including rewards, motivators, positive reinforcement, and much more to help a child learn and thrive. Research proves that ABA helps more than just one type of child. If ABA used the same approach for all, it would not hold the effectiveness it has garnered over the past 50 years.

Head over to our What is ABA Therapy page for more information on what ABA therapy looks like. And our ABA Therapy Programs page has details on all the various ABA therapy services we provide.

Raising a child with autism affects the whole family in both positive and challenging ways.  But so much of your attention as a parent goes to caring for your child with autism, and understandably so. In turn, siblings may struggle with very legitimate challenges that come from having a brother or sister on the spectrum. How do you build relationships with and attend to all your children while still meeting the needs of your child on the spectrum? With some planning and intentional communication, you can manage time spent with each child and tune in to your neurotypical children’s needs as well.

Sibling Stress

According to a 2019 study, siblings of children with autism tend to face more social and emotional struggles than those with neurotypical siblings. Some challenges typically developing siblings may face include:

• Embarrassment around friends or the public when a sibling with autism displays certain behaviors
• Jealousy for attention from parents who are often preoccupied with the child on the spectrum
• Experiencing aggressive behaviors from sibling with autism
• Anxiety from lack of information about a sibling’s disability, as well as responsibility for their sibling
• Wanting to make up for the sibling with autism’s shortcomings to ease their parent’s mind

It’s easy for parents of a child with autism to feel discouraged and maybe even guilty upon learning the difficulties their neurotypical children face. While you are doing the very best you can, there are ways to balance your time and attention for all your children.

Supporting Neurotypical Siblings

Tune In

Recognizing the challenges your typical child may face is crucial to their sense of safety and care. Notice how they may react to difficult moments with their sibling on the spectrum or how they respond to you or your partner when around their sibling. Awareness of behaviors and emotions can open up problem solving possibilities that you may have thought were insurmountable.

Communicate

Talk about autism openly and accurately so your kids understand their sibling. As mentioned earlier, siblings of children with autism can feel anxious if not kept in the loop about everything that’s happening with their brother or sister. Start conversations with your typical children and let them know it’s ok to ask questions or experience difficult feelings. For example, debrief with your typical child after their sibling has a public meltdown. Listen to how they’re feeling and empathize with them, acknowledging the hard moment and how it affected you both. Additionally, keep communication ongoing. Your life with a child with autism is a huge part of your family dynamics so involve all members in honest communication that is appropriate to their age level.

Plan

Spending one-on-one time with your children lays the foundation for that open and ongoing communication. Attention doesn’t have to be constant for all your kids, but make sure it is consistent. One great way to maintain consistency is planning special uninterrupted one-on-one time with your typical kids. Perhaps this looks like a short nightly bedtime activity or getting a treat each weekend. Intentionally setting aside time will help your children feel seen and understood. You can even trade off with your spouse or partner if circumstances allow. Whether you plan the special times together bi-weekly, weekly, or even bi-monthly, the important part is that you’re consistently checking in with your children. It will mean a lot to them, more than you may realize.

Boundaries

You may utilize your child with autism’s siblings to care for them from time to time. Avoid overburdening your typical children with too many responsibilities with their sibling. Acknowledge that your child needs their space regularly, just as you need space occasionally as well. Setting boundaries together is helpful, such as asking your child when they feel overwhelmed in caring for their sibling and coming up with a plan on how to communicate that.

Additionally, prioritize safe spaces. Siblings are often targets for aggressive behavior from a brother or sister on the spectrum. Help your child learn how to respond when such behaviors occur, as well as storing valuable belongings in a place inaccessible to their sibling. Uphold the importance of respecting your typical kids’ space and personal items.

Benefits of Having a Sibling on the Spectrum

Let’s not forget that challenges make us learn and become better people. Despite adversities typically developing siblings face, there is a plethora of good things that come from being a sibling of a child with autism. Siblings of children with special needs are more likely to go into helping professions such as teaching, special education, and medical professions. Some of our own Healing Haven staff have family members with a disability, and a few of our families have typical children who have gone on to thrive in such careers.

Likewise, typically developing siblings grow up utilizing skills such as compassion, empathy, and patience. They learn to advocate for not only their brother or sister but for other individuals with special needs they may encounter. Those with a brother or sister on the spectrum can see the world from different perspectives just as their sibling does, developing conflict resolution skills. Finally, the daily challenges that typical siblings face can mold them into a person of maturity, leadership and courage.

Keep in mind that how you respond to your child’s disability will be how your typical children respond. Set a clear example of positivity for your family so your typical kids will see less hindrances and more joy. Amidst all the challenges, siblings of kids with autism are rockstars in life!

Outside Support

You don’t have to support your neurotypical child alone. Support groups such as the Sibling Support Project connect children who have siblings with special needs, allowing a space for kids to process the ups and downs of living with their sibling. Likewise, encourage your neurotypical children to befriend peers who have a sibling with autism. Just like adults, when kids have friends who understand them, they will experience less isolation and more allyship.

More Resources

• Our ABA Parent Training provides ideas for supporting typical children in how they interact with their sibling. Additionally, we provide counseling for siblings so they have a safe place to talk through their experiences and help them navigate their often complex world.
• Check out this book on siblings and autism: Siblings of Children With Autism: A Guide For Families