There’s a lot of resources for parents about the early developmental stages of their child. As kiddos get bigger, however, so does the challenge of raising them Things can get complex. For kiddos with Autism, there are a plethora of things that can present themselves as roadblocks. We want to help you learn about some of those roadblocks and some tactics to overcome them.

Talk to your kid

This sounds simple enough, right? But you would be surprised at the number of parents who have a transactional relationship with their child. Ask your kiddo about their day, school, classes, hopes, dreams, things that they’re worried about, and the likes.

Asking questions about their day-to-day are important enough that they can encourage open communication between you and your teen. That way, the open communication establishes a level of respect on which your kiddo feels like they can trust their parents with their fears, anxieties, and difficulties. That can give you a supreme insight into their mind.

Present as a unified front

Easier said than done, presenting your parenting as a unified front helps share the responsibilities of parenting. It can be tough for parents to agree on everything, so if you and your spouse are unsure as to how to handle a given situation, talk about it and come to mutual respect and understanding before you decide a course of action.

Technology

One of the most notorious things that teens do is get themselves into trouble with technology. It might be a great idea to let your child have a way to communicate with their friends. That being said, the danger of having a phone is the tendency to get sucked in and be unproductive.

For most individuals with Autism, technology can be a great resource for learning, therapy, and communication. Technology also provides a great opportunity for getting into trouble, especially among both neurotypical and non-neurotypical teens.

Setting clear parameters with distinguished consequences when it comes to smartphone, tablet, or computer use. Establishing time and situational limits, enabling parental controls, and discussing the dangers of oversharing with your teen will ease the burden of potentially negative situations.

Teaching sarcasm

One of the most difficult things for individuals with Autism to understand is irony or sarcasm. Teenagers are fluent in sarcasm. So here we have a gentle firestorm of uncertainty when your kiddo is in social situations with peers.

Learning sarcasm isn’t easy. If another teenager is speaking sarcastically, they might violate one of the following rules of communication. Teach your teen to look for the following:

• Tone
  • Their voice might sound a little bit different or silly
• Delivery
  • If they roll their eyes when they say something, it’s probably sarcasm
• Probability
  • If the situation isn’t likely to happen in real life, it’s probably sarcastic

If a message is one of those three aforementioned things, it might be sarcastic. Some teens might not always be the kindest when it comes to seemingly sarcastic messages. Sarcasm is intended to not be mean or rude, but rather a lighthearted way of joking.

Sometimes, teens aren’t all that nice to each other. If a message is more hurtful or attacking, it’s likely that it was not intended to be sarcastic. The tough part about teaching this to an individual with autism is that it can be mixed up easily. Reading between the lines is easier said than done, but can be achievable with practice.

Let’s talk about sex education

Puberty is a natural side effect of adolescence. Everyone goes through it, yes, even your teen. Getting you—and your kid—the proper sex ed to help them transition smoothly into adolescence is crucial. For tips, listen to our podcast about sex ed, and check out Sex, Etc.

Sex ed goes far beyond the birds and the bees. Talk to your kids about consent, dating, flirting, and the whole thing. Your teen will probably have to take a sex education course in their high school curriculum at some point. In that case, ensure that they understand the material at hand. It can be tough and awkward to talk about sex, but it’s going to benefit you and your teenager a lot in the long run.

In addition, you might also be able to find a counselor or therapist in your area that would be willing to help your teen.

Getting them ready for the real world

Giving your kids the life skills necessary to be productive adults is tough. One of the best things that you can do for your child is to have a care plan mapped out for when your child ages out of the school system. Having the means necessary to plan for their future is essential. If you have more questions about raising an autistic adult, check out our article here.