So this is a topic that we get asked the most! What can parents do to reduce meltdowns at home? There are so many strategies that we could recommend depending on individual circumstances, however there are 3 that seem to work the best for most families. Therefore, in this article, we will be discussing these strategies, along with how you as a parent can implement these in your day-to-day life.

Need extra support? Why not book in to a FREE Clinical Appointment with an Autism Specialist by clicking here!

Social Stories

Social Stories have been a complete game changer for most parents with autistic children. The premise of a social story is to take a social situation and explain this visually to your child. In doing so, you are better preparing your child for the future and reducing their anxiety of the unknown in the process. For example, let’s say that your child is worried about going to an activity for the first time. Parents could sit down with their child and draw out a story of a character that is about to go to the same activity. You can then draw out what the child (or character) is to expect from this experience, along with what is expected of the child (or character).

The best part is, there are usually hundreds of ready-made social stories that you can access online for any type of situation. One reason for why this strategy is so effective could be due to your child having difficulties in understanding what to expect in a social environment. Remember, what may be seen as an unwritten rule to a neurotypical person, may need to be spelled out to your autistic child. So, if you know that your child struggles with trying new things and this always leads to a meltdown, using a social story may be a strategy that helps your family.

Visual Timetable

Now this one may sound obvious, but you would be surprised how many parents overlook this as an effective strategy. This is especially true with older children and teenagers as some parents may feel like this is too childish for their child. This cannot be further from the truth as visual timetables have been known to work for anyone at any age. The concept of a timetable is to ensure that you know what to expect from your day or your week. For someone with Autism, this is essential to make the world more predictable and manageable.  

A timetable doesn’t have to be visual in the sense of having colourful pictures or images on. Your child’s timetable could be sectioned off into different time-zones (often morning and evening) which also makes it less “childish”. What you’ll find is that it will not only reduce the anxieties of your child, but also reduce the feeling of uncertainty in the rest of the family. Everyone likes to know what is going to happen and what to expect, so by implementing this strategy in your home will hopefully reduce the feeling of uncertainty and therefore reduce the amount of meltdowns. 

Sensory Environment

This last point is something that most parents miss when trying to implement strategies. I always say to parents, there is no point in trying out any strategy if the environment isn’t right. What I mean by this is, if your child is not comfortable sensory wise then everything else goes out the window. Therefore, as a parent, you need to be aware of your child’s sensory needs. Do they dislike any food textures, do they pick up on smells that others may not. Having this information, will help to reduce your child’s stress levels and in turn, reduce the amount of meltdowns.

Look at it this way! Could you concentrate on a task if you were surrounded by rotting fish? What about if you had to complete the task in clothing that was super tight or itchy? You wouldn’t be able to concentrate as you would be too distracted or annoyed by your environment. This could be what is happening to your child. What I recommend to parents is to think about any possible difficulties they may have with their senses and make notes on any settings that your child may particularly enjoy or dislike. What is it about that setting that they enjoy/dislike from a sensory perspective? In most cases you’ll be able to identify key triggers to meltdowns in their environment, however if you are still struggling, it may be time to go to your GP and request a referral to an Occupational Therapist for further support. 

Need extra support? Why not book into a FREE Clinical Appointment with an Autism Specialist by clicking here!

Ok, so at some point in every parent Autism Assessment journey, you have probably considered getting a private Autism Assessment at least a dozen times. There is a lot of misconception around private Autism Assessments (that we clarified in our previous article) but one thing that we at CareGen always recommend is to carefully consider what company you go with. In this article, we’re going to discuss 3 quality assurance checks you need to make before going down the private Autism Assessment route.

Considering getting a private Autism Assessment with CareGen? Then why not book into our FREE Clinical Appointments here.

Check Registrations

You’d be surprised how many private companies and individuals offer parents Autism assessments when they know they don’t have the qualifications to give a formal diagnosis. There is a reason why most clinicians who diagnose Autism are required by law to hold some form of professional registration. This shows that the individual has the necessary qualifications to practice safely and has the authority to give a formal diagnosis. Without this, there is potential that your child Autism Assessment could be called into question and in some cases not accepted by services.

So what should parents look for? Firstly, ask the clinician what professional body they belong to. The main 2 professional bodies that you’ll find within most Autism services (both private and NHS) are HCPC and GMC. HCPC is the Health Care Professions Council and has very high standards for any healthcare professional offering their services to the public. Thankfully they have a register where you can check if the clinician that assessed or diagnosed your child has registration (click here to see). The GMC is the General Medical Council which is mainly for medical doctors, however this holds the same weight as the HCPC. Regardless, we always advise any parent that is considering going private to check the qualifications of the assessing clinician, to ensure they are getting the highest quality service.

Assessment Process

The second check is to look at what the assessment process entails. What tools are the clinicians using to assess your child? In a standard Autism Assessment, you should expect to have a detailed developmental history taken along with a clinical observation of your child (whether this be online or in person). The clinician should also have some information from a second environment (which is usually school) and should have given you forms for them to fill in.

If your assessment does not reflect a similar process to what is outlined above then that should raise some alarm bells. Any qualified Autism clinician knows that the above steps should give the necessary information to make a clinical decision (whether that is a diagnosis or not). Without a variation of these steps, it could bring your assessment/diagnosis into question by mainstream services such as school and other healthcare services.

 Quality Report

This is something that I have seen a lot of in my time of assessing individuals for Autism. I have read some shocking reports in the past where the clinician clearly has not understood the child or doesn’t have a good understanding of Autism. An Autism report should outline in detail how an individual meets the criteria for a diagnosis of Autism. There are 2 main bodies that most services use to make a diagnosis. These are the DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual) and the ICD-11 (International Classification of Disease). This is where most clinicians go to diagnose anything, and they both have strict criteria’s that must be met to get a diagnosis of Autism.

If you have a report that mentions that your child has received a diagnosis, check in relation to which diagnostic manual. Without specification, this could hinder the quality of your assessment and call into question the validity of the outcome. If this is unclear then you can always go back to the service that carried out the assessment and ask them what manual they use and if they can amend the report to reflect this.

Considering getting a private Autism Assessment with CareGen? Then why not book into our FREE Clinical Appointments here.

Have you ever had it where you’re implementing lots of Autism friendly strategies, however your child still becomes distressed by things that seem to be out of your control? This is a conundrum that most parents go through and can often cause a lot of distress to not only your child, but to yourself as well. Couple that with the lack of post diagnosis support for people with Autism in the UK and you’ve got a recipe for disaster. Well, in this article, we are going to go through the top HIDDEN triggers that could be causing your child distress, along with strategies on how to support them.

Are you struggling with getting post-diagnosis support for your loved one? Why not book into a free Clinical Appointment at CareGen here.

Too Noisy!

Now, this may sound obvious but it’s something that a lot of parents slip up on a regular basis. Many people with Autism have sensitivities to noise, however it’s very difficult for a Neurotypical person to truly understand how this feel. As parents, you may try to reduce the noise levels in your home however there may be sounds that you are not aware of that could be causing them discomfort.

I’ll give you an example, a few years ago I was completing an Autism assessment on a child and visited their school to do some extra observations. I noticed that the child would sit on his chair with his hands over his ears for the entire lesson. Nobody knew why and his teacher assumed that he just didn’t want to do the work. After a while, I noticed that he was staring at a light near the wall, so I walked over to check it out. To my surprise, the light was making a faint humming noise so I asked the teacher if could switch this off, to which she agreed. After a short while, the child removed his hands and appeared to engage in the work in front of him.

So what can you do? In my experience of working with people with Autism, the best strategy that I have found is to use whatever communication strategy they use and ask them if different noises bother them. This could be done through conversations (if this is something they feel comfortable with) or through Social Stories (Click here for examples). Additionally, have faith in your parental intuition. You know your child the best so if you notice a change in their behaviour, keep a mental note and confirm your intuition with them to be able to develop strategies to help.

It Smells in Here!

Ok, so we’ve all been in a situation where we are trying to do something but there is a weird smell around that you just can’t seem to move away from. Now imagine if you couldn’t communicate this to other people. I’m willing to bet that this would cause you some distress right? This is exactly what happens to some of our young people with Autism. There might be a slight change in the brand of fabric softener that you use that has now changed the smell which you can barely notice. However, for your child, this is equivalent to using sour milk as deodorant, yet you wonder why they don’t want to put on their school uniform anymore and now refuse to go to school.

Someone with little experience of working with people with Autism may go straight for anxiety management strategies or in some cases go straight for medication. However, anyone that is specialised in working with people with Autism would know to first look at the environment before going down any other avenues. This is something that parents can do also, as like I’ve mentioned before, you are an expert in your child.

So what can you do to support your child? The next time you notice that your child is distressed, think about the environment they are currently in. Does your child tend to become more distressed in one room/setting more than others? What is it about that room? Is it a room that usually has food prepped in? all these questions will help in gathering a picture of your child’s sensory environment which could give you a clue as to some factors that contribute to their distress.  

Struggling to identify your child’s TRIGGERS? Then why not book into a FREE Clinical Appointment with CareGen here.