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Sunday, April 19, 2020

Recognizing and Cultivating Your Superpowers As A Parent - Part 1


In an effort to bring you the information from the Practical Parenting Tips section of the lengthy and informative article that I wrote for an online parenting community, I have chosen to present it to you in four shorter posts starting with this one in the form of an acronym: CAPE

In the image above, a female and male are shown as everyday people whose shadows insinuate that they each have skills or superpowers to help other people. Regardless of who we are, or what our strengths and weaknesses are, we can all be superheroes, and we do not have to wear a superhero outfit or a cape to use our superpowers for good. 

You can start by Creating a consistent environment as you possibly can for your child. Help your child to create inner consistency so that he or she can develop the confidence and the ability to adapt to various environments, social situations, and with different people who they may come into contact with through daily or occasional interactions. This is the best way to reinforce learning and encourage your child to transfer or generalize what he or she learns from one environment to another.

You will want to Avoid unwanted disruptions in your child's routine. Your child needs a structured schedule or routine for them to function at his or her best. It's important to offer your child a consistent schedule for eating, therapy sessions, going to school, playtime, naps, and bedtime, as well as build an alternative schedule for occasional outings such as visiting relatives, going to church, or venturing out into the community to do errands.

You need to remember Praise your child for displaying positive behavior, regardless of how big or small! Reinforcing good behavior and recognizing when your child learns a new skill is important to his or her progress. Make a conscious effort to tell your child every time why he or she is receiving praise. This will help your child to understand what the reward is for and teach them to repeat those specific positive behaviors.

Your next responsibility is to Ensure proper boundaries for your child. It is up to you to designate a specific area in your home where your child knows that he or she can relax, feel safe, and have solitude. Coordinating and setting up clear boundaries is essential to helping your child understand which areas are off limits to him or her. Child-proofing your house is something you should consider, especially if your child has frequent meltdowns or has injured his/herself in the past.

I hope that what I have shared with you will assist you in using your superpowers to help your child to learn to regulate his or her superpowers. The full article, Autism "How-To" Guide For Parents has so much more to offer, if you are interested! If you enjoyed reading this post, please #share it in support of #AutismAwarenessMonth. Thank you for your time and continued support of my efforts to raise #AutismAwareness throughout the year, not just in April!!

Your friend,

Lorrie

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