Quarantine: How To Help Children With Autism?

Caring for children with autism during their forties is all about creating a quiet environment with a specific routine and keeping them informed about the current situation. Parents or guardians must also protect themselves in order to properly exercise their role.

On April 2, we celebrated World Autism Awareness Day. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) organizations have delivered a series of recommendations to help children with autism during their 40s.

The quarantine imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic we are currently experiencing is in itself a difficult situation for all families. This situation is even more difficult for families who have a child with autism, due to the very characteristics of this disorder.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD)

Before getting to the heart of the matter and therefore telling you what are the recommendations to follow to help children who suffer from autism during their forties, we want to first define what is the spectrum disorder. ‘autism.

ASD is a neurobiological developmental disorder. It affects the capacity of the brain when it comes to developing and maintaining social and communication skills.

This disorder usually manifests itself during the first years of life, before the age of three more precisely. The lack of social and communication skills results in a behavioral disorder and difficulties when it comes to relating to those around you.

In summary, people with autism spectrum disorder generally have poor social, emotional and communication skills. This is why, in this context of quarantine and compulsory isolation, it is essential to take special care of these people.

This situation we find ourselves in makes these people more vulnerable. They depend on permanent specialized attention, attention that they are lacking right now. Let us now see together in the rest of this article how we can help these people.

Autism in quarantine

For people with autism spectrum disorder, following a routine is fundamental. The closure of schools, workplaces and medical attention centers is a real blow to these people. These different institutions allow them to maintain an orderly life and to contain them effectively.

Midlife can be particularly difficult for children with autism. The disorder in itself is very heterogeneous: during this period of confinement, some tolerate the situation very well, and others, on the other hand, get angry or depressed.

Faced with this reality, some governments have provided for exceptional authorizations for people with autism, as well as for their parents or guardians. The families concerned can thus leave their homes to take a short walk for therapeutic purposes. Conditions vary from country to country, but generally speaking, it is sufficient to be able to prove the existence of ASD. It is therefore necessary to have the handicap certificate with you.

In addition, globally, wearing a tied blue ribbon or badge of that color is recommended. This allows other people to identify people who have autism.

Autistic children facing the COVID-19 pandemic

With schools closed, medical attention centers having adopted very limited hours and the near impossibility of going for walks in public places, it is only natural that families with an autistic child wonder how they can help. the latter during quarantine.

Many organizations have provided an answer to this question. All agree that it is important to create a new routine in order to help the child to order his daily life. These organizations stress the importance of setting schedules; people with autism need to plan and anticipate events clearly so that their anxiety levels do not increase.

The other important step is to talk about the current situation. The child must know what is going on. Knowing what quarantine is, how long it will last and why this measure is important is information that will reassure the child. To help you in this task, you can have recourse to audiovisual information, books or even newspapers.

Other recommendations for people with autism to live better in their forties

In addition to keeping them informed about the current situation, it is fundamental to impart a sense of tranquility to people who suffer from autism. The message should be clear, simple and fair (always rely on reliable sources). It is important to stay calm in order to avoid a rise in anxiety or stress.

Finally, it is important that the people who take care of a person with autism also take care of them. Just as it is important to ensure that the different members of the family continue to enjoy being together.