Tips on helping autistic child

How to help your autistic child? I think the below tips are useful.

• Have a plan for moving self help out of the house- going to the bathroom at public restrooms, serving self at a buffet restaurant, getting dressed in a different place.
• Don't baby your child. This I think is a syndrome. Parents feel sorry for their children so they think they will keep" helping them dress". But really you are not helping them, you are hindering their development.
• Self help training should be going on 24/7. Whether it is learning to walk side by side without holding some one's hand, or more direct potty training or dressing independently, you should always have an active target(s) in self help.
• Because self help has to be 24/7, your team cannot do this. Yes, your team can practice self help skills, but all of these are really time sensitive- you get dressed in the morning, you take a bath at night...whatever. Therapists are not there. The parent has to become consistent at having targets through out the day, then setting knew targets once mastery is achieved. Parents have to learn good prompting skills, knowing how to fade prompts and give their child independence.
  
• DON'T HELP (over prompt)! If a child has mastered a skill, don't help them. You can make them prompt dependent. Something as simple as always telling a child to hurry up in the bathroom can become a prompt. You have to fade that prompt as soon as possible.
  
• Observe typical children. Make a list of independent skills you see in children just observing them for 30 minutes. Note: I know this can be depressing but it can serve as a wake up call that more self help needs to be focused on, not that your child can't do it.
  
• Self help has to be consistent. Once a target is established, you can't target it half of the time. You have to target their independence every time they engage in that activity.
  
• Remember that just teaching beginning self help skills is not enough. You have to continue to add targets. E.G. Once your child can dress himself, can he dress himself with you out of the room?