by Dianna Mifflin

Created on: January 20, 2008   Last Updated: November 25, 2008

I have an 8 year old son with autism. I know how very frustrating it can be to go just about anywhere with a difficult child. What is considered as "fun" for the parent of a "typical" child is anything but for the parent of an autistic child.

I have found a few things in my experience with my autistic son that seem to help him to transition more easily and get him to do just about anything.

1. Prepare your child, give them a game plan: When my son was very young, it was nearly impossible to take him anywhere without a 30 minute fight. It was then that I learned that if I prepared him for a trip beforehand, he was much calmer about it. I had to tell him things like, "First, you go to grandma's, then when mommy comes home, we will go to the grocery store, and then we will go home."

2. Make sure your child is well rested: Much like a toddler, any child with autism is unlikely to cooperate much if he or she is tired and therefore, cranky. The over stimulation can/will happen even quicker if your child is tired.

3. Feed your child or carry snacks with you wherever you go: It's always a good idea to make sure that your child has eaten before going out anywhere, unless perhaps, the place you are going is a restaurant. Again, like a toddler, if an autistic child is hungry, he or she is uncomfortable, cranky and uncooperative. Even if you are taking your child out to eat, be sure to bring along your own snacks just in case your child's food takes too long for their liking.

4. Bring familiar things: For autistic children, having something familiar with them in an unfamiliar world can be very comforting. Bring a favorite toy, blanket, clothing article, food or music to help calm your child if he or she becomes overstimulated.

5. Make sure the clothing that they wear is comfortable: If your child's clothes are uncomfortable, they can become irritating. Tags on clothing are a big culprit to this factor. For "us" tags can be a mere minor annoyance; but to an autistic, it can feel like steel wool scraping against the skin.

6. Bring things to distract him or her: For my son, I bring along a Gameboy Advance for him to play if he gets bored. Otherwise, he may get distracted, be overly loud or overly friendly to strangers. This is also one of his familiar things from home from suggestion #4. Other items might be a pad and pen, colors and a coloring book, a book to read or picture book to look at or for some children, they wear headphones to keep out unwanted noise.

7. Set down specific rules: Every child needs boundaries but none more so than the autistic child. Tell your child BEFORE you leave the house whether or not he or she will get to have a treat, (balloon, candy, toy from the store, etc.)from the place you are going. Tell your child that he or she needs to try to be quiet and stay with you when you go, and that if he or she doesn't, that there will be consequences. When you set rules down for any outings with your autistic child, there must always be consequences, and you must always follow through with an autistic child. Children like these learn mostly from regulation and repetition.

8. Give a time limit: If you have to go to the grocery store, and your child is busy playing a video game (or whatever he or she does for amusement) and doesn't want to leave, give him or her a time limit to play (or do whatever) and after the time limit is over, the child has to turn off the game or stop what he or she is doing and come along. Be sure to remind the child frequently and count down the minutes too. Tell him or her: "Okay, 10 more minutes, 5 more minutes, 1 more minute, 10 more seconds; 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Okay turn it off, it's time to go to the store." This works 99% of the time for my son.

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