I'm 15 and I've never really been a believer, but my parents are strong believers. It is summer and I haven't really been doing much. My parents told me that there is a 5 year old with autism at my church, who needs someone to look after him/be a buddy for him in sunday school. I have never really been around anyone with autism, and I can't say I understand it. Can you take some time to give me tips on how to treat him, what to say, and mainly just how to act around him?
Thank you. Nik
helpnout2009-08-10T08:38:28Z
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It's hard to give a specific answer to your question because autism affects each person differently and a various degrees. The best thing you can do is educate yourself as much about autism as you can, the more you know about it, the more you'll understand it and can help him, a great place to get accurate information is the Autism Society of America, http://www.autism-society.org . You may want to get in touch with his parents/guardians, they will be able to give you the best info as to what he likes/dislikes, etc. I do suggest reading an excerpt from a book by Ellen Notbohm titled "Ten Things Every Child With Autism Wishes You Knew", this will give some insight to basics of autism. http://graphicpieces.com/autism10thingschild.html
I taught swim lessons to a kid with autism. Very frustrating at first. It really depends on their personality. Some autistic kids are very aggressive and highly deviant, others are more subtle and nicer to deal with. Either way it is easiest to communicate with them with visuals and physical motions. Talking is not going to do much good in my experience.