Find support for yourself, your family and your child. Working through autism can be a challenge but you don’t have to do all the work. Several research studies have found that the stress levels of parents of children with autism are higher than the stress levels of parents with other developmentally disabled children. This is important to address as some researchers believe that it is the child’s problem behaviours that increase parental stress levels, but those increased stress levels negatively impact parenting behaviours which in turn makes the child’s problem behaviours worse. We strongly recommend that families create a network of support. We can’t emphasize this enough! Find people with whom you can debrief regularly. We recommend creating a personal support group and set regular times to meet. Find others who will spend time with your child. This can expose your child to fun social activities with others and it may provide you with time to pursue other interests.

Read, read, read!!! There are many autism and ABA books available and while many resources are expensive to purchase, many are available through local libraries and the lending libraries of various groups. The Autism Society of BC maintains over 1500 items including books, videos, DVD’s and research journals. Sunny Hill Health Centre for Children maintains the Sexual Health Resource Centre for Children. Parents can order items free from their lending library and the resources are mailed to you.