28 Apr Supporting World Autism Month
By design, Hope Creative is a flexible, remote, creative agency with no brick + mortar office location. Our consultants have the freedom to work when they want to work, how they want to work, and this allows us to have the kindest and most talented creatives across the globe on our team! Our consultants are magical, each one with their own unique perspective, passions and talents.
Kati Brown, our operations and business development lead, cares for her son with autism from home full-time, and we’re extremely lucky to be able to have her support on our team too.
In the spirit of Autism Awareness Month, we asked Kati to share some useful tidbits of knowledge about this often misunderstood disorder.
5 Things to Understand About Autism
- Autism is a spectrum disorder. This means that no two children with autism present the same symptoms or difficulties. This is part of what makes autism challenging to treat.
- Most children with autism exhibit speech delays. This may present as difficulties in following and engaging in conversation or limited verbal comprehension and expression while some children are completely non-verbal. Utilizing Speech Therapy as early as possible can lead to significant progress!
- Nearly all children with autism have sensory issues. Some children are overly sensitive to light, sound, touch, smell, textures or sensations. As you can imagine, this can make the world seem like a scary place. These little ones must learn how to avoid sensory overload and how to cope when feeling overwhelmed. Occupational Therapy can make a big difference in desensitizing and learning coping skills. Funandfunction.com has a great selection of sensory tools!
- Social interaction is often a struggle for those with autism; it can be hard for them to make friends. Having language difficulties is part of it but they may not pick up on social cues, tone of voice or facial expressions. It simply isn’t something that comes naturally. They want to have friends, they just need you to help them. Attending an organized social group can help teach the skills they need to make new friends!
- One of the greatest resources available to autism parents is other autism parents! They truly understand the thoughts, feelings and worries you have for your child. They can suggest great schools, therapists, sensory solutions, grants, camps, play groups and coping strategies. Autism parents are a tough-as-nails community with the same goal in mind; teaching our little ones how to be independent. Take advantage of support groups, respite opportunities and those amazing parents sitting next to you in the therapy office. The feeling of not being alone is invaluable!
Learn more about autism by visiting Autism Society and Autism Speaks.
We also love and support Surfers For Autism, who’s mission is to unlock the potential of children and adults with autism, through advocacy and support of scientific research while educating the public and uniting communities through volunteerism.
