APPLIED BEHAVIOR ANALYSIS
Connecting with other parents will allow you see that you are not alone in your journey .
evance to your quality of life . I recently used it with my college students in a course that I was teaching at a local university . It involved 10-15 minutes every class ( which were 3 hours in length every week ) to do a mindfulness or other ACT exercise . Some of my students reported that they think it should be implemented in all classes at the university because it really helped them deal with some of the stresses that they were encountering on a week to week basis . One of my students reported that our class was a safe place that she looked forward to going every week . Many of the students also practiced the exercises in between classes and with the added practice those students reported that it helped with some of the stressful negative thoughts they were having about trying to cope with workload . Of course these are just anecdotal reports , but in conjunction with the empirical evidence listed above it may be something worthwhile investigating as you start this journey that may lead to varying degrees of stress . For more information on how to find an ACT provider you can check out the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science ( ACBS ).
References
White , S . E ., McMorris , C ., Weiss , J . A ., & Lunsky , Y . ( 2012 ). The experience of crisis in families of individuals with autism spectrum disorder across the lifespan . Journal of Child and Family Studies , 21 ( 3 ), 457-465 .
Blackledge , J . T . & Hayes , S . ( 2006 ). Using acceptance and commitment training in the support of parents of children diagnosed with autism . Child and Family Behavior Therapy , 28 ( 1 ), 1-18 .
Bond , F . W ., & Bunce , D ., ( 2000 ). Mediators of change in emotion-focused and problem-focused worksite stress management interventions . Journal of Occupational Health Psychology , 5 , 156-163
Herring , S ., Gray , K ., Taffe , J ., Tonge , B ., Sweeney , D . & Einfeld , S . ( 2006 ). Behavior and emotional problems in toddlers with pervasive developmental disorders and developmental delay : Associations with parental mental health and family functioning . Journal of Intellectual Disability Research , 50 ( 12 ), 874-882 .
Zettle R . D ., & Hayes , S . C ., ( 1986 ). Dysfunctional control by client verbal behavior . The context of reason giving . The Analysis of Verbal Behavior , 4 , 30-38 .
3 . SEEK PROFESSIONAL SUPPORT FROM A LO- CAL PSYCHOLOGIST OR ACT THERAPIST : if you are finding it difficult to cope and engage in your day to day activities .
In an article on this topic I needed to present practical strategies and resources that a parent can use to help mitigate some of the inevitable stress that they will encounter on his / her journey with his / her child with autism . It is important to also remember , and I am sure I don ’ t need to remind any of you this , to focus on the milestones that your child with ASD IS achieving and celebrate those . That your child is unique and to him / her you are his world . Connecting with other parents will allow you see that you are not alone in your journey . Check out this video of Mike Lake , a father of a child with ASD as he talks a little bit about his journey with his son Jaden .
Sarah Kupferschmidt has her Masters in Psychology with a specialization in Applied Behavior Analysis ( ABA ) and is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst ( BCBA ) who has worked with hundreds of children with autism and their families since 1999 . She has clinically supervised and trained hundreds of staff on how to implement treatment strategies that are based on Applied Behavior Analysis ( ABA ), she conducts parent coaching and training in the form of workshops for families and teachers on a variety of topics ( e . g ., safety skills , toilet training , language development , using technology to teach , and challenging behavior ) just to name a few . She is a Part-Time Professor and Co-Founder of Special Appucations , which is an mhealth company that develops solutions for children with special needs using ABA to inform the instructional design . Sarah has appeared on Hamilton Life , CP24 , CHCH news , the Scott Thompson radio show , The Bill Kelly radio show and on A Voice for All on Rogers TV and Mom Talk Radio .
60 | Autism Parenting Magazine | Issue 44