How would you feel in a situation when the sound of fan rooms felt like an electric saw in your head, or the normal lights felt bright enough to split one’s head or someone speaking in front of you seems like a distant roar that means nothing, which means one’s body is not able to comprehend when situations begin or end, or extreme difficulty in sitting still or sitting down or concentrating. Many a times the pen one might hold may seem like broken glass, or the paper one may seek to write on seem blinding or the ordinary odours of life seem repugnant and obnoxious. It would seem an extremely difficult venture to undertake the task of learning, if one is bothered with just one such sensory nightmare, also known as autism. Children from birth to the ages of six have been diagnosed with this Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), a neurological development disorder for which there is no cure, with no two people suffering from this disease are exactly alike. But early intervention and other  [...]

The initial kind of words the baby learns are brand label words identifying the names of things. So, when conversing with your baby lay stress on the name of objects and repeat them frequently. When feeding the child talk repeatedly about the spoon and putting the food on the spoon and licking the food off the spoon. One must avoid using pronouns. It is better to say ‘I’ll pick my bag’ rather than ‘I’ll pick it’ or saying ‘here is the cat’ rather than ‘Here it is’. As the child is busy finding the difference between himself and others around him, hence constantly use his name when conversing. One must not expect too much from a child’s pronunciation. If he cannot say a word properly, but as long as you are able to comprehend it, one must not keep pushing him repeatedly to say it right as it might only frustrate him. Make an effort to comprehend the child own personally invented, mispronounced words. If the he is trying to explain something to you, try all permutations  [...]

Air travel is the easiest and fastest and convenient modes of public transport one can undertake. But despite that fact, one need to chalk out the scrupulous details way in advance, especially if one is travelling alone. Several pointers outlined herewith will definitely go a long way in making air journeys with tiny tots a pleasurable experience. When one is making reservations, one needs to specify that one is travelling with an infant. Therefore, request for a flight that is not jam packed. Always ask for bulkhead seats and a cot, if needed while booking your tickets. Bulkhead seats provide more leg space, where one can lay out a towel or rug on the floor in front of them where the child can be placed and can be monitored while playing. Air Cots and baby vests, if they are provided, can be ordered so that the child can sail comfortably through the flight. Keep a baby sling handy as one’s hands are free for other purposes. A push chair is also a viable option. One can request  [...]

There might be few instances of children who happily skip their way to school with a happy wave and ever look back. One needs to prepare the child well in advance, although you might feel initially that your child will be confident enough to tide through the phase. One needs to firstly span through the various schools in the locality. The visit should involve talk to the teachers, sitting through their classes to get a feel of the place, to find the level of teacher’s involvement and personal attention tendered. An essential rapport with the concerned teacher is vital as otherwise there is no point sending your child there, no matter how good the school appears to be. Take the child along for brief visits way before the start date of school, to acclimatize the child to the surrounding. Let the child get a feel of the place by letting her wander about and touch and feel the things around her. On the first day of school be ready for a jittery start and be ready to be with the child  [...]

Tantrums, mostly attention seeking device, will mostly end with ignoring them. The best way is to leave the room; your child will come to no harm. A breath-holding attack is self-limiting, and the child will eventually give in when he falls short of oxygen. If kicking and screaming persist, move all articles around the child, so he cannot hurt himself and leave him to himself. One should not be tempted to coax the child, or losing one’s temper, to smack or to give threats of punishment as none is going to help bring the tantrum to an end or prevent the next one. Distract the child with amusing, unusual, silly gestures. As children get older, they tend to throw tantrums in public places. The source of these tantrums is anger and frustration. Anger since he cannot get his way or the child’s body is not that strong or well co-ordinated enough to do what he intends to and like everyone else needs to vent out his anger. If the child starts doing in public places, one should not get  [...]

We, as adults, must always keep in mind that learning the rules of social behaviour and learning about self control take its time. The time in question might be years on end. The key is not to expect too much from your child and not to expect him to remember what you said last time. The child may not be necessarily defying your earlier instruction, but might have simply forgotten it. One must try being forgiving and repeating our instructions. Words never mean as much as actions and you really have to show your child how to behave. Here are some of the things that a parent can do. Firstly, have as few ‘rules’-those instructions which can be broken under no circumstances-as possible. ‘Don’t’ is a very negative word and, if you are not careful, by the time your child is going through his primitive years, you could be prefacing everything you say by ‘Don’t’. ‘Do’ is a very positive word, so reinforce with positive ‘dos’ and cut down on the ‘don’ts’. We must  [...]

Always venture out early in the morning or travel in the night time, with the child fed well before start up to reduce messy times during the trip. Carry extra soft clothes that will double up as pillows to rest on during the trip. Keep a bag with extra nappies and cleaning materials at all times in the car. Keep a quilt to cover the child when asleep. Keep the child’s most adored sound tracks or story -telling tapes to play in the car. One can keep some special play toys set aside for car trips and give them one at a time to keep the interest going on for long. One can make special seat covers for front seats with multipurpose pockets to hold necessities. One can tie the child’s favoured toys on short leashes of string attached to the car seat. Avoid leaving the child on its own in the car, especially during high temperatures to prevent suffocating feeling. Put a vacuum sun shield or a piece of cloth or nappy in the window in front of him to prevent sun strokes or burns.  [...]