Children with Autism and the Power Of Praise.

Praise is a powerful tool when trying to motivate your child with autism.  Actually this will work with a child of any intellectual ability.  Attention is a huge motivating factor in any child's life.  This attention can be negative or positive.  If they don't get positive attention then they will get negative attention.  Sometimes negative attention is even more powerful than positive.  One way you as a parent can combat this is through Positive Proactive Praise (PPP).  To break this down into the simplest terms this means no matter what the child is doing they are doing something right and you can let them know that.  It would be great if all things you wanted your child with autism to do had internal motivating factors to it.  That is just simply unreasonable.  So you need to create an atmosphere where the autistic child will crave the positive attention and therefore complete the task you are asking.

Let me explain how PPP can be used effectively.  In the begging when you are first trying out this method, look for the smallest thing to praise the child for.  If you are asking them to transition from one task to another and they are not complying.  Then you need to look for something that they are doing right, then follow it with a prompt.  It would sound like this, "Your doing a good job sitting quietly and not interuppting me while I'm speaking.  Now lets move on to doing your homework".  For every negative there should be a positive.  Remember no matter what they are doing they are doing something right.  Another situation where PPP might work is if you are working on something like social skills.  If you are working on hand shakes and they simply touch your hand.  You should celebrate this then push to move just a little further like this. "That was awesome how you just touched my hand with one finger.  Can we try it again with two fingers?".  Always celebrate the small victories.  The last example I have is a tough one so you can try this or not.  This takes a strong will and determination, but eventually it will lead to good results.  PPP can also be used in some crisis situations.  If your autistic child is becoming destructive towards objects, or just over stimulated and out of control.  You can use PPP to help them calm.  You must use a calm voice and try really hard to find the good.  If they are breaking things, then at least they are not putting holes in the wall.  If they are not screaming then they may be listening.  Like I said using PPP in this situation is not for the faint of heart.

Eventually children with autism will begin to crave this positive attention and do what you want them to do.  You can eventually begin to back off on the praise to where it is sporadic.  This will keep them seeking the praise and doing what is asked of you.  For more detailed information on all things autism related, I highly suggest you get the e-book The Essential Guide to Autism.  It has more information in it than I could hope to provide here.