Planning for Your Autistic Child's Future

When you look at your young child , it may be difficult to imagine what life will be like for them once they leave school and enter the adult years. When your child has autism or other disabilities, it may be overwhelming to think ahead about the future because your struggling with day-to-day demands and responsibilities. It is challenging not to become caught up in their limitations. My oldest is going to be 18 in January and it is a bit difficult because we don't know what to expect. Hopefully, we will be able to take what we are learning and apply it to a plan for the future that we can use for our younger boys who also have autism. It is my hope that this article will help you have have the tools you need to develop a road map for your own child.

I can honestly say that if there is any one piece of advice I can give other parents who have young children with a developmental disability such as autism, it is to look for the potential which lies in your child. Celebrate each victory no matter how small. Every person on earth has a gift to share. You have the wonderful ability of being able to share with others how amazing your child is. Your able to understand your child better than anyone else and are a key component in the development of their future. One way that you can share with others the uniqueness of your child is to have a meeting with others called "Futures Planning."

I also want to mention that it does not matter what other people think or feel about your child who has autism. Don't allow the dreams you have for your child be dismantled by what others say. Continue to dream about having the best for your child. Think of the best possible outcomes you can imagine and then think of how you can help make this possible for your child.

Okay...lets get to the topic of this article...Futures Planning. I am currently in this position with my teenager. I often wish I had a plan already in place, even if it was just a rough draft. My son is probably the most critical of his challenges, but is the best resource for planning his future and so is your child as well. Even if they are unable to verbalize what they want in their life you may be able to gain some clue by knowing what their favorite things to do are. Center their future planning around what they want for their life as best as you can.

The remaining portion of this article will then focus the steps for you to take in regards to planning your child's future.

Discover What is Important

Everyone has their own personal dreams and journeys as they go throughout their lives. Each of us want an opportunity to meet new people and try out new experiences. We all want to have the things that are important to us accessible and we want the people we enjoy to be around us. Each of us wants to have a say in where we live and where we work and how we spend our day. Those who have developmental disabilities such as autism are no different.

However, our child may not be able to obtain their goals and dream on their own. They may need for us to help them as much as possible have the life they desire. It is important for them to have the ability to make choices regarding their own lives.

Choice is about:

Preference - What does your child like to do?

Opportunity- How can you give them the chance to do those things?

Control- How can they determine when, where and with whom those opportunities will come about.

Remember to focus on what they can do and not on what they can't. Use the Law of Abundance to guide your plan. What a person gives out always comes back and often more than we can imagine. A child with autism has so much to give to others. Allow them the right to express this ability. Even though they may require a lot of personal care and assistance it is empowering to them as much as it is to you to be able to share their lives with others in positive and meaningful ways.

Create a Plan

Once you have an understanding of what is important to them, the next step is to think of ways that you and others can help make it a reality. When you plan your meeting, be sure to invite everyone who knows your child. Teachers, family members, neighbors, therapists , doctors, church members even bus drivers. Allow everyone to have a say .

Once everyone has brainstormed ideas and have some thoughts on which ones are workable, the next step will be to begin putting the plan together. One of the purposes of putting together a Future's Planning meeting is to have a community of support wrapped around you and your child. This may be tough at first because it will mean as a parent you will need to be able to allow others to assist you in supporting your child throughout their life and that can be a very difficult thing to do.

When writing up your plan be sure to summarize what is most important to your child and what others on the team need to know or do in order to help support your child. Create an action plan that will allow your child to continue to have the relationships with others in their life while addressing all the important issues surrounding safety and health.

Aim to set up the plan to give as much control as possible to your child over their relationships, resources they may have available to them and the ability to make their own decisions as much as possible. You will want the plan to include ways your child can be involved in the community so that they can have the opportunity to create new relationships and experiences.

Once you have a summary of what is important to your child and you have outlined what is needed to support them, the next step will be to make assignments and assign different people to each assignment. As a team decide on how the group will communicate to one another regarding each person's role and responsibilities. Then make copies of the plan and hand out to each team member.

This may be a difficult process at first but it will be so rewarding to have others help you. Learn to give the opportunity to others to enjoy the miracle of your child. Trust others to come up with ideas which may your child . Take the risk to move out of the way and watch how others interact with your son or daughter . Perhaps you can learn from them.