It has been four years now since my daughter was diagnosed with autism. Over those years, I have conquered so many issues including lack of sleep, hyperactivity, and anger among others.

About three years ago, she started wandering off the home compound. I would panic every time I missed her in the house for more than a few minutes. When I take her to an amusement park, I always have to keep a keen eye on her.

I started researching the issue and realized that wandering affects many children with ASD (Austism Spectrum Disorder). I have tried different things and some of them have worked wonderfully for my daughter.

Learn to Identify Triggers

Many triggers made my daughter wander off. If there were nothing of interest in the house or the amusement park, she would wander off until she found something that interested her. She would also walk away from a stressful situation, frightening places, or places with bright lights, loud noises and a lot of commotion.

I now observe her keenly to see when she is stressed or not interested, and ensure she is comfortable. This way, she doesn’t wander off.

Secure the Home

My daughter is seven years but I still have to keep her safe by locking the gate and ensuring there are no openings on our live fence. Even when I feel that she is happy and interested inside the house, I still keep the gate under lock and key. I have an alarm on doors in my house to notify me when my daughter moves in or out of the room.

Use Monitoring and Tracking Devices

I have to be vigilant at all times. My husband feels like I am too much. However, monitoring and tracking devices have helped me more than once locate my daughter in a crowd. My daughter, just like other children with ASD, is not able to communicate her name and address. I use a medical alert device called Mobilehelp and tracking devices to ensure I know where she is at all times.

Tracking devices are simple and she can wear them everywhere. I feel settled knowing whenever my daughter wanders off; I can always track her. I get updates on my phone wherever she goes.

Teach Communication and Behavior Strategies

Though it takes time, my daughter learns with repeated action. Over the years, I have created a routine for her to follow. She loves sameness, just like any other child with ASD, and that has helped me teach her how to calm herself when she feels stressed. There is a teddy bear that she carries everywhere. When she feels stressed, she always takes her teddy bear to play with it.

While she would respond to ‘no’ with tantrums, today she can calm herself when she is told ‘no’. It has not been easy teaching her that she cannot get everything she needs, especially when we are shopping in a store. Because I cannot teach her alone, I liaise with teachers, my husband, and family friends.

Make Sure She Sleeps Enough

Sleeping was an issue when my daughter was first diagnosed with autism. I had noticed patterns of sleeplessness and hyperactivity during the night and I resolved to find a solution for the sleep problem. I established a sleeping routine that involves her getting ready for bed an hour before bedtime. She engages in calming activities such as listening to a story I read her, light massage, or just cuddling her teddy bear. She is accustomed to that routine and she sleeps better.

By sleeping enough during the night, she is less hyperactive during the day and this helps keep her safe from wandering.

Her room is always ready for her—less noise, less light, fewer distractions, and a more comfortable bed with weighted blankets.

I vowed to understand my daughter. It is the best way to keep her safe. Instead of reacting to every situation with a lecture, I learned to anticipate specific behavior for specific situations. Today, I can tell, with near certainty, when she will wander off.

 

 

I'm Annabelle Short, a writer and seamstress of more than five years. I love making crafts with my two children, Leo (age 9) and Michelle (age 11). I split my time between London and Los Angeles and write for Wunderlabel. 

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is characterized by a difficulty paying attention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity. Diagnosing ADHD in children is difficult because, let’s face it, almost every child meets those criteria. Whether your child was diagnosed, or you suspect they may have ADHD, here are some things to consider.

Since it’s a neurobehavioral disorder, a licensed clinical psychologist or psychiatrist should be consulted for a formal diagnosis to be made. There are various therapeutic and medicinal methods available after psychiatric consultation. For most children, a regimen of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) will be used. CBT is the most popular therapeutic method for treating people with ADHD. This concerns changing the child’s behaviors to improve their focus and lower impulsivity over time.

Talk therapy may also be used for symptom management. Most therapists will use a combination of CBT and talk therapy to effectively treat ADHD. If symptoms endure or are particularly severe then a psychiatrist may speak with you about prescription and non-prescription options. Paradoxically, stimulants often help hyperactive children with their ADHD symptoms. This is because they interact with the neurotransmitter dopamine, which plays a role in attention and focus. Depressants may also be prescribed if your child doesn’t respond well to the stimulants.

The prospect of giving your child prescription medicines can be frightening. So, doctors have recently begun looking into over-the-counter medicines as well as dietary components to substitute prescriptions. Some of these supplements include L-theanine, hemp extract, 5-HTP, and various vitamins. New research suggests that certain foods may also contribute to ADHD and related symptoms. These include refined sugars, caffeine, milk, chocolate, and food dyes.

Since children with ADHD are typically high-energy, it’s also important to give them an outlet to channel it through. Signing them up for sports and clubs are great ways of doing this, especially those involving lots of teamwork and body movement. Playing sports or physically engaging clubs that conclude about an hour before bed will exhaust your child’s energy and help them sleep, as well. This also presents a wonderful opportunity to strengthen social skills, which can be challenging with ADHD.

ADHD often co-exists with social anxiety, depression, conduct disorders, and learning disabilities. The latter of which is typically from a difficulty focusing and not from any deficit in intelligence or other cognitive impairment. To avoid social anxiety, it’s important to make sure your child socializes outside of school for at least an hour or two a day while also having a couple hours of alone time afterwards to de-compress. ADHD children may also have a lot of creative energy that’s hard to express in school, so making sure they can let their imaginations take them at home is vital.

It’s easy for children with ADHD to feel depressed from a young age. This often results from an amalgamation of social stress, low self-esteem, difficulty ‘fitting in’, and lack of direction. To remedy these issues, it’s important to talk to your child about their interests, speak with their teachers about their conduct at school, and be sure they have a solid group of friends. Depression can also be diet or sleep related, so keeping those in check is always important. This is especially true since ADHD can make sleeping difficult in young children.

My name's Vicky and I have a beautiful four-year-old son named Paul who just started preschool. When I'm not being a mother, I practice tennis and play with my corgi, Milo.