Think Autism ~ Quality of Life

I am a big fan of the facebook page called Think Autism. Elisa is an RDI consultant in the UK and she generously shares her knowledge to the wider community. 

Elisa has graciously given me permission to share her many posts. I am sure that you will find them as helpful as I do! 

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#One


Recipe for a good quality of life 

After attending the Autism Show this weekend at the Excel in London, it has inspired me to remind people what we are doing and why we are doing it! The majority of stands at the show were for ABA related interventions, residential care and sensory equipment. There were some other stands too but what I found that it wasn't truly representative of everything that is available to parents, and the biggest thing that was missing was developmental approaches to autism. When we work on developmental approaches we are doing much more than just treating the symptoms and behaviors, we are helping to guide children to find their way back to a typical developmental pathway and this means a better quality of life, and this is what we are aiming for in family. Here is my recipe for a good quality of life:


Friendships / Relationships

For you: surround yourself with people that understand how great you are and support what you are doing in life, and have FUN!

For child: as they develop and address core difficulties, friendships and relationships become easier, more enjoyable and are people you can count on to have a good time or when you need support.


Find pleasure in everything you do

For you: move away from ‘must get this done’, ‘once this is finished…’, ‘when that is over…’, and ‘I can’t because….’. Instead, head towards enjoying what you do and understand that the journey is more important than the destination.

For child: Share the experience rather than complete the task.


Balance

For you and child: a healthy lifestyle is a balanced one, aim to find balance in everything you are doing.


Time for you

For you: Do something for you daily, even if you have to start small, it will help to refuel your energy.

For child: Allow time for independent play and down time.


Believe in yourself

For you: you can have, do and be anything you want in life, just believe it.

For child: Develop their level of competence to help them believe that they can interact well, achieve success and develop resilience.

Elisa x

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Elisa Ferriggi is dedicated to empowering parents to feel competent in raising their child with autism to improve quality of life. By addressing the core deficits of autism and unlocking potential children are able to develop milestones required to connect with others and establish true relationships. Elisa Ferriggi has been involved in the autism field since 2003 and is trained in the following approaches Relationship Development Intervention (RDI), Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), Holistic Approach to Neuro-Developmental Learning Efficiency (HANDLE) Screener, The Listening Program (TLP) Certified Provider. You can learn more at www.thinkautism.co.uk