How Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Can Help Kids With Autism
Discovering that your child has autism can be both frightening and confusing. What should you do and where should you seek help? One thing is for certain, and that’s how cognitive behavioral therapy can help kids with autism learn to live a productive life.
How Autism Affects Kids
ASD or Autism Spectrum Disorder affects a child’s learning and development. Difficulties can include: memory, focus, time management, emotional control, frustration, and organization. A child with autism will not develop communication and language skills in the same order as other children. It will take longer to combine words, and a kid with autism will have difficulty socializing.
ASD is measured on a spectrum so the effects of autism can be widely different from mild to extremely intense. Once a parent suspects their child may have autism, obtaining the best resources to help their child thrive is crucial. A professional child therapist at Texas Counseling, PLLC, like Teresa Thompson LCSW, is experienced and trained to provide the individualized support your child and family need for success.
How Cognitive Behavioral Therapists Can Help
The main goals of cognitive behavioral therapists is to promote, develop, and maintain skills a kid will need to to function at home and at school. Parents want to be certain they choose a Licensed Cognitive Behavioral Therapist.
Since each child is unique and autism affects each child differently, a cognitive behavioral therapist will determine the child’s areas of challenge and then design an individualized program to address their particular needs. The goal is to make a child more independent and to be able to participate in normal activities. Those include play skills, self care, and learning strategies.
Important Skills for Kids With Autism
The most important skills for kids with autism are those which will improve their quality of life now and in the future.
Some of these skills may include the following:
- Emotional Regulation
- Behavior Modification
- Making Friends
- Organization
- Problem Solving
- Independent life skills
With therapy kids can learn how to better engage with peers and adults, how to focus on tasks at hand, and to express feelings in appropriate ways.
Family education and training is another important part of the therapy. Kids with autism who have the right cognitive behavioral therapy early will live a productive and happy life.
Contact Texas Counseling, PLLC for Cognitive Behavioral therapy to schedule a CBT counseling consultation. Teresa Thompson, LCSW is a licensed CBT specialist who has years of experience working with children and adolescents, with autism, throughout the state of Texas.