What I Learned from Helping a Family with Autistic Children

It is a condition that still holds many mysteries, even for researchers who study it. Because of that, sometimes it can be difficult to know how you can help a family with a member who has it. This past summer I encountered it when I went to California for a discipleship training program called Project Impact. The director of our program was an inviting and extroverted man, and it was by interacting with his family that I was exposed to this bittersweet reality.

The condition I am referring to is autism. Many of us have had few if any encounters with autism. We may know some autistic peers, read romanticized depictions in teen fiction, or watch TV specials about autistic savants. My conceptions of autism were refined during the summer of 2009, when I was brought for a long period of time into intimate contact with the director's two youngest children, who both had autism (the older of the two had Down’s syndrome as well).

I learned that raising autistic children can be very hard, and what a blessing it is to be able to help a family that must deal with the condition 24 hours a day. Autism affects different people in different ways. The young children I spent time with were severely autistic (though they always brightened up our days). They spoke very little, one only in sounds, and the youngest boy had a tendency to fall into what is called an autistic meltdown: he would shriek and sometimes hit himself if you didn’t hold his arms. Being around this big-hearted family taught me more about character, patience, love, optimism, and the value of faith than I can describe, but what I want to focus on here is what one can do to assist such a family in a practical way.

If you know a family with an autistic child, and you want to help them, the first thing you have to do is ask if you can share in their lives. Ask the family if you can spend some time with their child. Offer to lend a helping hand. If they consent to your spending some time with them, don’t take it lightly. You are fortunate to have an opportunity to learn and help in ways many others will never be able to. On that note, here is an incomplete list of things to keep in mind in that situation:

Article Author: Trevor Clark

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My name is Trevor Anthony Clark. I am currently pursuing a double major of Religious Studies and Professional Writing at the University of Oklahoma in Norman, OK. I have served as an opinion columnist for The Oklahoma Daily, OU's school student-led newspaper. …

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