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What do parents of autistic children need to know about emotional health?

Parenting: How to

8 January 2025

Dr Rebecca Johnson

The foundations of emotional health

Emotional health for an autistic child or young person – just like any child – is nurtured through relationships, feeling heard, understood, accepted. These are the foundations for emotional health for all of us in fact. And in turn, emotional health is the foundation for learning, education, functioning and progressing well through life. You can’t learn if all your energy is taken up with struggling to get through the day or dealing with crippling anxiety.

How can parents help their autistic child thrive?

So being a the parent of an autistic child means throwing out the rule book, not holding yourself to the same norms and standards as might be appropriate for normative or neuro-typical parenting. It means learning, listening and really tuning in to what your unique individual child needs.

Yes all children need boundaries, actually did you know that boundaries can often make children feel safe, cared for, held? But they may need to be negotiated a bit differently around autistic children and young people. With more flexibility, agility and creativity especially when navigating the usual expectations of nursery, primary school, secondary school, college, etcetera.

The importance of support for parents

In order to really listen and validate children’s feelings and experiences, parents of autistic children need plenty of space for thinking in their own mind, and to create that space you too need to feel heard, validated, ‘contained’ and supported. So taking moments for yourself, sharing how you’re doing with others are so important. So look after yourself and reach out so that you have enough in the tank to pour into your relationship with your wonderful, differently-abled young person.

Understanding your child with additional needs

If you would like to learn more about your child’s stages of development and how to support them to thrive in everyday life our online course, Understanding your child with additional needs, is a useful tool for understanding the world they inhabit.

With 14 modules covering topics from reading behaviours, importance of sleep and developing communication it is accessible 24/7 on inourplace.

Our course voiceover means you have the option to learn by reading or listening to suit your preferred learning style. And with the benefits of being online, you can learn at a pace that suits you in the privacy of your own home.