As a parent, one of your main priorities are to support and motivate your child in all areas of development. It begins early-you teach them to eat, to talk, to walk, and many other necessary skills. You motivated your child at each stage of growth and development. However, as they get old enough to make their own choices, it takes more internal motivation than it does external motivation. This is where your guidance comes into play. Starting early, teaching your child how to use self-motivation, will help set your child on a path of growth in a place of acceptable change.
Change can be very difficult for children with Asperger’s Syndrome. They often do not have the strong social actions needed to make changes, try new things, or to transition from one way of life to another. Just the thought of making a major life change can be absolutely paralyzing. It is hard to motivate someone once they reach this fear stage. Here are a few suggestions for you.
Start early and build on it, or better yet, just continue as you have from birth, allowing your child to try new things, to stretch and to grow. A little parental motivation can go a long way.
Be an encourager, even during the times when your child tries to avoid change. Give him plenty of opportunities to become independent and successful. An encouraging word at just the right time may be that extra push that your child needs to get out there and try something new.
Use logic to motivate your child with Asperger’s Syndrome. He relies on the logical. He thinks in black and white. If you can give him a logical reason for making a change, chances are, he will give it a try.
Look for books and videos that can give ideas to help you motivate your child. Incentives for Change: Motivating People with Autism Spectrum Disorders to Learn and Gain Independence by Lara Delmolino and Sandra L. Harris, Ph.D. touches base on different ways you can motivate your child to grow and change.
So much of parenting and motivating children with Asperger’s Syndrome comes down to being a positive and motivating personality. Setting positive examples in tough situations will allow you to motivate your child through actual life experiences, which, in turn, can increase your child’s chance of success.
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