What your pediatrician (probably) didn’t tell you about your toddler’s Autism diagnosis
Immediate lifestyle changes you can make at home to improve your child’s function
Your toddler was just diagnosed with Autism. Now what? This article discusses 4 tips for changes that you can make right now to profoundly improve your child’s function.
Here are common signs to look for in your toddler. Record their current level of function and track improvements over time after you implement changes.
Common signs of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in toddlers:
Mood swings and outbursts
Developmental skills delays
Social skills and speech delays
Environment and sensory sensitivities
Repetitive behaviors
Picky eating (poor food tolerance)
Irregular sleep schedule
Autism can be diagnosed as early as 14 months. Toddlers are commonly diagnosed between the ages of 18 months to 2 years. Scientific literature reports that young children may “outgrow” the diagnosis or become less severe with age, especially with early intervention.
Pediatricians tell parents that there is no “cure” for their child’s Autism. Doctors may suggest therapy services and later down the road may prescribe medication. But doctors rarely give parents any lifestyle modifications to make at home.
This is unfortunate because lifestyle modifications are the BEST treatments you can give your child. Because toddlers’ brains are so malleable and impressionable, implementing these modifications, as young as possible, can be life changing!
Establishing healthy habits with your child’s routine will set them up for success throughout your life journey together. They will grow to be more functional humans in many realms: physically, mentally, emotionally, and socially.
Raising a child is already challenging. Letting the medical system condemn your child to a diagnosis that has no solutions is even more difficult. Don’t let the medical system intimidate you into believing that your family has to be dependent on the system. You have the power to change that.
Ask questions. Raise concerns. Consume information. Think for yourself. Protect your family.
Lifestyle modifications for toddlers with Autism
1. Limit screen time.
Limit screen time, including phone, tablet, video games, and television. Two key components to this limitation are the time of day and the amount of time.
Do not allow your child screen time in the morning, particularly before 11 a.m. The longer you can delay screen time into the afternoon, the better.
The use of screens in the morning sets the stage for hyperactivity in your child’s brain. Autistic brains are already highly toxified and, therefore, extremely sensitive. Congesting an Autistic brain with highly stimulating visual and auditory input adds fuel to the fire.
Screen time in the morning can cause your child to have more mood swings, worse emotional and behavioral regulation, shortened attention span, and increased vigilance.
Additionally, artificial lighting both in the morning and the evening disrupts your child’s sleep schedule. Your child’s circadian rhythm (their internal day/night clock) is set by light inputs.
Stimulating your child with artificial light disrupts this circadian rhythm, so the body becomes confused about what time of day it is. Your child may get tired during the day and energetic at night, and/or may have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep.
Avoid using screens after sunset. Artificial lights past sunset tell the body that the sun is still up and it’s still time to play.
And absolutely no screens 1 hour before bedtime. That’s a hard and fast rule for all humans.
Many parents allow screen time because it’s the only thing that seems to entertain their child or keep them calm. Screen time also may be a deeply ingrained part of a child’s routine. Autistic kids struggle with routine changes, and taking away screens could be temporarily disruptive.
If your toddler is young enough and hasn’t started the habit of using screens, don’t allow it to begin. You will thank yourself later down the road. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends screen time should be completely avoided for kids under 2 years. 1
If your toddler uses screens but is not yet habituated, then limit screen time to 30-60 minutes per day. Only permit use during the afternoon. Do not use screen time to bribe or reward your child for any action or behavior. Do not use screens while eating meals.
If screen time is part of your child’s daily routine, it’s going to be more difficult for you to change these habits. Here are my suggestions: slowly wean the child from screens and replace screens with healthy alternatives.
To wean, first decrease the amount of time per session. Do this by setting a timer at the beginning of each session, so your child knows how long they will have.
Second, decrease the frequency (number of times per day) that your child is permitted to interact with the screen. Slowly decrease the number of sessions to 1-2 times per day, limited to 30-60 minutes total.
Keep the daily session consistent. Try not to change the time of day or amount of time. Keeping a consistent schedule helps Autistic kids stay regulated.
You can give them an element of control by using a magnet on a board for them to indicate when daily screen time has been completed. If using a phone or tablet, keep the device in a specific spot of the house as its home base where your child can return it. Allow device use in a specific room as well.
Healthy alternatives to screen time:
playing a board game
going outside or to the park
throwing a ball
riding a bike
swinging
running through the sprinkler
reading or coloring
listening to music
yoga
There are endless possibilities.
Don’t let your child become habituated to screens because of boredom. Screens don’t provide kids with an outlet or help them to regulate. It might seem that your child self-regulates with screens, but this is just a distraction.
Screens don’t address the root issues and actually perpetuate the issues. Screens increase emotional dysregulation, repetitive behaviors, visual and auditory sensitivities, and communication difficulties.
Is your child sensitive to fluorescent lights? Then your child is sensitive to screens, whether you’ve noticed or not. Don’t subject them to artificial lighting.
I’ll write more in depth about screen time and Autism in a future blog. Subscribe to the newsletter below to get notified when the blog releases.
2. Listen to and create music.
Music can be a good alternative to screen time. Listening to music is engaging but not overstimulating. Choose music that your toddler enjoys, but don’t play music that they associate with visual videos. This will make them want to watch a screen.
Music helps improve attention, memory, and verbal communication in autistic kids. 2 This can be through listening to music or engaging in creating music, such as playing instruments.
Music is healing because it can be either a single-sensory activity or a multi-sensory activity, depending on the intention. As a single (auditory) sensory activity, simply listening to music can provide a source of containment, which gives the child mental space for emotional regulation.
As a multi-sensory activity, they may listen and dance simultaneously. Or listen and sing, or use their hands to clap or play an instrument.
Music can help Autistic kids interpret and communicate their emotions. Music therapy is a therapeutic clinical intervention designed to improve social, behavioral, communicative, motor, and life skills.
Find soundtracks or playlists designed for Autistic kids. These playlists are often calm and relaxing, such as classical music, healing frequencies, and harmonious melodies. Expose your child to different genres of music to find what they enjoy.
Listening to music is good as a reset during the day or for calming your child at night prior to bed. Reserve the higher energy music and instrument playing for daytime.
3. Spend time outdoors regularly.
Get outside every day. In our modern, technology-driven world, it’s easy to forego our innate roots. We stay inside because it’s convenient and habitual.
Children’s young brains are sensitive, impressionable, and malleable. Getting outside daily is extremely important for them.
First, as discussed above, getting outside in the morning sets your child’s circadian rhythm. Sunlight into the eyes and onto the skin cues your child’s brain that it’s morning and wakes them up. This also sets the clock for the rest of the day, helping your child to get better sleep at night.
Sunlight is energy that powers the mitochondria (the cell powerhouse). Mitochondria in Autistic people are damaged by toxins. Consistently feeding the mitochondria with sunlight improves energy production and cellular waste elimination, which improves the function of Autistic brains.
Second, sunlight allows the body to produce Vitamin D, which is a prohormone that affects hundreds of physiological processes. Low Vitamin D is very common in Autism and other autoimmune conditions. Optimal Vitamin D levels are essential for good health. 3 Vitamin D is obtained through skin exposure to the sun, but limit the time to avoid getting sunburned.
Third, the greatest benefit of getting your kid outdoors, in my opinion, is their ability to move and play. The sole purpose of being a child is to play. Kids learn and grow through play.
Technology has generally limited this play to mental and fine motor skills. Kids sit and play with toys or devices, which have benefits. But in this regard, society neglects the pressing importance of physical play through movement.
Your child can move and play with him/herself or with others. Autistic kids struggle with social engagement, so playing with others may be difficult. This is okay. Your child can play with others if they tolerate it because it helps them to practice social skills too. If they don’t tolerate other kids, then playing alone is okay too.
Sometimes kids do better playing one-on-one with an adult, who can provide them safety and guidance. So get out there and play with your child! Go outside to your backyard or neighborhood park.
Here are some ideas for your toddler:
running (around the yard, through the sprinkler, chasing a pet or drone, playing tag, over the playground, racing)
jumping on trampoline or playing hopscotch
throwing basketball into hoop or rolling/tossing soft ball to another person
kicking soccer ball
riding a trike/bike or scooter
swimming in pool, lake, or beach
walking to the park or favorite restaurant
It doesn’t have to be fancy or novel. Kids like simplicity, especially Autistic kids. So just get outside and let them move in a way that feels good to them.
In an upcoming blog, I’ll write about physical developmental skills that you can work on with your toddler. You’ll learn what skills to look for at certain ages and how to develop those skills. Subscribe to the newsletter below to get notified when the blog releases.
4. Maintain a relatively consistent sleep schedule.
In the first section, I discussed light modification in the evening and night: avoid screens after sunset and definitely no screens an hour prior to bed. Okay, I’m done harping on screens now.
In this last section, I want to discuss why maintaining a consistent sleep schedule is important for your Autistic child and how to implement this. A consistent sleep schedule looks like waking up and going to sleep close to the same time every day.
Sleep is how humans detox and repair their brains. Without sleep, we are useless. Children require more sleep than adults, just as Autistic people require more sleep than neurotypical people. This is because Autistic brains have more toxins to filter and greater damaged tissue to repair.
Improved sleep time and quality will help your child:
think and communicate more clearly
become physically stronger and resilient
improve their performance with daily tasks
reduce their emotional lability
Sleep improves emotional regulation and helps mitigate tantrums and mood swings. A well rested child is also more tolerant to environmental and sensory stimuli.
Implementing these sleep changes can be difficult, so do the best you can. The goal is to avoid an irregular sleep schedule or drastic schedule changes throughout the week.
A regular evening schedule can help your child prepare for a regular bedtime, such as dinner, bath, reading a book, and then bed. This will help your child wind down. You can set timers for 30 and 60 minutes prior to bed so your child is forewarned and ready. A good bedtime for toddlers is between 7-8 p.m.
A melatonin supplement can help Autistic kids fall asleep better.4 A relatively new prolonged-release melatonin (PedPRM) prescription is available in many European countries (not the US).5 Talk to your doctor about the use of melatonin.
Don’t let your child sleep in too late. Waking up late will shift your child’s circadian rhythm and make it difficult for them to fall asleep at an appropriate bedtime. Try to keep their wake schedule consistent between weekdays and weekends. An appropriate wake time is between 6-9 a.m., depending on their age and activity level.
Remember, lifestyle changes take time to become habits and to see changes from. Do your best to make efforts toward these changes, and be patient with yourself and your child. It will be worth it.
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Live in peace, Ali
