“How to motivate parents to raise children with autism – about parent groups” Ullerødskolen, Denmark

We gather parents in groups once a month for a period of 6 months. They volunteer to participate. Each meeting lasts for apprx 2 hours. There are always questions from the participants connected to each meeting. They are often questions like: How do I get my child to sleep on his own bed?, How do I deal with temper-tantrums?, How can I support him taking responsibilities? etc.

The aim of the course is to give parents a chance to meet in a stress free environment where their role as parents is in focus. Often we meet our parents in consultations where their child is in focus, sometimes this is difficult – and we see a lot of our parents act defensively, even though we try to create a non-judgmental tone. At the group meetings they come voluntarily – important – and want a network to empower them to be better parents for children with diagnoses.

The participants have a large say in the outline of the course. It is not a course where we call in parents to tell them off. It is a course where parents can meet others in the same situation as themselves.

It is built as a guided parent to parent support – with workers at Ullerødskolen (or presenters from outside our school) as guides.

Here is a list of topics course managers/guides try to cover.

Exampels of the topics:

• How to raise a child vs. how to raise a child with autism.

• Puberty and autism

• CAT-Kit

• To structure daily life

• Admitting that your child have a diagnose