Knowledge Comes Second to Persistence

Most people think that knowledge is the most important thing when figuring out how to help their child. They read several books on understanding autism or Asperger’s Syndrome and are often left not knowing what to do. Persistence is the hardest topic to overcome when helping your child because of the amount of factors involved that will attempt to persuade you out of it. This is by far, more important than all of the other strategies you will learn. This is the very thing that will make or break your program because not only will you be left with nothing, but so many things parents do is actually effective but simply needs more time. Sometimes it’s not a matter of changing what you are working on, but merely changing a small detail of the strategy.

We all remember the most famous story of persistence in the field of special needs, a story that was not based on knowledge, expertise, or any sort of professional experience, the story of Helen Keller and her teacher, Annie Sullivan. There is one reason she was so successful with Helen, she was okay with her being upset.

The minute we begin a program for our child, we are desperately looking for any reason for it not to work. This is subconscious and very much human nature and happens because we are attempting to do something we are uncomfortable with and are not used to. This is our brain’s way of coping and keeping us comfortable, moving us away from discomfort.