Helping our Autistic Kids In Stormy Weather
Helping Autistic Children Cope with Storms
Storms, with their thunder and lightning, can be overwhelming and even frightening for children. For autistic children, who are often hyper-alert to their environment, the fear of storms can be heightened. Sensory processing differences may amplify their anxiety, making the loud booms of thunder and sudden flashes of lightning feel unbearable. However, with the right strategies, you can help your child manage their fear and build a sense of calm and safety during stormy weather.
Here are some practical ways to support your child:
1. Validate Emotions
Acknowledge their feelings: Always validate your child’s emotions and let them know it’s okay to feel scared or uneasy.
Stay calm: Avoid over-focusing on the storm. By carrying on calmly, you model a sense of control and safety.
Practice calming strategies: Prepare in advance by practicing regulating activities, such as deep breathing, that can be used when a storm arises.
2. Take the Scare Factor Away with Science
Be honest: Avoid fantastical explanations about storms, as they can add to the fear. Instead, use science to explain what’s happening.
Learn together: Watch YouTube videos, read books, or research how thunder and lightning form. Understanding can make storms less intimidating.
Break it down: Teach them about the different types of thunder sounds—peals, claps, rolls, and rumbles—and even use a decibel-measuring app to explore the sound intensity.
Measure distance: Teach them to count the seconds between a lightning flash and thunder to estimate how far the storm is.
Explore static electricity: Use simple experiments to demonstrate how lightning forms.
Learn about clouds: Teach them about cumulonimbus clouds, which are the type responsible for thunderstorms.
Simplify for younger children: For those with limited language skills, teach simple labels like ‘cloud,’ ‘thunder,’ and ‘lightning.’ Sometimes, being able to name something reduces its fear factor.
3. Use Sensory Strategies
Minimise noise: Provide noise-cancelling headphones or play calming music, or even a louder movie, to mask the sound of thunder.
Engage their senses: Distract your child with sensory activities, such as fidget toys or visually engaging screens.
4. Build Predictability
Role-play storms: Recreate a storm at home using pots and pans for thunder and flashing lights for lightning. This can help desensitise your child.
Track storms together: Get a rain gauge to measure rainfall or count thunderclaps to compare between storms. This can turn storms into a learning opportunity.
Prepare for power outages: Create a plan, such as finding torches, and explain it to your child. Use visuals to make the plan easy to understand and reassure them that everything is under control.
5. Find the Joy and Comfort
Make it an adventure: Use stormy weather as an opportunity for fun. For example, if the power goes out, enjoy eating all the ice cream in the freezer or building a cubby.
Stay positive: Share your own sense of wonder about storms to help your child reframe their perspective.
Celebrate after the storm: Once the weather clears, put on gumboots and enjoy puddle jumping together.
By validating your child’s emotions, incorporating science, using sensory tools, building predictability, and finding ways to make storms a positive experience, you can help them feel safe and supported. Over time, your child may even begin to see storms as less of a threat and more of a fascinating natural event.
