Raising a child is always both a challenge and a joy. However, parenting a child with autism presents a completely different set of challenges (and unique joys), that many people don’t initially expect. Finding the right way to reach out to a child with autism is often the first as well as the most difficult step for many parents, and there unfortunately isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution, as every child is different.
However, people have discovered certain patterns and principles about what often works for children with autism and is worth trying out, and what doesn’t usually yield positive results. To that end, here is one idea I started implementing with my child that turned out to be completely life-changing – coding. This may sound surprising at first, as coding is rarely seen as a kids’ activity, but teaching life skills through coding turns out to be very effective. So, here is my guide to kids’ coding for autism parents.
What can our kids get from coding platforms?
Kids with autism need to learn a lot of crucial life skills very early on in life. Not only do they need to learn everything other kids do, but they also need to learn how to adapt to a world that isn’t always well-suited for them or intuitive to them. What’s more, they need learning tools that spark their interest, speak to them, and offer them types of activities they like doing.
This is what a good coding learning platform for kids does. In our case, I used Codemonkey.com, as it works for children in the K to 8th grade age range and it offers the ideal visual, game-based learning model in a low-pressure environment I was looking for. This made it very easy to use, enjoyable, and effective for my kid. As a result, not only did Codemonkey work as an effective tool to teach my child the basics of coding, it also helped with all of the following:
1. Problem-solving skills
Coding is a complicated process, and it asks the user to solve various challenges in order to build something that does what you want it to do with no bugs and errors. And, when such bugs and errors inevitably appear, the user has to find, identify, and solve them.
This can sound overly complicated for a child in the K-8 bracket, which is why most coding platforms for this age range are set up more like fun games and are typically called “coding games.” This makes them fun and approachable, but they still require and teach those same crucial problem-solving skills.
2. Patience
Similar to playing with a puzzle or building a Lego constructor, coding games take a while to yield their results. A good coding game will have smaller milestones along the way to give your child small doses of gratification to keep them interested, but the big rewards come after quite a bit of work. In that way, coding platforms are a great way to teach a child patience and focus.
3. Independence
While many educational platforms are designed to also work with a tutor or with a parent, a good coding game will be made to be usable by a solo user, too. So, while I always try to be around to help when needed, coding games have really proven to be a great way to teach my child independence. They present tasks that the child can complete on their own and feel proud of their accomplishment afterward.
4. Logical thinking
Logical and analytical skills are among the major things every child should learn in school, but few really do. This is important both for children with autism and for those without, but is arguably even more crucial for the former.
And, coding games don’t just teach kids logical thinking the way through code either. Instead, they utilize both the logical conundrums inherent to coding and various logical questions and puzzles presented in a gamified format, too.
5. A creative outlet
At its heart, coding or programming is a process of creation. You sit on the computer and build something through code, much like you would with a Lego set. This makes coding an inherently creative endeavor, which is a great way to help a child with autism set their creativity free.
How to pick the right coding platform for your child?
While all of the above is quite achievable with the right tools, it should also be pointed out that there are many coding platforms out there that wouldn’t have worked nearly as well for my child. There are both objective and subjective reasons for that.
On the one hand, quality obviously matters, like with any other product or service. And many of the kids’ coding platforms I checked out simply weren’t good enough. Many didn’t have a large enough variety of courses, others didn’t have a smooth enough difficulty progression, and others simply weren’t interesting enough for kids in the age range they were supposedly targeting. The reverse is also quite common – kids’ coding platforms that are very child-friendly but simply don’t go far enough into coding itself.
On the other hand, there are subjective things to look for, too. Namely, what kind of platform would appeal to my child the most? There are plenty of good learning platforms out there, but every child is different. They are much like video games in this regard too. And finding the right educational coding game for your child is key, as that’s the difference between using a tool that will support your child’s growth through fun and structured tech-based education, and a coding platform your kid will get bored with within minutes.
Knowing your kid, what appeals to them, what difficulty level and challenge progression is right for them, and what kind of things they would most like to build and work on, those are the keys to finding the right platform or coding game for them.
