By Madiha Malik

Dr. Tasnuva Tunna is a mother of two. In this interview, she shares her courageous journey as she strives to find strategies to help her son, who is diagnosed with ASD, learn and grow. 

How can parents encourage communication skills in a child with autism? 

The first step is to learn the truth and that is- you can absolutely try and improve your child’s condition starting today. You need to read and learn on the connection between diet, gut and brain functions. I have to say there will be many different opinions that will suck the life out of a parent if they choose to go down that rabbit hole. But it sure will help educate you on the best way to help. Diet, nutrition and lifestyle management is an absolute must. Rather than waiting, start by implementing good eating habits at home before the child becomes extremely picky and hard to work with. You can read my blog for scientific research based information so you are well assured these are not my own views but are being proven every day.

Communication disorder is a neurological issue. It occurs because the autism child’s brain in fogged up with neurotoxins from undigested and harmful food such as processed, take out, packaged food etc. So when you give proper nutrition and remove the toxins (through detoxification) then the brain starts functioning and communications comes easily.

Training a child to speak when his brain isn’t working (like therapies does) is like training monkey in a circus…at least that is to me and thousands of Autism adults and parents who saw the methods stressing the child. The best natural way is through proper nutrition and support. Lots of love, support, prayers. It is a no brainer since good food is nutrition and nutrition is what the body and brain uses to perform day to day life, right? 

 What are the benefits of early diagnosis? 

Early Diagnosis is Key to Autism Recovery. Rather than having a notion your child has a problem and pushing that at the back because we think by doing that the trouble will cease to exist! That’s the error we do. The quicker you take the driver’s seat the better will be the results.

Start Today!

What are ways to help children with autism sleep at night?

Sleep is one of the biggest pain point for autism parents. I wrote several posts in my blog and Instagram page regarding this which parents can read (links provided). To make things simple here are a few suggestions:

* Improper digestion is a key to neurotoxins and hyperactivity. When you change the diet to natural, home cooked, predominantly vegetables and fruits with good quality proteins and lots of animal and plant based fats than you will see great results.

* Gas from wrong foods is another cause of sleep disturbance and nightmares. A digestive support will help with that.

* Building a good sleep hygiene like no screen time 3 hours before sleep. No hand held device and moderate TV. Giving a bath and massage before bedtime, eating 2 hours before bed time helps tremendously.

* Walking outside, playing in fresh air helps reduce hyperactivity as nature grounds the child and help dissipate extra charges through walking on the ground. Plus physical activity tires the kid and prepares the brain for sleep. Weather appropriate activities should be a priority.

How can friends, family and the community help families? 

Oh absolutely. It takes a village to raise a kid yet autism parents find themselves alone in this journey which makes it 100x harder. Friends and family must be supportive in understanding the special needs and making allowance. They must motivate the parents to be their best by helping out in any and every way possible. Socially accepting the nuances of the child rather than ostracizing, isolating or laughing about the behaviors will help tremendously. You don’t know how painful it is for an autism mom to see her non-verbal child being abused, made fun of, bullied or simply rejected!!

I hope whoever reading this will help spread awareness whether you are an autism parent or not. It is our moral duty to help in any and every way possible. Do share your thoughts and worries and sign up for my newsletter if you are an autism parent. Links to all resources provided.

Bio: 

Dr. Tasnuva Sarwar Tunna

Autism Health Coach

Ottawa, Ontario

Dr. Tasnuva is an Autism Health Coach, a neurodiverse herself and an autism mom. She advocates and coaches 1 on 1 to anxious autism moms in helping their autism children achieve transformative recovery and developments. She is a Pharmacist, published scientist, an educator, author, cooks and absolutely loves books. You can sign up for her newsletter where she shares massive transformational resources for mom mental health, autism health and wellbeing as well as nutrition and lifestyle.

Blog (Sign up): www.neurodiversenerd.com 

Private Facebook Group (Join): https://www.facebook.com/groups/276102687017998

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-tasnuva-tunna-phd-autism-health-coach-24a79470/

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