My boyfriends son is 5 & Autistic and we have a 3 & a half month baby girl,how can I make him feel helpful?

Question

He is 5 turning six in October and he is mentaly a baby himself. He dosent pay her much attention so I was wondering if there was something I can do to help him feel usefull and not left out. He requires a lot of attention and with the new baby and work I just dont have that much time to spend with him. So I just want him to feel helpful because I know its hard on him to not get the attention hes used to from me.

Answer 1

I used to take care of down-syndrome and autistic kids...so I would recommend having him pick up her toys or help him put on her socks, and little things like that. And once he gets older start having him push her stroller around Wal-Mart, when it's not crowded.

I hope that helps. :)

Answer 2

have him bring the diapers and stuff at changing time ..get his fav doll/animal let him feed it while you feed baby the bottle..ask if he knows any songs a baby would like..let him sing away

Answer 3

Well only you know his capabilities. Purposely set up simple tasks that would take you less than one second and that are very simple to preform. Such as placing baby powder on the table next to you. Then if he is around you could ask him nicely to give you the baby powder. Things like that, be sure to congratulate him and say things like Wow! Good Job. That will make him feel good and feel like he really helped out a lot. Or if you feed you daughter baby food maybe you could call him over and be like, want to help me feed the baby, be sure to ask so he doesnt feel like hes being forced btw. Now back to feeding the baby, yes if you feed the baby baby food, you could tell him that you need help getting the baby to eat(even if you need none) you can just be like can play pee-ka-boo with the baby so she will eat her food? Or can you make funny smiles at the baby so she will eat? Then, if he does, you can feed your daughter easily like you normally would, this is win-win because you can pay attention to your daughter as well as make him feel included and like he helped. But always remember to say Good Job, Or Thank You, you really helped!