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Coping with Divorce: Help for Kids on the Autism Spectrum

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"Any tips for helping my son with high functioning autism to cope with my recent divorce. He's taking this really hard to say the least." For all kids, divorce is often stressful, sad, and confusing. But for children with ASD level 1, or High Functioning Autism (HFA), divorce is especially problematic due to their difficulty with transitions and dislike for routine changes. Unfortunately, divorce may be the most disruptive event in a "special needs" child’s life. Research on divorce shows the following: stresses resulting from the life changes surrounding the divorce make kids more vulnerable to physical and emotional illnesses, especially when moms and dads continue to fight over custody issues kids of divorced parents are more likely to have health problems, to participate in more risky and antisocial behavior, and to be at higher than average risk of school failure than are young people from two-parent, non-divorced families kids of divorced couples