This topic is as common as the presence of sugar in almost every food we can find in the mall. And if you are expecting a new baby, there is no way to avoid a dipper and most exhaustive explanation you can imagine to your autistic child. Start to do it ASAP to make it easier for every single member of your family.
I do not want to raise issues of jealousy and possible regression or other kind of problematic situations that probably will appear (unfortunately).
I would like to give you one smart and quite easy to ‘execute’ advice received once from our ABA therapist.
Books, books, books….a lot of them!
Kids on spectrum are much more keen to learn from images, photos, drawings – so use it!
You will not regret any single cent spent on some colourful educational picture books.
As we are a multilingual family, I found a lot of interesting publications not only in english but also in Italian which (unfortunately again) have not been translated in other languages.
But…
The interesting thing is that the book’s market is so saturated and full of surprises you will find something that fits you without any doubt.
My kid loves books, but not every kind of ‘hand’ he likes. I mean not every type of drawing technique attracts him. So be careful to choose the right article before buying anything.
I found genius one of a few books recently bought and I think you will agree with me that the pop-up here makes it even more interesting and funny.
“What’s in your tummy, mummy?” by Sam Lloyd is my son’s absolute favourites. He enjoy a lot the drawings, humour and lovable animals that probably every mummy-to-be hides under her dress.
This picture book is short, modern and fresh but in a hilarious way explains that there will be soon an extraordinary event in your family, a big surprise for everyone and especially for the older sibling who waits impatiently. 
You can start to read it already from the very beginning of pregnancy, the story opens with a small size fly by going step by step to the dinosaur. And in the end! A wonderful cherry on top – final pop-up!
Other book that I can frankly recommend is “I’m a big brother” by Joanna Cole. This one is a new version of a very old book, quite recently updated, with some changes. It’s a lovely short picture book with illustrations of Rosalinda Kightley, tells about the arrival of the newborn in the family.
Both parents take care of the little one but the big brother is engaged in the new situations as well. In my opinion great way to introduce a new baby to the family.
The difference between the two books is that the first one deals with the ‘awaiting’ period – pregnancy and coming into the world of the new baby. The second one involves the period post pregnancy, helps to understand the real importance of the figure of the big brother, his undeniably useful role and a newly formed bond between them that starts and lasts forever.
Alina Magdalena Pilipionek
Founder&CEO of Autism CookBook, Personal Coach, Agile Coach, Personal Branding, Atypical Family Matters Narrator, SEN Deep Diver, Gadget Lover, Parenting Tips Researcher, GF/CF/SF/YF Nutrition Concept Developer, Educational Reviews Executor, Educational Products' Tester, Master of Scrum and Scaled Agile Framework, Motivational Speaker and Trainer, ABA/VB Live User, Spectrum Surfer, Wife&mom of 2, Certified Autism Advocate, Photography Enthusiast