Certainly, change is a staple part of our everyday lives. From transitions from one place or activity to another, or unexpected occurrences popping up in our usual schedules, changes are inevitable. This is something that most of us are used to and are generally able to work around. However, for people with Autism, handling and adapting to changes might not be the most comfortable — due to either a need for predictability, rigidity that makes it hard for disruptions in usual routines, or difficulty understanding what comes next (Hume, 2008). This is not to say that it is completely impossible for them to deal with it. Often, preparing them ahead of time can make it easier for them to handle changes in their daily lives.
Timetables and Schedules
Visual cues in the form of timetables is one of the best methods for getting people with Autism to understand the concept of transitioning from one activity to another. Dettmer et al. (2000) found that having a visual schedule in both home and school settings increased independence of the children, as well as reduced transition durations and challenging behaviours regarding the changes. The flexibility of a visual schedule means parents and caregivers can tailor the schedules to the child, for example, making use of either words or pictures based on what they understand best, or adding checkboxes to indicate that a certain activity or part of activity is complete and ready to move on to the next. For children who have difficulty reading the time, making use of a timer will also make the concept of the “end” of a certain activity or section easier to grasp.
Location Indicators
Timetables are a good way to inform the child of what happens next, and when, but sometimes transitions happen when activities are held in different places. Information added to timetables can be used to indicate where an activity will take place, but this can be further supplemented with more visual cues for ease. This can include pictures of the place that the child is to transition to next, or some sort of indicator such as a symbol, or a written keyword (e.g. “library” if they are to go to the library or “teacher” if they are supposed to meet with a teacher) at the destination that the child can use to identify the end location. As each child handles information differently, the indicator used can and should vary based on what is most effective for that individual.
What about big changes or unexpected changes, in that case? Significant changes to their lives or changes that caregivers aren’t able to prepare in advance certainly feel much scarier, but there are ways that the anxiety caused by such changes can be eased, by preparing the children beforehand as much as possible.
Pre-Planning
Where possible, preparing the child in advance for changes may help to reduce some of the discomfort surrounding unfamiliarity and a break in routine. If the important day is known in advance, letting the child know weeks ahead is always a good thing to do, and caregivers may also consider marking it down on a calendar, or having a countdown for it. If the big change involves a new location or person, slowly easing in and introducing these new things while having familiar ones nearby might help the child to be more accepting of the shift too. As with everyone, children with Autism should also be given sufficient time to process and adjust to new changes, regardless of whether it’s more or less.
Flexibility in Unexpected Changes
Inevitably, there will be unexpected circumstances in our lives, so how can we best teach and prepare children with Autism to handle such changes? Using social stories to present hypothetical scenarios of change and solutions to coping with the change can help provide the child with potential courses of action to take when an unexpected change occurs in their lives.
Teaching self-help and self-calming strategies may also help the child to be able to cope with an unexpected change. This may include methods such as the use of self-soothing language to tell themselves that it’s alright, that they can manage the change, or deep breathing exercises to calm themselves down physically. It can also be strategies to help them redirect their attention to what has not changed, so that they can reassure and ground themselves first before tackling the change at a later time when they are more ready and calm.
In their everyday lives, caregivers may also try to promote flexibility by making small, controllable changes in their routines (if the child is ready for it) and reward the child if they are able to handle and accept the change calmly. If they are unable to, fret not, caregivers can try again, making their changes smaller or less significant and see how the child responds to it (and reward still, as the most important thing is to encourage flexibility and acceptance of change), and slowly work their way up to more challenging changes.
Change is part and parcel of life, as is adapting to change, so take it all one step at a time!
Written by: Kai Sin
References
Hume. (2008). Transition Time: Helping Individuals on the Autism Spectrum Move Successfully from
One Activity to Another. The Reporter 13(2), 6-10.
Dettmer, S., Simpson, R., Myles, B., & Ganz, J. (2000). The use of visual supports to facilitate
transitions of students with autism. Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities,
15, 163-169.
Spiske, M. (2020). Boy with play clock for adjust. [Photograph]. Pexels.
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