Hey, Guys and Girlies. Joag is back yet again with another powerful post and this one really struck a chord with me when I was thinking of posts for the new year. I have so many good ones planned its unreal. I think this year is going to be amazing if I can write posts like I am now. I am so organised and for adapting to change organisation, is key!
My first day of high school was chaotic because there was nothing in place properly to help me. First off if you are starting a new school make sure you have 2 viable options for getting in either by a lift or public transport. My public transport on my first day was atrocious they FORGOT to pick me up. So I was melting down before I got in. I was lucky as the years went on and I finally got diagnosed that I had some pretty amazing teachers. Who would seek me out on breaks to let me know if the class was going to change than what the teacher had told me was going to happen that lesson. Particularly important when it came to P.E, although I did end up playing by myself most P.E sessions. That is a topic I will be bringing up in a later blog so make sure to check back regularly to see when that is.
But for someone with autism, it is not as easy as flipping a switch when it comes to changing plans. Tonight when I am writing this I have plans to watch a movie with my parents at 7:30 so I have to make sure I have all my writing done by then so I can keep these plans and not set myself up for an attack if something happens.
My tips to adapt to change is to plan as much of the day as you can. Prepare activities and have some space in between each activity so if something does need to change your child can calmly carry on with the changes without kicking and screaming.
Depending on how you and your child communicate during the day about your routine whether it be a PECS board or verbally always give them the time to ask a question, trust me asking why something is happening is much easier than being thrust into a new environment. Coming from someone with anxiety issues this point is really important. My teachers must have secretly hated me for
Coming from someone with anxiety issues this point is really important. My teachers must have secretly hated me for the amount of questions I asked especially my computers tutor because I never stopped emailing him about my classes and if I was on the right track with my work.
Try to explain and adapt the routine as the child gets older maybe not following the same pattern some times to ease your child into NO routine. or if they need to always have a routine adapt it into longer blocks of time. I am forever using my diarie(s) yes I have many diaries 2 paper diaries one for the blog and one personal and my online diary system where I can break my day into 30 minute chunks. On days where I am working I use this heavily I program in my hours of work and the time I have around that including travel times. This helps me to know when to eat because and again this is something I will touch on it in another blog post I forget to eat and drink. I have to physically remind myself otherwise it wouldn’t happen. Ok there are sometimes when it is an auto pilot response but it doesn’t always engage. So reminding myself to do these seemingly simple tasks is something which has become routine to me. So if i had to adapt this I don’t know exactly how I would react. When it comes to going out with parents I do now how to react because I have had to accept there are times where our plans are not able to be completed that day due to my dad’s health. But that doesn’t mean I don’t get disappointed I just go to my bank file of things to do when plans go awry and do something else. This year I have stopped some of those because they were somewhat unhealthy habits. Now in place I have a few new ones. Mainly housework or blogging.

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