Helping Autistic Children Cope with Transition
If you are a parent or carer of an autistic child, you’ve probably been advised to provide a consistent and predictable routine for them, as this is thought to be one of the keys to ensuring a calm life. But putting this in place, when trying to balance the demands of everyday life, can be tricky. As much as you might try to maintain peace, life doesn’t always go to plan. Unexpected and unplanned things happen. And just like that, your autistic child might suddenly start to display previous or new behaviours that challenge.
Sometimes the reason this happens is obvious. A significant life change such as transition to a new school or moving home can often trigger anxiety and fear, but sometimes the reason is far less obvious and might seem like a bolt from the blue. You might not know how to resolve it.
What is transition?
The Oxford English Dictionary defines ‘transition’ as “the process in which something changes from one state or activity to another”. Transition can be a seemingly small event like moving from one activity to another activity, or a more significant milestone such as the onset of puberty.
Preparation for any change helps autistic youngsters anticipate what is going to happen, and makes the world around them more predictable and less anxiety-inducing. You can help them cope with change and reduce their anxiety using, for example, a checklist of daily events to ensure a smooth start to the school day. These and visual timetables, with and without pictures, can enable the child to predict, plan and organise what they need to do between waking up and leaving the house. A checklist might look something like this:
7.30am - wake up
7.40am - get out of bed
7.45am - get washed
7.55am - get dressed
8.05am - eat breakfast
8.20am - leave the house
Knowing what needs to happen may not only ensure a calm start to the day, it can also encourage the child’s independence. Whilst some autistic children may need a visual timetable, checklist or other support for a short while, others may require it more long term, or may need it to be reintroduced at times of significant transition such as the move from primary to secondary school.
It is a misconception that just because the child is older and has coped with their morning routine at primary school, it will be the same at secondary school. Such a significant transition often requires the same level of support that served them well when they were younger. This is not unusual.
Transition, anxiety and behaviours that challenge
The British Psychological Society (2021) estimates that between 70% and 80% of autistic children and young people experience significant anxiety on a daily basis. In their book A Practical Guide for Teachers of Students with an Autism Spectrum Disorder in Secondary School, Costley et al (2012) explain that anxiety can be expressed physiologically (muscle tension, nausea), cognitively (attributions, beliefs) and behaviourally (avoidance, escape, anger).
The autistic child faces many challenges within a typical school day and it's very easy to see how they may accumulate high levels of anxiety throughout the day. They have to cope with a number of transitions - from home to school and back again, between lessons, break and lunch time and transitions within lessons when moving from one activity to another or coming to the end of some work. There are sensory demands with noise, large numbers of people and the smell of food within the canteen. There are social demands, with unpredictable and often confusing social interactions amongst peers and with adults.
Regularly experiencing such high levels of anxiety might result in what we purposely refer to as ‘behaviours that challenge’, a phrase which intentionally attaches the negative label to the behaviours rather than to the child. It is the behaviour, whether physically or verbally, passive or aggressive, that challenges us. In her book Developing Excellence in Autism Practice, Guldberg (2020) explains how behaviours that challenge can arise from the interaction between biological factors (such as sensory sensitivities to light, sound, touch, smell, taste), psychological factors (such as lack of attentiveness or fear of not understanding) and environmental factors.
Dr Luke Beardon, Senior Lecturer in Autism at Sheffield Hallam University, has written extensively about anxiety in autistic children and young people. In his book Avoiding Anxiety in Autistic Children (2020), he discusses the formula
autism + environment = outcome
He explains that “the outcome might be positive or negative, but the person who is autistic remains the same; it is the environment that leads to the outcome. So, if you want a successful outcome, and you recognise the person with autism cannot change their brain, then the only thing you can change is the environment. And that often, but not always, means the people within that environment.” It is a small wonder then that the child who has been holding it together all day at school erupts when they get home.
Beardon’s formula resonates with me and the work that I do with parents and carers to support their autistic child. All behaviour is communication and using a child-centred approach I work with parents to investigate what has been impacting the child. We examine why the child may be experiencing high levels of anxiety which manifest as behaviours that challenge.
I am passionate about positive outcomes for autistic children and young people and my overriding aim is to help parents and carers, as well as educational professionals, to feel more confident in being able to support them so that they flourish.
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You can find out more about Stephanie here. Contact RocketEd to find out how she can support you.
