I’ve noticed that Bookasaurus can take an age to move from one room to another. Particularly from his bedroom to the bathroom to clean his teeth. He’s a complete bookie (loves books) and needs to flick through a book to calm and organise himself before going on to the next thing but he has me on tenterhooks trying to get him in the bathroom to get ready for school. I’m sure you’ve experienced similar challenges!
My approach is to let him flick through his book and then carry it with him to the bathroom, I might read a few words once we are in the bathroom and then discreetly deposit it outside the bathroom and we get on with the challenge of cleaning teeth (another story).
Children on the Autistic Spectrum can find transitions (moving from one place/room/activity to another difficult) and so anything we can do to make it easier for them will help. Routine is always great and I will tell Bookasaurus in advance if we are going somewhere as he likes to know what’s coming.
We were going to Bookasaurus’s grandparent’s house after school and I’d forgotten to tell him that’s what we were doing so I thought ‘what could I do to make this fun and give him some control and choice’. Giving autistic children choices and involving them in what is happening can help to empower them.
He loves dinosaurs so I said to him ‘Dinosaur Munch said he wanted to go and see your grandparents this afternoon’ he immediately picked up on this and said ‘ok let’s take all the dinosaurs with us’ I can go and get Diplodocus, Stegosaurus, etc. I thought ‘oh no what have I done’ this is going to take an age but he was having a great time! He chose a selection of dinosaurs which gave him the opportunity to be in control and to organise, which he loves and it also took the pressure off him because it was the dinosaurs that wanted to go.
He went off to his grandparents a very happy chappie and then took great delight in showing them all his dinosaurs when he got there!
Tips on moving from one place to another:
- Adapt to them and take the pressure off (let them take their book or favourite toy if it helps)
- Visuals are really helpful (pictures on the wall that show what is coming next)
- Give them choices and control (this is hard but you could say would you like to go to the toilet first or brush your teeth?)
Do let me know what challenges you’ve had with moving your children from one place/activity to another in my Comments section and how you made it easier for them? It’s not easy being parents of children with extra challenges but together we can ‘Learn to Love Autism’ and support our children and ourselves so that we all thrive together.
You can also e-mail me at jo@learningtoloveautism.com, drop me a line using the form on my Contact page and see my 1:1 packages on my ‘Work With Me’ page.
The suggestions provided on this website are for information and sharing purposes only. They should not be treated as professional medical advice or a substitute for diagnosis/treatment, so please speak to your health professional for help.
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