AUTISM AND ROUTINE

WHAT IS THE CONNECTION BETWEEN AUTISM AND ROUTINE?

This is the question that one of my followers asked me, I answered them and after I did, I realized that you might also be asking it. So, today I am going to answer you as well (in case you were also wondering).

But first things first, what is a routine?

A routine is a course of action to be followed regularly, a standard procedure. But to people with autism, a routine is more than a standard procedure. It’s like a map or a guide they follow to navigate life daily.

Now, the connection between autism and routine is that children and adults on the autism spectrum have difficulty ADAPTING, ADJUSTING, and PREDICTING.

Children and adults with autism have characteristics that make life very difficult to get by and routinely make things very easy for them.

In fact, routine makes things easy for many if not all of us. And now and again, we all have a certain routine on certain things.

See it like this: well, I don’t know if you also know this, but I do. Most blind people don’t use their walking stick when they’re at their own homes and there’s a very good and valid reason.

Although they did initially use their walking stick in their homes, after getting used to their “environment” and learning all the above-mentioned, they stopped.

Here’s why

They are in their own safe space and environment, and they know well all about it that they don’t need assistance.

They know the entire layout of their house whether they have seen it before or not. They know how the house is structured, they know which room is where and probably how big it is too.

They also know how the furniture is set, and how to walk from one room to the next without walking and bumping into walls and other harmful objects. They know how to maneuver around seamlessly.

But when they’re outside, that’s totally different. Outside is a different place with all sorts of potential danger and harmful things which they can easily stumble upon, hence relying on their walking stick to prevent and avoid such.

Routine is an autistic person’s “walking stick”

Unlike a blind person who relies on their walking stick when they’re in unfamiliar surroundings, a person with autism relies on routine whether they are in familiar or unfamiliar surroundings.

Why? because life is most of the time about adapting, adjusting, and predicting. Something their brains aren’t wired to do.

Routine helps them cope in stressful environments; it helps them feel like they’re in control. And most importantly, routine helps them to slowly learn the things their brains aren’t wired to do which is adjusting and adapting.

If you take away routine from an autistic person, you might as well take a blind person’s walking stick and expect them to be fine without it out there in their unfamiliar settings.

That is the connection between autism and routine!