53. Rigid Thinking and the Inability to be Flexible
We know is that in autism their repetitive and fixated behaviors are generally their strategies for reducing the chaos and minimalizing their overload by seeking the predictability and routine of sameness. These are all of their attempts to decrease their overwhelm from the stimulation and provide some sort of order to the confusing overwhelming world they are in. Our children struggle with being flexible because of their need for sameness and being in control and when things have to change or you have to drive a different way home because of a traffic accident their ability to be flexible is nowhere to be found, right? Our world honestly is way too uncertain and unpredictable for our kids on the spectrum. What applies in one situation doesn’t necessarily apply to the next and that results in increased anxiety and sometimes anger when things don’t go the way they anticipated. Our goal is never to overwhelm them but we want them to mentally engage and tackle their uncertainty and reduce that rigid thinking. We want them to be able to evaluate options when there is a roadblock or something doesn’t go as they planned. Everyone makes mistakes until they practice and get better. You have to learn what doesn’t work to ultimately learn what does work right? That is what we want to teach them. www.notyouraverageautismmom.com