How To Help Children With Autism Transition Better

All of us transition from one activity to another over the course of our day. We freshen up when we get out of bed, eat breakfast, head to school or work, come back home, and so on. For people with Autism, however, transitioning from one activity to another can be hard. They tend to have a greater need for predictability, as well as an aversion to any one activity being disrupted, which means that they may either fail to transition or resist it aggressively. There are, however, several useful tools to help children with Autism handle transition at school, home, or anywhere else. Let’s take a closer look at this.

Understanding Autism

Autism or Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) refers to a range of neurodevelopmental disorders that affect social, behavioral, and communicative abilities. Children with Autism tend to display repetitive behaviors, have trouble understanding social cues, and often withdraw from or refuse to participate in group activities. There is no cure for Autism, although treatment can help children lead highly functional lives. Treatment for Autism in Bangalore consists of speech therapy, stem cell therapy, and occupational and behavioral therapy to help them adjust better to social settings.

Transitioning for children with Autism

Transitioning is an indispensable part of any school day. Children may move from one classroom to the other, from the classroom to the playground, from the playground to the lunchroom, and so on. For a child with Autism, these transitions can come as confusing, as they require a higher degree of sameness and predictability than other children. They may also have trouble comprehending and sequencing information if the transition involves multiple steps, such as putting away the crayons and shutting the books before standing up. Particularly if the transition is an unexpected one, such as a change in the location of a certain class, it could confuse and disturb the child to the point where they resist the transition and disrupt the rest of the class. Transition strategies, in this regard, are techniques to support the child during the transition process through visual, verbal, or auditory cues. Done correctly, transition strategies can reduce the time taken for the child to move from one activity to another and can also help them behave appropriately before, during, and after the transition.

Tools to help children with Autism transition better

Transition strategies are designed to prepare the child for the upcoming change by giving them enough time to process the necessary information. The information itself is provided through cues that they can easily understand and respond to. Some easy transition strategies that a teacher or parent can use for a child with Autism are as follows.

• Visual timer: This can help the child ‘see’ how much time is left before an activity is complete. It is more concrete than simply telling a child to ‘wait for five minutes’, especially if the child is not good at telling time from a clock.
• Visual countdown: This is a visual board that illustrates how many steps are left before an activity is complete. The ‘steps’ can be represented by coloured strips of paper or by photos. Someone is assigned to take off each strip or photo as the step is complete, allowing the child with Autism to see how many are left before it’s time to transition.
• Transition cards: This is particularly useful when there are multiple steps involved in a transition. For example, if the act of transition is packing away things before leaving a classroom, the child can be given a set of cue cards or photos that explain each step in the right order, such as ‘shut your books’, then ‘put away your crayons’, then push your chair back into place’, and so on. Once all the steps are complete, the child knows it is time to go.
• A ‘complete’ box: It can help to have a designated box where children with Autism can place items that they are done using when it is time to transition. It should be kept in a clearly visible area and labelled properly so that the child knows where to go.
• Schedule reevaluation: For a child with extreme transitioning difficulty, teachers and parents can work together to re-evaluate the schedule of the child and possibly remove any non-essential activities. They can also restructure the order of activities so that the child moves from a non-preferred to a preferred activity, which could be easier for them.

Transitioning can be hard for a child with Autism, but the right strategies can slowly make it easier for them. This, combined with the best treatment for Autism in Bangalore, will help the child gain confidence in social settings and participate just like their peers.

A highly regarded neurologist and stem cell specialist, Dr Na’eem Sadiq studied neurology and clinical neurophysiology in London before working with some of England’s and the Middle East’s most prestigious medical institutions. He completed his MBBS