I work with an adult who becomes very aggressive when the TV schedule for his favourite programme changes.

Any kind of change can be difficult for a person with autism to understand, especially when it impacts on a favourite event. The best way to help them overcome this is to try and teach them flexibility as early as possible. Learning that things do change, often without warning, can help a person with autism prepare for this in the future. This can be done in a number of ways.

Structured change

Allowing other people to change the TV channel could teach him not to have control of the TV schedule all the time. If it is a residential environment, could there be different days that different people get to decide what to watch?

A surprise schedule could also be built into the whole day's activity. This could be done by introducing a visual timetable on the wall and sticking a surprise visual (making sure it is bright so it stands out) over a disliked activity and introducing a fun activity instead. This might help a person cope with the change more because it is motivating. The surprise activity will also eventually become a fairly everyday task to him, so he will learn to cope better with mundane changes.

If there is a problem around a particular TV programme, it may be easier for him to record the programme and have a different designated time to watch it, so he has a degree of control over this.

Social stories

It might be helpful to write a social story. This is a short story, sometimes with pictures, that explains a particular event - such as why TV schedules occasionally change and why he may need to watch the programme on a different day or time.

Self-calming strategies

He may need to learn self-calming strategies, such as breathing deeply. Alternatively, he could be directed to taking out physical aggression by crushing the recycling or punching a cushion or punch bag. Some people also redirect their physical aggression into something more constructive, such as writing a letter of complaint to the TV station. However you may need to take care that the person doesn't become obsessed with writing to the TV station. They may also need to be made aware that they won't neccessarily get the response they want from their letter.