My 24-year-old son has autism and enjoys going to the local day centre. However, staff there have noticed some challenging behaviour especially during transition between different activities.
People with autism can find it both difficult to understand such an abstract concept as time and shift their attention from one task to the next, this may explain why your son finds transition times especially challenging.
The following tips, which focus on visual supports, might help you address this issue.
Structuring transition times
Have a visual, concrete representation of how long your son needs to wait before the activity is going to begin - this might be an electronic timer, sand timer, or stickers on a clock face.
If your son finds it difficult to wait for the next activity, could the transition be made as minimal as possible? For example, if he has a key worker, could he go straight from one activity to the next? If this is not possible, could there be particular activities available to your son during these transition times? A transition box, containing a number of different activities, could keep your son focused during these times, making an unstructured timeframe much more structured.
Shifting attention
The author John Clements highlights the difficulties that people with autism can have with shifting their attention, which can particularly impact at transition (Clements, 2005). The previous activity may have been something your son greatly enjoys, or it may be that once focused on an activity, he finds it difficult to adjust to something else.
He may need a visual warning again, which could be a timer to show him that when the sand or numbers run out, the activity is finished. This could be coupled with a visual timetable showing him the rest of the day’s activities or a now-and-next board, so he can prepare himself. Staff may also find it useful to encourage him to put his activity into a finished tray or the symbol for the activity into a finished box to signal the activity is over.
Problems with sequencing
Clements (2005) highlights the difficulty people with autism can have in holding more than one idea in their head at a time. This is a problem with sequencing - not being able to see the steps leading up to an activity - and this can be a particular problem if the activity, for example, swimming, does not happen immediately. Your son may become very frustrated. Again, the staff may need to provide visual cues of all the steps leading up to the activity as well as timers and activities to occupy your son while he waits.
Mood changes
There will also be certain periods in the day when transition coincides with a mood change, ie waking up, winding down after exercise or coming back to the day centre after being in a busy shopping centre. Clements (2005) suggests that staff members may need to provide particular activities at these times to help improve mood, such as exercise, food, music, massage or a quiet place to retreat to. If staff members find that the behaviour is occurring at key transition moments every day, they may need to think of activities that could be done to improve your son's mood at different parts of the day.