228 Results in Strategies

Loneliness: a part of being on the spectrum?

‘Ella (28, ASD) has promised her dad to go and watch his performance with the guitar school he takes classes with. The performance takes place in a theatre, and every seat is taken as the performance was sold out. Ella finds that a lot of people want to talk to her about the unique coat… Join The Curly Hair Project Community Today This article and our podcasts are available only to members of our community. If you would like to continue to read this article, along with receiv…

5 tips to improve executive function

Here are some tips that have helped me to strengthen some of my executive function skills. I use these tips together or separately. Some might be contradictory. They are all options for different sorts of task.

The extra importance of ‘free time’ for people with ASD

'Free time' is important for everyone in order to maintain a healthy work-life balance. Free time could be defined as the time outside the normal working day or the time allocated to seeing friends or pursuing hobbies. For people who work a 9-5 working week or for children who go to school, their free time will typically mean the evenings or the weekends. Throughout the day, breaks and lunch breaks are also sometimes considered to be free time. There are a few things to consider when we talk about free time for people with ASD. Normal day to day activities consume an enormous amount of energy for people on the autism spectrum. There are various reasons why things are so draining, including but not limited to:

How do our interests change when we involve others?

It is often advised that people on the autism spectrum will develop better social skills and enjoy socialising more if they socialise around their special interest. There's probably a lot of truth to that - for reasons including: There will be a predictable topic to talk about (the interest) There may be something else to focus on (if the interest is practical) as opposed to the 'socialising' The individual might have greater confidence as they are likely to know a lot about the topic It may also be sensible to recognise that, although social skills may improve, the enjoyment or interest in the interest may be different or may even get less if there are other people involved. Pursuing an interest in solitude is a completely different experience to pursuing an interest with others. For me, I treat them as separate things. Have you ever tried to participate in something you like, with other people? Have you tried to encourage your autistic loved one to participate in something you know they like, with other people? How did those experiences turn out? For me, many times they were more stressful than enjoyable. In this article I will discuss some reasons for this. I will use the example of weightlifting/exercise/fitness for ease of reading (since it applies to me), but you can think about how each aspect relates to your interest.

Time limits and durations

The time I've planned to do something is important, but so is the length of time that I've planned to do it for. For example, it's just as important for me to know that I'm going to walk my dog at 9am as it is to know I'm going to walk her for 60 minutes.

Sensory accommodations for food, exercise and sleep

The combination of good diet, good sleep and regular exercise can have enormous benefits for everyone. For people with ASD however, it might be more difficult to achieve these things - primarily due to social challenges and sensory processing difficulties. These three things though, can make the world of a difference to someone's physical and mental well being - so it's really important to take them seriously. Food Lots of people on the autism spectrum have unusual food preferences. Some of this may come down to the desire for sameness and predictability, for example insistence on eating exactly the same brand of item every time or feeling stressed when a brand changes its recipe or ingredients. 

4 golden rules for managing sensations

Having suffered an injury, I've had frequent hospital appointments! That's the inspiration for this blog article. For someone like me who has hypersensitivity, even 'normal' sensations can be extremely uncomfortable. Sounds such as fire alarm tests, sirens, drilling, hammering, the doorbell ringing and lorries driving past are things that can happen every day yet they don't overly bother most people. I personally hate the sounds of live music, instruments, singing and clapping as well, whereas many people enjoy those sounds. Nobody likes the smell of garbage or sewage but - again - people seem to get over them quickly. Feelings such as combing your hair or wearing certain items of clothing can be uncomfortable to some people but not overly so.

The dangers of hyposensitivity

Hypo (under) sensitivity means being under sensitive to the environment (for example, sound, touch and light, etc.). If you are under sensitive to something, that means your brain is not responding to the stimulus - even if your physical body is. Some people with ASD experience hyposensitivity - although from what I've read, it appears that hyper (over) sensitivity may be more common. Only after really thinking about this subject did I realise that hyposensitivity can be very dangerous. This article looks at why, gives some examples, and suggests some helpful strategies to deal with hyposensitivity.

10 personal strategies for dealing with anxiety

The 10 bits of advice listed below have changed my life. These are the things I personally do every single day/throughout the day. As a result - generally - my anxiety day to day is under control and I am able to live the way I want to and do the things I want to do. There is a lot of advice already available about dealing with anxiety, but much of that won't be overly helpful for people on the autism spectrum. I wanted to share my personal strategies with you because I hope they may be useful to you too. 1. Finding out lots of information so I know what to expect I need to know what is going on pretty much all of the time. In situations that I don't have a lot of control over (for example, when I'm out of the house, shopping, at work, at a social gathering...), I prefer to know as much as possible about "who-what-where-why-when-how." When I have this information, I can use it to decide whether or not I will participate. If it sounds manageable, I'll be more inclined to participate and enjoy it. If it doesn't sound manageable, I'll decline and probably end up avoiding the likely outcome which would be a meltdown/shutdown. Knowledge is power, as they say. Having lots of information about something before I agree or disagree to participate makes me feel like I have a bit of control. That sense of control is very important.

4 simple strategies for socialising

Many people with ASD crave companionship, want to make friends and spend time with friends. But even spending time with friends can be difficult and stressful, which is something that I'm not sure many neurotypical people would understand. This article provides 4 simple strategies for both the individual with ASD and their friend(s), to make the time spent together more comfortable for the individual with ASD, which will consequently make the relationship stronger and more enjoyable for both.