6
AUTISM SOLUTIONS
Simple Tips For Helping
Someone With Autism
Get Into a Routine
By Sara JAMIESON, BA
S
tarting or getting into routines can be diffi-
cult for teens and young adults with autism
and learning differences. Here are six basic
steps you can use to help someone on the
spectrum establish normal routines. These
steps can be used by anyone looking to ei-
ther get back to a routine, start a new one,
or help someone else create and follow a routine.
Step 1:
Finding Motivation
It is important to find your personal motivation and
answer the question of why this routine is important
to you to make it successful. A quick and easy way
to do this is to work backward. Think of the big goal
you want to accomplish in the next week, month, or
semester. Then, ask yourself why you want to accom-
plish this goal. For many students, goals are related
to becoming more independent or having more
overall freedom. Once we have long-term goals, we
determine what they might look like.
Now we must answer the question, “Why?” For a stu-
dent, it might be to earn more money or have more
free time. Once you determine what you want, it is
easier to motivate yourself to start the daily routines
necessary to accomplish your long-term goals.
Step 2:
Create a Visual
Once you know your goal and why you want to ac-
complish it, set up visual reminders. This is most im-
portant on those days you would rather sleep in or
skip a necessary routine like cleaning. It is too easy to
get caught up in the day-to-day stressors and forget
about what we want to accomplish. Creating a visual
can help remind us why a routine is important and
help keep our motivation consistent. First, create a
visual that works for you. For some, this might simply
be writing the goal and the reason why they want to
accomplish the goal, and taping it up on their walls.
Others might prefer to create pictures to represent
goals. For example, if your goal is to be more inde-
pendent and have more free time, printing a picture
of the things you want to do during your free time,
like playing video games, can be a nice addition to
the written goal and a statement of why you want to
Autism Parenting Magazine | Issue 87 |
57