I Need To Remember My Autism Needs Transitions
I just got back to my office from dropping my wife off at her teaching job and doing some supermarket shopping.
I have autism and AuDHD and my brain was gong at a million miles an hour thinking of all the things I need to do. My autism was getting very paralysed trying to decide what to do and I was literally getting ready to dive into this mess when I suddenly realised: I really need to remember to deliberately transition from one thing to the next.
Because I’m autistic and ADHD, if I don’t deliberately transition between tasks or environments, I can get very overwhelmed and dysregulated and I just don’t do as well and often end up in paralysis hell or worse shutting down.
The biggest problem is that when things are going really well, I start forgetting to do the things, like transitioning, managing my environment, that help me so much in the first place.
I have to be consistently vigilant so I don’t forget to do the very things I need to do to keep me productive and able to function well.
It’s like I never get to let my guard down and when I do, things deteriorate. Now I really need to find a reliable means of reminding myself of the daily things I need to do in order to accommodate my own neurodivergent brain.
My Transition Checklist
This is a transition checklist I made last year and I more or less follow it now:
These are my steps for a good transition.
Pre-Checks:
* Check skin feels ok, no weird clothing stuff going on?
* Air temp ok?
* Lighting ok?
* Visual field ok? Not too much clutter
* How do I feel in my body?
Transition steps:
* Sit in my beanbag
* Watch youtube stim video
* Play with fidget toy/s
* Breath in nose slow out of mouth
* Drift into thinking about what I’m going to be doing next
I don’t do every step every time, I’ll often mix and match as suits. My favourite stim Youtube videos include:
https://youtu.be/8jmK6C3Q6ys?si=kQPeNg3la9BYjC6A
https://youtu.be/SQKkx60g6Hc?si=2cZALaKLe7Ep7FPt
This one is so funny and just brings me so much joy.
https://youtu.be/9VpPKyELmnQ?si=k3ny78AXXRsQBL-A
I think a lot of the transition process is about giving my brain a chance to change gears in an orderly fashion.
Hope this helps.
