Children with autism have difficulty communicating and interacting with other people. They also engage into other types of behaviors like performing repetitive activities and movements (e.g., body rocking, spinning, pacing, lining objects, etc.), become sensitive to any changes in daily routine, and have unusual responses to certain situations. Due to these difficulties and limitations, as parents, you may find it difficult to have your child get up in the morning and out of the door with the least amount of conflict.
The morning can be the most difficult part of the day. You sometimes may feel exhausted from your day-to-day work but you need to get yourself up and get ready for another day. But apart from rushing in getting the things done in the morning for work, you have to get your child up as well. But mornings are definitely tough and this is maybe the time of the day where your child may actually be defiant and at times would resort into mild tantrums to full-blown outburst in getting things done like getting dressed, making their bed, taking a shower, brushing their teeth, or eating breakfast.
So, how do we alleviate these challenging situations in the morning? One effective way is to establish a morning routine that will help you and your child cope. Routines provide predictability and help ease anxiety and uncertainty about what is happening around, thereby helping the child to have greater control over his/her environment. Following through in accomplishing the same routine every day, consistency in handling the situations and setting up clear expectations make parents feel more comfortable and make any situations more manageable. In addition, it will help your child to be comfortable in going through their daily activities as well. So, how to establish a good morning routine?
Setting up a schedule
As parents, you may encounter some challenges at home especially in following through with your child’s morning routines. Daily schedules help lessen some of these challenges. Before you start setting up the morning schedule, you have to know the effects of certain activities on your child. Maybe your child gets upset getting up in the morning, maybe gets overwhelmed by the noises of people around or when presented with simple directives. After knowing all those things, then you can start up a schedule that would fit your child’s needs.
Once you’re done with the list of activities for your morning routine, it will be easier for you and your child to get through it little by little each day. It is also vital to have parents set up your own schedule that would help you with your morning routine, particularly for working parents and try incorporating it and try to be consistent or do it in the same manner, every day.
Using visual support
Children with autism may not understand social cues, may have difficulty in following simple directives, or may struggle in dealing with any changes around them as they go into their daily activities. In addition, these children can sometimes have difficulties with sequencing. Visual support will help your child have a clear picture of sets of activities that they need to complete for a certain period of time. It’s a clear way to communicate to your child the sets of activities needed to get done before going to school or before going out for therapy sessions. Visual supports can be pictures, drawings, objects, written words, or lists that you can utilize depending on your child’s needs. The fewer and clearer choices they are given to choose from, the easier for these children in following the routine.
In presenting visual support, be creative and try to incorporate each activity with some pictures of your child’s favorite toys or favorite cartoon characters/superheroes, etc. Because in going through with each activity on the schedule, these children can easily have a meltdown or become overwhelmed. Creating visual support that will help catch your child’s attention, especially incorporating pictures of the reinforcing item/ activity that he/she can have as a reward, will help your child to be more motivated in completing each activity.
Setting up a timer
At the start of the implementation of the morning schedule, try to set a timer for each activity and reinforce it heavily when your child finishes the activity on time. Setting a timer will help you and your child get used to getting each activity done on time. It will help your child see clearly what is happening and when. It can be hard at the start but try to make each activity fun and enticing to the child as you prompt him/her with each activity and celebrate like you won a lotto (e.g., fly the child around the room, play his favorite song, tickle or lift the child up in the air, or anything the child prefer) once done on time.
Once the child is completing each task on the specified amount of time, then you can normally run the schedule without a timer. You also need to set clear expectations on what the child needs to do and what he/she can get when the activity is done on time and not get when not able to complete the task. Be consistent and be ready to follow through with all your conditions. With each activity done on a specified period of time, then you’ll have enough to get all the activities done on time before heading out.
Setting up a sequence of activities
In setting up the sequence of activities on the schedule, try to check first the preferences of your child. It is essential to tailor it to the sequence of activities that your child prefers. Your child may prefer to do some activities first over the others. To make your child more comfortable in going through with the schedule, try focusing on their priorities.
For instance, if your child prefers to take a shower first before breakfast or the other way around, then honor it. Involve your child in setting up the sequence of activities on the schedule and once you’re comfortable with the sequence then stick to it. The child can change the sequence provided that he/she conforms to the sets of expectations in place. Remember as well to follow through.
Preparing ahead of time
It can be very difficult for you to wake your child up in the morning. Your child can easily get into meltdown or tantrums when he/she still wants to sleep more. To avoid this problem, have your child sleep early and have a consistent time for bed.
In the morning, try to get up an hour or a few minutes early ahead of time to give you and your child extra time to go through each activity without being pressured. It will help you work at your own pace and to avoid getting late for work or school.
You can also prepare things ahead of time or the night before like picking out their clothes, preparing their snack and lunch, preparing the school bag, and more to avoid getting late and have enough time to address some behaviors that may occur (e.g., meltdowns or tantrums). So, having a consistent time (e.g., 7:00 pm) of bed and wake up time (e.g., 6:00 am) will help your child settle in a routine.
Setting up a reward system
Make clear expectations on what your child gets upon completing each activity on the schedule and what your child gets upon completing all the activities calmly on time. Make all the activities fun and motivating to the child by incorporating on the schedule the things that they can get in completing the set of activities on the schedule. For instance, if your child completes the activities on the schedule calmly before heading out, then your child can have one chocolate muffin (e.g., child’s favorite food) as his/her snack at school. The most important thing is to keep your child motivated and not feel stress out in going through with his/her morning routine.
Establishing a morning routine will not only help your child feel relaxed in getting through each activity in the morning but can also help anxious parents as routines provide predictability. For children with autism, routines help them to feel comfortable in an environment that makes them feel in control. So try to apply these strategies at home to help your child have a fantastic start of his/her day.