Many of us need a strict routine, things must happen at certain time. Changes in the time can affect us severely. For me I start eating at 11:30, my body isn't ready to receive anything before that. When clocks change, my body is still on the 'old' time. Now I get hungry at weird times. Takes me 3-4 days to adjust.
Nightmare! As a child, Christmas was a religious day, and the festive period involved seeing lots of relatives in different places. Christmas Eve and Day, were not normal. People woke later, and when they did, it was all action. Lots of noise and voices. No idea when people are arriving. Already overwhelmed. But wait, the best bit's to come. Relatives arrive, or I arrive at theirs, the mask of conformity is put on. A fake look of interest and pleasantry. I'd been instructed to "be on my best behaviour", "no swearing", "be a good boy, for once". In my mind, don't be yourself, we don't want people to know what you're really like.
As I said before, I need to eat at 11:30. On Christmas Day lunch would be at 2, and by the time I got to eat any, we had to make sure everyone was seated, say grace, and then there was a pecking order to who got served first. By the time I had a plate of things I could eat, it was cold. Temperature, texture, taste, all wrong. Inedible. Still have to be polite. All I wanted for this day, was to eat a hot meal when I'm hungry and then be left alone.
Remember, routine is so important, the strategies we use to regulate should not be interrupted just because it's a particular day.
The best way to trigger those with Autism, OCD, ADHD, ADD, Tourette's, trauma, and many others.
How to avoid/ help:
- A week before the event, say what it is, when it is, where it is, who will be there, what time we will arrive and leave.
- 3 days before, go through the same details again. If anything has changed, tell them.
- day before, go through it again. At this point it best to ask how the person feels about going there. If they're uneasy, you've noticed signs of dysregulation, it would be best to contact the person organising the event to say they may not come.
- the day of the event. In the morning ask if they'd like to go, saying there is no pressure. If the answer is yes, then say the time we'll arrive and, most importantly leave. Stick to the leaving time, dysregulation will start with 10 minutes to go. Whilst there, allow for time outs, it will help to stay longer.