I am currently going through a really, really difficult period, with a lot of uncertainty and change, and it’s probably one of the most testing times of my life. Looking back at some of my other ‘lowest times’, I’ve normally been in a situation where I’ve not had much control over what was happening, but I have at least had some stability, and known what was happening, and what would happen, at least in the short term. Right now, I don’t have any of that, and as someone who is autistic, it feels incredibly, incredibly stressful. Fear of the unknown and of change is something that makes life difficult day-to-day for me, and is definitely one of my autistic trait’s that has a really big impact on my life.

Need for routine, rigidity, fear of change – these all come under ‘social imagination’ or ‘information processing’, when we think about the four key areas of difference experienced by autistic individuals. The world can feel incredibly chaotic and confusing and scary and having routines, rituals, controlling certain things and keeping them the same…makes things feel safer. It’s very common for autistic individuals to like to do certain thing at certain times, to do certain things certain ways, to like to eat the same foods, or same tableware, or wear the clothes.

The problem is, life is full of changes and unknowns. Not everything is under our control; for example, if you work, or when you’re studying, certain decisions or plans may be up to other employees, or your teachers. And, of course, we can’t choose, or always know, what other people do.
There are also things you may not be able to choose or know because the decisions cannot be made yet. And then some aspects of life are always unpredictable – there are always unexpected events.

What strategies can help with dealing with change?

I hope this helps!