Understanding the social world is hard for many child with social anxiety. Rigidity is often seen. In dealing with rigidity, it is important to teach this child how to maneuver in the social world. Rigidity could be viewed as a coping strategy for avoiding uncomfortable things. When a child is uncomfortable, there are heel marks from where they start to where they need to go. Here are a few things that cause some children to "dig in their heels."
- Confusion. They just don't understand what is going on around them or what they are suppose to do. This could be because of weak listening skills, slow processing of information, being distracted or another reason that you can't figure out. This is why a child has to be taught to recognize when he is confused and taught what to do about it. Until he does this, rigidity will accompany this confusion.
- Feeling overwhelmed. This could be caused by sensory overload, skills that seem too hard, too large, or several non preferred tasks in a row.
- Lack of understanding of time related concepts. Sequencing of routines and common social situations are unnatural. This child does not usually know what five minutes "feels like." A timer and a visual list of steps can save the day for this child while causing far less rigidity.
- Non preferred activities especially transitioning to them after a preferred activity. An incentive that is meaningful to this child could help move this child from rigidity to compliance.
It's helpful to understand the why's behind this behavior. When an adult or peer "gets" where the rigidity comes from, it's far easier to help create a solution.
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