Do you love change? I'm not talking about the coins the lady at the convenience gives you when she is handed a $5 bill. I'm referring to the events of the day, week or month. It could be a surprise fire drill or finding out the family is going to move to the next state. Many children with learning differences react strongly to change in life. Why does a change, even the smallest one cause so much upheaval? I'm sure there are many reasons. Today, let's look at one.
Deficits in understanding how time works
If a child doesn't understand how time works it affects his ability to predict what will happen next. He knew that math came after reading on Tuesday. He could predict what the schedule and expectations would be. Now, there is a note on the board that the class will go to an all school assembly about the magazine sales fundraiser after the teacher takes attendance. Let's forget about all the negatives of going to an all school assembly for a child who may not like this large sensory invading activity. First of all, he must change gears for what he thought he would do this morning. That takes a lot of emotional energy. Now he can't predict what the rest of his morning will look like. Will the class have reading once they return to the classroom or will they skip it today? Will all the subjects be taught on a revised schedule? This child doesn't know how to predict what will occur. This causes anxiety. For some, a little bit and for others a tremendous amount.
It is important to remember, a change in the schedule, the rules or procedure is almost always a non preferred activity. Changes to a non preferred activity are the hardest for some children to navigate. It often doesn't matter how big or small the change is. The larger issue is that there is no way for the person to predict what comes after the change. The adult can help the child by preparation for a known change and help in predicting what will come next and how the child can handle the change. If the child has a hard time verbalizing his difficulty, the adult may need to offer information such as how the new schedule will look. The adult cN tell the child that he is here to provide help. This is often anxiety reducing to the child. I have often told children that I am a problem solver and I am here to help her settle this problem. It is amazing how quick the child's anxiety decreases when she knows I am there to help by filling I the blanks by predicting what to expect.
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