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mhughes
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07 Jan 2014, 9:38 pm

My daughter has a really hard time with changes in routine. We do our best to keep the day the day the same, but changes in routine are inevitable and she gets visibly stressed and anxious. We try to re-assure her that she is safe and talk him through it, but it doesn't seem to get any better. Should we introduce more changes in routine so she can get more used to them? Are we making it worse by keeping such strict routines?



EzraS
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08 Jan 2014, 3:13 am

mhughes wrote:
My daughter has a really hard time with changes in routine. We do our best to keep the day the day the same, but changes in routine are inevitable and she gets visibly stressed and anxious. We try to re-assure her that she is safe and talk him through it, but it doesn't seem to get any better. Should we introduce more changes in routine so she can get more used to them? Are we making it worse by keeping such strict routines?


wow. that is actually a hard question.
I know i have over time gotten more used to change.
I mean I am doing really well following strict routines.
But yeah the problem with them is when they are interrupted things go haywire in my head
and definitely feel a lot of anxiety sometimes.
But at the same time there is more variety then there used to be.
I guess maybe a combination of both? I mean introducing changes does not mean the entire system
gets removed. So maybe give it a try.
I think it is a difficult line between nurturing and babying.
i mean now that i am 13 it is starting to feel like i am being babied in some ways.



KingdomOfRats
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08 Jan 2014, 9:01 am

mhughes wrote:
My daughter has a really hard time with changes in routine. We do our best to keep the day the day the same, but changes in routine are inevitable and she gets visibly stressed and anxious. We try to re-assure her that she is safe and talk him through it, but it doesn't seem to get any better. Should we introduce more changes in routine so she can get more used to them? Are we making it worse by keeping such strict routines?

yes,the more people enable her routine following the worse it will get for her to want to change,give her some structure and routine but not to the point of relieing on it,am speaking as someone who has spent entire life rigidly following routine with very severe anxiety around the smallest changes and the learning disability hospital am currently sectioned in has been working on making it easier to deal with.
its easier to enable very rigid routine following but it just makes it harder for us in the long run,there are different coping skills to use to help with anxiety such as deep breathing exercises,sensory integration equipment,ABA and PECS timelines.