Resistance to Change

Aspies often have problems with change in routine or circumstances.

Some examples of circumstances in which an Aspie may have a reaction that appears unusually irrational to neurotypicals:

• A simple change in purpose or schedule for a regularly scheduled meeting

• A change in schools

• A change in housing or neighborhood

• Interruption in daily household routines

Following is an excerpt from a blog post describing the source of the anxieties surrounding change, and the mechanisms beneath it:

One of the common traits of Asperger’s Syndrome is an irrational, irresistible sense of urgency and importance about what we’re currently focused on [sic].

Any kind of interruption to our concentration/focus — especially repeated interruptions — raises our stress and anxiety (cause-and-effect) toward meltdown threshold, often exponentially: the more insistently we’re interrupted or disrupted, the faster the rate and scale of the rise.

Of course, this leads to increasing frustration and anger in our “tormentor” — and an inevitable rise in the frequency and intensity of their “demands”.

Because we’re being continually interrupted (nagged!), we tend to lash out blindly at the perceived source of the stress. We may not even be consciously aware of that source — who or what it is or their importance to us. We just react emotionally to the unbearable level of stress and its perceived source.

https://myaspieworld.home.blog/2019/03/01/obstinate-resistant-volatile/

Useful links:

• https://kennethrobersonphd.com/resistance-change-people-aspergers/

• https://www.appliedbehavioranalysisedu.org/why-is-routine-so-important-to-people-with-asd/

• https://myaspieworld.home.blog/2019/03/01/obstinate-resistant-volatile/