Part-time work crippling me

These situations are going to be challenging for even the best adapted autist I think - there is so much sensory overload plus the social interaction with unpredictable little monsters and their older monster parents.

There are some things you can take away from this that are positive however:

1 - you are surviving it so it shows you have the ability to endure a lot of stress. Congratulate yourself every day for this.

2 - you can learn ways to reduce the stress a bit at a time with practice. Learning to relax your shoulders by taking a few seconds where you have a moment to breathe deeply and force your shoulders to relax can give a bit of temporary relief. Try to notice when you are tensing up and actively relax your muscles to get these mini-boosts through the day. It can really help by building mental stamina in my experience.

3 - you are learning to script responses to the people you interact with. There will be great defence mechanisms for future responses and can help you feel less anxious before the interactions. You will always find new challenges and challenges but you are learning to cope now and will continue to learn in future. Have faith in your ability to evolve with this.

4- learn how to wind down after these events. Your approach to sleep is great one but taking time to write down everything that is on your mind first can help you have much bette quality sleep and hence recovery. Just get a notepad and write it all out. Also drink to hydrate afterwards as sef care is often overlooked - avoid overly salty food, booze and caffaine and you are creating a better mental landscape for your recovery.

5 - reward yourself when you complete the run of work. Having a goal at the end of it can be a powerful motivator.

6 - When dealing with kids who are acting unpredictably I find it helps to think that is this was me at that age, would I behave in the expected way or would I be confused, fearful, angry etc and possibly act out because of sensory overload?  Sure it may just be some spoiled brat whose parent has not taugh it any manners but I find it better to give them the benefit of the doubt and think that later in life they will proably try that on someone who will make them regret it anyway. Don't let it become your problem.

Just a few thoughts - we can use these sorts of situations to learn and grow our resiliance so try to see it as a positive that you have to work through but at least you have some tools now to get through it more easily.

These situations are going to be challenging for even the best adapted autist I think - there is so much sensory overload plus the social interaction with unpredictable little monsters and their older monster parents.

There are some things you can take away from this that are positive however:

1 - you are surviving it so it shows you have the ability to endure a lot of stress. Congratulate yourself every day for this.

2 - you can learn ways to reduce the stress a bit at a time with practice. Learning to relax your shoulders by taking a few seconds where you have a moment to breathe deeply and force your shoulders to relax can give a bit of temporary relief. Try to notice when you are tensing up and actively relax your muscles to get these mini-boosts through the day. It can really help by building mental stamina in my experience.

3 - you are learning to script responses to the people you interact with. There will be great defence mechanisms for future responses and can help you feel less anxious before the interactions. You will always find new challenges and challenges but you are learning to cope now and will continue to learn in future. Have faith in your ability to evolve with this.

4- learn how to wind down after these events. Your approach to sleep is great one but taking time to write down everything that is on your mind first can help you have much bette quality sleep and hence recovery. Just get a notepad and write it all out. Also drink to hydrate afterwards as sef care is often overlooked - avoid overly salty food, booze and caffaine and you are creating a better mental landscape for your recovery.

5 - reward yourself when you complete the run of work. Having a goal at the end of it can be a powerful motivator.

6 - When dealing with kids who are acting unpredictably I find it helps to think that is this was me at that age, would I behave in the expected way or would I be confused, fearful, angry etc and possibly act out because of sensory overload?  Sure it may just be some spoiled brat whose parent has not taugh it any manners but I find it better to give them the benefit of the doubt and think that later in life they will proably try that on someone who will make them regret it anyway. Don't let it become your problem.

Just a few thoughts - we can use these sorts of situations to learn and grow our resiliance so try to see it as a positive that you have to work through but at least you have some tools now to get through it more easily.