Published on 12, July, 2020
My daughter, Chloe, 18, struggles to wait for long periods of time especially when she doesn't know for how long.
This comes into play mainly when she, her sister, and her sister's 2 friends are going out. Her friends and sister are very good understanding her needs, also because on of the friends is autistic too. Unfortunately there are a lot of times where they spontaneously plan to go out but need to wait for one or more people to get home first because they have plans before hands.
Chloe really struggles to wait when she doesn't know how long she needs to wait. She now has meltdowns because of it. She doesn't know what to do when she waits because she doesn't know how long she will be waiting for therefore doesn't know if she has time to watch an episode of something, have dinner or lunch, shower, etc.
What can I do to help her with waiting?
Thanks,
Lucy
It's horrible not knowing when something is going to happen - I really feel for her.
I have two quick games on my tablet - a version of scrabble and solitaire - which I play when I'm waiting. If I suddenly need to do something, I can then leave them to finish another time. I also review if I have done everything I need to, and if it's been a few hours since I ate and I don't know when the next meal will be, I have a snack to stop my blood sugar getting low.