Transitions

The concept of transitions is a very interesting subject to look at more into detail. Every transition made throughout a day is an effort for me, to some extent, and the challenging part is that I make them over and over again, multiple times a day. It is a foundational part of life so it is not possible to avoid but I think that I can adjust the total effort needed on a daily basis, if I become more aware of how they affect me and plan my time based on it (when possible).

As always in this blog, this relation to “transitions” is MY experience, it is not the same for all autistic people. And also as always; I kind of express this while I think about it, so new thoughts on it may come up later on.

So, what do I mean with transitions and which kind of transitions do I include in this concept?

I see a division in “SMALL transitions”, “BIGGER transitions” and “HUGE transitions”.

Examples of SMALL transitions;

• Waking up in the morning and getting out of bed
• Moving from the sofa to the kitchen
• Finishing watching a TV series and starting cleaning
• Switching from one task/ subject to another at work or school
• Going from reading emails at your desk to joining a meeting at work
• Starting and ending a break at work/ school

Examples of BIGGER transitions;

• Leaving home and going to work/ a friend/ school
• Leaving work/ visit/ school to go back home
• Starting vacations/ coming back to work after vacations
• Going from having your kid/s at home to them going to their other parent (e.g. for a week)

Examples of HUGE transitions;

• Moving to a new home
• Starting a new job/ school
• Moving in with someone
• Divorcing someone
• Kids moving out

Every time a transition occurs, it is an effort. It is a switch of focus and I kind of need to “reset”, often like restarting a computer. At the huge ones I also need to “buy a brand new computer”, not just restart it. For some of us any of these transitions can also involve emotional triggers (softer or stronger). For the huge ones, I think most people who are in some sort of connection with their feelings get emotional reactions but I don´t think it is as common for the majority population to also get it for “bigger transitions” or even for the small ones. Luckily the huge ones happen rarely and the small ones are part of my energy drainage but most of the time they are at least not not affecting me emotionally. My ongoing challenge, however, is with the “bigger transitions”.

When I look at the concept of “transitions” in this way, it makes so much sense that I have challenges with my energy drainage on a regular, daily basis (partly because of this). It also make sense that I sometimes get in a kind of paralyze mode and cannot transition from one task to another or I struggle really hard to manage pushing through.

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