What O’clock?
Time perception &Autism: Making sense of the abstract.
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The concept of time has often been described as abstract and its measurement relative and not absolute. Therefore, to understand it better, we have to make the passing of time more tangible, visual, and concrete. Enter the ubiquitous timepiece – clocks, watches, hourglasses, pendulums, sundials et cetera. Used for more than charting the transition from day to night (week to month, and month to year), today’s timepieces have become essential to scheduling when to eat, sleep, work, play, meet with others and travel from place to place. Previously not knowing the time was a mere inconvenience, now in our tightly scheduled lives, it has the potential of ruining a good day, meal, job, game, song, or meeting.
The act of telling the time has fully permeated our existence and become entrenched in all our activities. Time management skills are considered a core life lesson taught to children all over the world. Thankfully, the advent of the digital clock and its inclusion into modern technology has made telling time relatively easier for the average person.
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Back to the first point. For all its importance, time is still an abstract concept; one that many people with autism have difficulty perceiving and grasping. Scientific study has shown that the minds of autistic people work differently from those of non-autistic people. Often, these differences are caused by underlying cognitive impairments that vary in severity. There are theories that propose that the impaired memory capabilities of some autistic individuals cause them to experience difficulty in multitasking, planning, remembering past activities, and therefore in telling time.
Just like non-autistic people, autistic individuals often lead full lives with lots of indoor and outdoor activities alone or in the company of others. Through carefully structured routines, autistic individuals are taught skills from early on that enable them to explore their immediate environment, interact with the available technology and navigate social situations. Being able to engage with the world independently through day-to-day activities is essential to ensuring that they have a high quality of life.
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As earlier mentioned, telling time using the traditional clock may be difficult for some autistic persons. So how else can a caregiver help an autistic person transition from one activity to the next?
Well, by thinking outside the clock! – like literally. You could use visual timers, hourglasses, a large activity chart, work-done boxes, or even specially developed digital clocks.
Visual timers are especially handy as they come in physical clock-like devices or be designed as mobile applications that you downloadable to devices such as tablets, phones, and laptops. One such mobile timer application that was developed specifically for autistic persons is the Activity Timer developed by yours truly (i.e me). You can read all about it here.
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Ultimately, what’s important is that you use a method that works for the autistic person that you care for and the activity that the time relates to. For example, transitioning from playtime may best be achieved using the work-done boxes in which toys are put away to indicate that the time for play is over, while the transition between two outdoor activities can better be managed using a visual timer app or device. Don’t be afraid to mix it up and combine whatever techniques work depending on your circumstances.
That being said, I’d love to hear from you. Let the community know what has worked for you!