Autism Parenting Magazine: 6 Simple Tips For Helping Someone With Autism Get Into a Routine

Six basic steps to help your young adult establish normal routines.By Sara Jamieson, Student Advisor, CIP Bloomington
Published in Autism Parenting Magazine, Issue 87

Starting or getting into routines can be difficult for teens and young adults with autism and learning differences. Here are six basic steps you can use to help someone on the spectrum establish normal routines.

These steps can be used by anyone looking to either get back to a routine, start a new one, or help someone else create and follow a routine.

Step 1: Finding Motivation

It is important to find your personal motivation and answer the question of why this routine is important to you to make it successful. A quick and easy way to do this is to work backward. Think of the big goal you want to accomplish in the next week, month, or semester. Then, ask yourself why you want to accomplish this goal. For many students, their goals are related to becoming more independent or having more overall freedom. Once we have a long term goal, we determine what this might look like.

Now we must answer the question “Why?” For a student, it might be to earn more money or have more free time. Once you determine what you want, it is easier to motivate yourself to start the daily routines necessary to accomplish your long term goals.