After discussing the meaning of "change," my student has developed a fundamental idea about it. He can tell that " change " means "something becoming something else." However, he told me he is afraid of "change." I requested him for an example of "change." His example is traffic lights turning from green to red; the colour is changing.
Mediator: Do you think the colour-changing of traffic lights turning is good or bad?
Student: It is a bad change because it delays my time to where I want to go.
Mediator: What will you expect if the traffic light facing you always remains in a green signal and other traffic lights keep changing as usual?
Student: Oh! A car crash may have happened.
Mediator: So, is the colour changing of the traffic light good or bad for you?
Student: Oh yeah. It is a good change because it protects my life from a car crash.
The student started to taste the positive side of change.
Many autistic people will show signs of distress before having a meltdown. Sometimes they feel stressed or anxious when they find some changes. For example, a mother used to drive her autistic son to school in her red car. Then she changed to another black vehicle to send him because there is a regular check-up for the red one. Her son refused to get into the car and screwed the whole day.
To help autistic individuals eliminate meltdowns, we need to implant the root concept of "change." When they understand " change, "they would better accept "change" around them. One of the effective ways to implant the concept is using clay modelling. When he understands the meaning of "change," we start to bridge the idea to their daily lives. Changing the colour of the traffic light from green to red is an excellent example of change. When they allow the "change" concept process in their brains, they can master the clay modelling scenario with their sense of touching. They readily accept most real-life changes. Eventually, they will decrease the meltdowns and react appropriately to most of the changes.
