It is control I think. When they know what is "expected" of them or know what is coming, it takes away their anxiety some and takes out the their guess work of what is expected of them. I know my son flips when things change, but with him it is a delayed reaction. Like something will happen on Monday, and it will be Wed or Thurs before the behavior's start.

@A MyAutismTeam Member that sums it up for me. I loved that answer. I am going to live by that... every parent that has children with or without autism should relate

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A MyAutis...

IDK...BOUT 2 TALK 2 MY DAUGHTERS TEACHER CUZ THEY KEEP SWITCH N HER CLASS-TEACHERS...SHE DOSE NOT DEAL 2 WELL WITH THAT EITHER....

I always think of it like this... our children have a really hard time understanding the world around them. It takes them a long time to "get used to" something. That said, they're a lot like us, but on an amplified degree - and who really likes change?

Kids with Autism do much better with transitions when they know what's coming. Frankly, it works on most "neuro-typical" children who have trouble with transitions too. But most of the time with 'regular' kids, we can simply tell them what's going on, and they understand. But ASD kids usually need it in another form, or need to learn what to expect in another way.

That's when verbal or visual prompts, warnings and visual schedules or visual timers come into play. Then they know what's expected, know how long they have, and know what's coming next. Once a child learns what this system is for them, they're much more apt to have a smoother transition. Because the unknown is scary, and who wants to leave something they got used to doing, and go do something that they may not like?? Once they can figure out what's going on, and maybe even have a little more control in their day, the transition issues will likely be much fewer in number.