A simple way to understand schemas in autism and reduce anxiety

A simple way to understand schemas in autism and reduce anxiety

Schemas are grouped pieces of information that the brain can quickly access to understand a specific event or situation. For example, we may have a preconceived idea of ​​what someone is like simply by the way they dress, how they talk, or where they come from. A schema that may dictate to us that a person will be very nice because we already understand that people we put in the same category are also nice. Chances are good that this person will be nice too.

Schemas work at different levels. Our brain summarizes a range of data that it needs to understand an environment, ourselves as people and events. For example, you will know that when you go to a restaurant, you wait to be seated at a table, ask for the menu, choose your meal and drinks, and so on. The reason you know this information about restaurants is because your brain has a schema that tells it how to behave.

We have different schemas that provide our brains with different information depending on the environment. For example, there are role schemas (which inform us about social occupations of certain people when we see, for example, uniforms, soldiers, policemen, etc.). There are also social schemas we use to define events. These can relate to anything from what to do when we go to the dentist to a war news or protest through media such as television. We adapt what we see, feel, and experience to an understanding of the event.

Of course, we have schemas that define how we feel about other cultures and backgrounds that are different from our own. In this regard, the schemas we sometimes have can be based on negative experiences. This can be linked to the anger and frustration that people feel against racism, segregation, and prejudice in some parts of the world. Religion.

How does this relate to autism?

Our brains all work the same way. In other words, your child's brain still has schemas for different things, such as: E.g. dinner, getting dressed, going to school and so on. These schemas are defined by prior information about a situation or a memory of a similar event. With autism, the brain can sometimes not know what is expected of it when it is in a situation where it feels anxious, stressed or confused. If it feels like this, it may be when your child is expressing unusual behavior. What might surprise other people is how the child reacts. This is because they have their own schemas that tell them that this behavior does not fit their own understanding.

There's a reason people sometimes don't adjust their schemas more appropriately. It's because they are triggered by automatic thinking. This was one of the elements of CBT that Beck recognized as a factor in depression, anxiety, and stress-related illnesses. The key is to interrupt the automatic thought and the entire brain to connect a new thought or puzzle piece to the schema. The essential part of this exercise is the use of repetitions. Once the piece has been “fixed,” they can adapt to the new scheme.

This has been very successful with my own son, who has autism, and has used these new ideas to great effect on social and communication skills. It has also been very helpful for stressful situations such as hospital appointments, dentist appointments and school exams, allowing him to face life's transitions, no matter how big, with new confidence and less fear. I believe the real barrier that keeps many people on the spectrum from reaching their true potential.

Inspired by Michelle J Hatcher