Commitment to life is a big topic for us all – who hasn’t experienced procrastination and or withdrawal at some point in their lives? The choice is ours – are we in withdrawal and thus delaying the life lessons on offer every moment of every day or do we embrace them fully and commit to life and all that is presented?

Behaviour Specialist Tanya Curtis explains that skills need to be taught to support commitment to life and that they need to address the areas of weakness in a person with an ASD which commonly are auditory processing, auditory memory, organisation, planning and sequencing.

Tanya talks about visual schedules, when they are needed and the support they provide for people with an ASD to commit to life and set periods of time. Examples of step by step sequences are introduced – tidying a room, getting dressed – that fend off procrastination which can easily set in when a person does not know what the next step is or anticipates the next step with anxiety because of past experience.

Token economy is another tool that has a proven track record, not as a bribe but as a very practical and solid exchange of tasks accomplished against tokens which can, once an agreed quantity has been earned, be exchanged for something the person wants and enjoys, from a material object to an outing or activity to time spent with a nominated person. The possibilities are endless as the recipient is also introduced to the reality of working life where we receive wages or a salary as money (the token) to then exchange it for what we need and want (from groceries to a new car, a holiday, etc.).