Throughout an autistic person’s life, they will mostly struggle with going through transitioning from one activity to the next. This has recently been a longing struggle for me and while it gets increasingly better, there are still struggles that make moving from one thing to the next quite difficult.

It can be hard to prepare myself to go from one thing to the next, especially if I had been at the prior task for some time and really enjoy what I am doing. When my creative juices are flowing, it can be hard when I know it is time to move to the next thing in my day to do. It can also be a struggle when I must do something that I need to step away from focusing on a fascinating figure or topic in which I am interested.

There are things that my internal body signals do not recognize such as eating, hydrating, or using the restroom, although as much time has passed, it would make it pretty evident that those tasks would need to be done to make sure that my needs are met. It can get to the point in autistic individuals that the internal signals are ignored, and mishaps happen or there is a severe fear of doing things because of fear of missing out, or FOMO.

I have for much of my independence was a victim of FOMO. It would get to the point many times where I would disregard the need to take my medication, and this would result in my manic behavior of having to do things developing. There would be no interest in sleep because I would have a hard time getting ready for bed because my body was not interested in sleeping, rather my brain could not shut down. That was what my brain was doing, and I deeply known this, yet I would ignore the fact that I needed to take my medication because I did not see the need to go to sleep. I saw it as a form of punishment without realizing that sleep is a necessity.

As of this writing, it is still challenging to transition from one task to another on my own, but I manage. There is always the Fear of Missing Out or FOMO, but there is also a greater understanding of needing to sleep and the benefits that taking all my medications can provide. Yes, some may debate my discussion of medication, but it provides me with the quality of life that I need to be successful in the life I have.

It can be hard to move from one thing to the next, but within time, it has gotten better because I know that many things I not only need to do, but there are others that are looking to seeing my joyous face when I get to where I am going to be the best that I need to be. It can be hard to understand the person that I am and the struggle I face transitioning from one thing to the next, but it is just something in life that I must do because it is necessary to live in the world that I live in and be as successful as I am.