When you hear the phrase “problem solving” you probably assume that there is something wrong that needs a resolution. Whilst that is certainly a correct assumption, the phrase means much more than that. We all problem solve at different levels throughout our daily lives. From deciding what to wear, to what to eat, we all make decisions in our day so routinely that we don’t even consider them to be problem solving. For people with ASD these simple task can be quite a challenge.

I have no dress sense, so I own about 30 black t-shirts, because that’s easy. I buy the same shoes over and over because it’s easier than deciding if a new style suits. I’m not even sure the style that I have suits! I buy the same socks and underwear in bulk too. Basically I dress all in black!

There is one particular thing that I do which really wound Maria up and was the cause of more than one argument, and that is how I unload the washing machine and arrange the clothes on the clothes maiden.

Maria has the ability to just pull items out of the washing machine and place them in random places on the maiden, as though solving a Krypton Factor puzzle, and have the task complete within a few minutes. It would take me at least 15 minutes to do.

First I have to get all of the items out of the machine and categorise them into socks, underwear, trousers, tops along the work surface in the utility room. I then put the socks at the bottom of the maiden, underwear next, then tops and finally trousers. There is just no way that I can randomly pull items out and place them in the correct order on the maiden. If I start at the top, or place things randomly, then the items get in the way of placing the lower ones.

This would really frustrate and annoy Maria because no matter how many times she tried to “train” me to do it her way, I just couldn’t get it. She would think that I was wilfully doing it my way to annoy her, but I wasn’t. There is just no way that I can complete this task in any way other than how I do.

Consequently this leads to an increase in anxiety, because you start to think that you are stupid for not being able to do something that is so simple for others.