I know I talked about this recently in the context of school, but I just remembered something else about getting in trouble for executive function challenges that come with autism. (1)

So I would struggle with putting clothes or things away back in draws. Over time, my family got annoyed this. So they used to threat me with 'I'm going to throw away all the clothes/stuff you don't put away now' (2)

As a child, this would cause an instant meltdown. Being expected to task like this with no warning was a shock to my system. To complete tasks like this, I would have needed pre-warning and support with transitioning to the task. (3)

Also as being autistic means I interpret social information differently from a lot of people, I understood it as 'That is what's going to happen no matter what' I didn't interpret a threat only...that was never going to be carried out. (4)

Combine this being my first thought with needing time to complete this task, you can see it's the recipe for a meltdown. I felt If I did not put my things away right now, I would lose them, and unfairly too. (5)

Emotions would be running high, and I would need a lot, and I mean A LOT of reassurance that my belongings would not actually be thrown away. (6)

Looking back, it never needed to escalate to that level. Planning and support the young person with organisation and planning would have been the solution, not giving threats. Meltdowns would have been avoided this way. (7)