What Is Demand Anxiety?
Many autistic people experience some degree of demand anxiety (also called “demand avoidance”). Requests, prompts and even encouragement to do a certain thing can feel like pressure and can lead to an anxiety-based fight, flight, freeze response. This response often is not in the person’s control. Experiences of demand anxiety differ from person to person in intensity, frequency, type of response, and specifics of situations causing it. Some individuals experience wanting to do a certain thing, but after being asked or encouraged to do that same thing, they can no longer bring themselves to do it. Some individuals find it challenging to do things that they themselves think they should do, such as finishing a project, or even eating breakfast. Understanding demand anxiety is important when providing learning opportunities for autistic children and youth. Prompting, and even indirect demands (such as a visual that represents an expectation), can be experienced as pressure, and this can slow down or stall progress towards learning goals.
A Low Demand, Natural Approach
Greatly reducing demands can go a long way towards supporting learning that is free from demand anxiety. A natural approach is often recommended for supporting communication development while reducing demands, particularly for early language learners. What is involved in this approach?
- Begin by fostering trust.
- Notice what the learner is enjoying and motivated by. What do they want to do? What are they seeking?
- Help them get more of what they are seeking. This is not done by giving external rewards, but by helping them to experience more of what they are enjoying.
- Choose therapeutic goals that
- are relevant and meaningful to the learner;
- increase self-determination;
- the learner demonstrates the prerequisites for.
- Model relevant skills, keeping goals in mind, without placing expectation on the learner that they will express these skills. (Expectation can lead to demand anxiety, as can other forms of pressure or prompting. When there is no pressure, learners often will express doable skills that are meaningful to them, particularly when these skills are modelled during enjoyable activities.)
- Recognize signs of anxiety, and identify and address the causes as early as possible.
- Save demands for the non-negotiables, such as safety. When you can anticipate and minimize important concerns, such as safety, demands are reduced. This supports regulation and learning.