Discussed in this Podcast:

✅ Wait Before Responding: Dean shared that even a five or ten minute pause before doing a compulsion can weaken the cycle. I loved that this is not about going cold turkey, and Dean stressed that we work with the young person, not against them.

✅ Ask Why: Starting a conversation about why a ritual is happening was the first step I took from Dean. He explained that repetition in autistic people often brings joy, safety and regulation, while OCD rituals bring no joy and happen out of fear of what will happen if they are not done.

✅ Name The Faulty Alarm: Dean suggested framing OCD as a faulty alarm system, and I found that reassuring for the young people I have taught. His point was that being told you are not safe does not mean you are not, and skipping the compulsion shows the nervous system that you are.

✅ Skip The Debate: Dean explained that arguing with OCD, Googling the worry or hunting for a memory to disprove it only feeds the cycle. The approach we talked about is accepting the uncertainty, because OCD does not know and neither does the person.

✅ Stop Feeding Reassurance: Where repeated questions come from terror, Dean said that giving the same answer again and again fuels the distress. His alternative was to acknowledge what the child is experiencing and offer to sit with them until it feels easier.

✅ Keep Joyful Repetition: Repetition that comes from joy should be encouraged, and Dean was clear about that. I pointed listeners back to my Autistic Joy episode, because seeing the difference is what stops us treating every ritual as a problem.

✅ Limit The Repeats: Dean offered a simple line for checking and washing: once is the task, and repeating it over and over is the OCD. Working with the young person to limit how many times they do it was his suggestion, and I found it easy to picture in a busy classroom.

✅ Stay Engaged: Dean explained that during an OCD flare-up, hiding away tells the nervous system something is wrong. I raised the idea of a half day at school and downtime at home rather than staying in the bedroom, and Dean made a point of saying this applies to OCD only, not to autistic burnout.

✅ Photo Diary Wins: Photos and videos of a child getting into class became my way of recording successes, especially for students who cannot read. Dean had suggested keeping a diary of wins, and I added the visual version so children can look back and celebrate them.

✅ Notice And Build Trust: As educators, I encouraged us to be mindful that we do not know what battle a child is having with OCD that day. A change in a look or posture can tell us something is happening, and building a trusting relationship makes support possible.