Goal-setting For People with Autism

 

Without goals we will walk aimlessly through life. For example, I want to provide counseling services to the adult autism population; particularly, the older adult autism population. That is a goal, but I went through a period where I just skated through life aimlessly without direction.

In acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) there is something called the compass metaphor (Hayes et al., 1999, p. 209): Our values are like points on a compass. If you were lost and had a compass, you could use it to see if you were, in fact, moving in the direction you wanted to be. For example, suppose you wanted to move south. You could use the compass to first make sure that you were facing south and then pick out a landmark, like a mountain peak on the southern horizon, as a goal to move toward. As long as you kept the peak in sight, you wouldn’t even need the compass itself to know if you were moving in a southerly direction. Now what happens when you actually reach that mountain peak? Are you now south? Or is there now more south still ahead of you for you to move toward? What if moving south is like being a caring parent There are many ways in which you can be a caring parent—different goals you could set that move you in that direction—but does it ever end? Does there ever come a time where you can check being a caring parent off of your things-to-do-in-life list, or is it continuous? If that is a central part of what you want your life to be about, can’t it continue to be just that as long as you are alive? Even if you outlive all your children, can you still honor that value? The metaphor I just desribed was used to illustrate the difference between values and goals. What are your values? Before continuing to read ponder that question for a monent. What are your values?

Once you have figured out what your values are, you can create some goals. There are two type of goals you need to create. They are outcome goals and process goals (Selk, 2009). When you create your goals you want to make them SMART (Day, September 11, 2026). SMART goals are a popular approach to creating goals. As a review SMART stands for Specific, Measureable, Achieveable, Realistic, and Time-bound.

An example of an outcome goal using the SMART strategy might be "I am getting my Ph.D in astronomy within ten years" (in 2026 that would take a goal-setter to 2036).

Process goals describe how you are going to get to your outcome goals. An example of a SMART process goal might be "I will start my undergrad work in astronomy on my way to my Ph.D, completing my bacherlor astronomy degree in four years by 2030."

The difference between values and goals was illustrated by the Compass Metaphor. The difference between outcome and process goals was distinguished. SMART goals were reviewed. I encourage those reading this post to figure out your values if you have not yet, and sets some goals to drive toward if you have not already done so.

Reference

Day, B. (September 11, 2026). The untlimate guide to SMART goals. Forbes

Advisor. https://www.forbes.com/advisor/

business/smart-goals/

Hayes, S. C., Strosahl, K. D., & Wilson, K.

G. (1999). Acceptance and commitment

therapy: An experiential approach to

behavior change. New York: Guilford.

Selk, J.(2009). 10 minute toughness

New York: McGraw Hill.

Thank you for reading my blog. If you like what you are reading please leave a comment and/or like my blog