The next morning, she was the first one to get up. She woke me up and asking if she can play the computer. I intended not to follow her plans. And yes, I got what I expected. She cried and did not follow all my instructions anymore. The worst is she's trying to reverse all the rules. Had this simple weekend rule when she wakes up: 1. It's OK to watch TV; 2. Take a bath; 3. Eating and grooming 4. Writing and Reading and so on and so forth and without doing all of those she will not be able to play the computer as we only let her play the computer when she completed all the rules. Playing the computer is only a reward if she'll be doing all the rules. But, for her, at this moment, all in her mind is playing the computer. She even made her own rules saying "NO" in every rules mentioned.

According to an article I read, rigidity in both behavior and thinking is a major characteristic of people with autism/AS. They have difficulty understanding the concept that sometimes it is OK to break a rule.

I heard about a case where an autistic boy had a severe injury but he did not leave the school bus stop to get help. He had been taught to stay at the bus stop so that he would not miss the bus; he could not break that rule. Common sense would have told most people that getting help for a severe injury would be more important than missing the bus but not to this young man.

How can common sense be taught? I think it starts with teaching flexibility at a young age. Structure is good for children with autism, but sometimes plans can, and need to be, changed.
Another way to teach flexibility of thinking is to use visual metaphors, such as mixing paint. To understand complex situations, such as when occasionally a good friend does something nasty, I imagine mixing white and black paint.

Flexibility can also be taught by showing the person with autism that categories can change. Objects can be sorted by color, function or material.

Children do need to be taught that some rules apply everywhere and should not be broken. To teach an autistic child to not run across the street, he has to be taught the rule in many different places; the rule has to be generalized and part of that process is making sure the child understands that the rule should not be broken. However, there are times when an absolute adherence to the rule can cause harm. Children also need to be taught that some rules can change depending on the situation. Emergencies are one such category where rules may be allowed to be broken.

Parents, teachers and therapists can continually teach and reinforce flexible thinking patterns in children with autism/AS. I hope I have provided some ideas on how to do this while still accommodating the visual manner in which they think. This is to make them independent when they grow up.