Using Tic-Tac software to reduce anxiety-related behaviour in adults with autism and learning difficulties during waiting periods: a pilot study.

Three adults with autism and intellectual disability waited for activities. Staff used Tic-Tac, a phone app that shows a shrinking red bar. The bar tells the user how long the wait will last.

Researchers counted anxiety behaviors like hand-flapping and loud vocalizations during waits. They compared waits with the timer to waits without it.

All three adults showed fewer anxious behaviors when the timer was on. The red bar gave them a clear end-point, which seemed to calm them.

The change was large enough for the team to call the timer a success.

Adams et al. (2020) asked autistic kids where they feel anxious. Ninety-six percent said they worry, but only half think adults notice. Cristina’s timer gives adults an easy tool to act on that worry.

Corridore et al. (2026) built a full sensory room before dental visits. Eighty-five kids became cooperative without sedation. The timer is a mini-version: both give predictability to cut anxiety.

Aponte et al. (2025) found anxiety in autistic adults links most to rigid, repetitive behaviors. A simple timer could lower those behaviors by lowering the anxiety that drives them.

You can load Tic-Tac on any tablet. Set the wait time, press start, and hand it to the client. No extra staff, no cost. Try it during bus waits, supermarket lines, or before therapy starts. One adult in the study stopped pacing within 30 seconds. That could be your client tomorrow.