For those of you who use visual schedules for your children, can you explain how you use them and how they help? Right now, I know my son needs them, but I'm not sure where to start and I want to do it right! Our schedule changes every day now that it's summer, and he can't handle it. Thanks!!!!
I made ours as simple as can be..poster board.. lamenated pictures 2x2 with velcro on back of: morning, noon, evening and night.. long strips of velcro on board.
I had a small bag to put the pieces in after they were done..(clothes pin bag)that was attached to the poster board with glue gun (foam center board)
Morning: wake up, potty, eat breakfast, dress, brush teeth, play, work, snack
Noon: eat lunch, potty, play, work, snack ..outing: park, library, petstore, ect...
evening: eat dinner, potty, play, bath, brush teeth, watch tv ect..
Night time: read story, snuggle, go to sleep:)
ferbiepom,
Thank you
It just means using pictures to convey meaning or to get the things you want. it can be symbols, objects, or actual photographs
I can't even scrapbook and I have to do all that? LOL! It will be worth it, I'm sure. I'm still making a take along PECS binder! Thanks - I have to do this for our sanity! To see his little eyes light up when he sees pictures, it's like the whole world makes sense for him :)
Another nice thing to get our kids used to calendars is to have a board that has:
Yesterday was: SATURDAY
Today is: SUNDAY
Tomorrow is: MONDAY
You can make your own days on poster board and cut up into strips/apply velcro and place on board or just write on a white board daily:) This was good for Sarah know past, future and present when expressing herself:)
Some of the visuals we have in our house are:
Calender - big write on/wipe off kind. 2" PECS for School, birthdays, holidays, field-trips. doctors, etc.and 1" numbers 1-31, plus cards for month. Set up calendar 1st of each month with all your activities. If there are any changes use a red NO sign (think Ghostbusters) over top of activity. I use blue mac-tac to attach my PECS. At the beginning of each month talk about the different activities, count down to favorite days, plan needed PECS/social stories etc. At the end of each day remove number and PECS into DONE baggies ( I use mini ziploc bags thumb-tacked thru 1 layer to the wall next to the calender.) The month will visually disapear then start all over again, teaching the passage of time.
GOOD MORNING - a visual list of things we need to do to have a good school morning. This is a vertical list with 5 things under a TO DO heading. Ours are 1. Have breakfast, 2. Brush Teeth, 3. Get Dressed 4. Put on weighted vest 5. Get Ready. (see below) Each one goes into a baggie marked DONE after completing.
GET READY - a vertical list of 5 things to get ready each morn. 1. Coat 2. Shoes. 3. Backpack 4. Lunchbox 5. Books Our mornings are sooo much smoother with these two lists - I prompt, rather than nag now.
SUNDAY NIGHT 3 PECS on bathroom door to remind to Bath, Wash Hair, Tim Nails Less stress about hair and nails -now he can see it coming HOW AM I FEELING ?- pictures of people showing different emotions to help identify feeling .Happy, Sad Mad ( We're talking alot about body language these days) I put food choices on the fridge for those "I'm Hungry!!!!" NOW!!! moments PECS of healthy snack choices plus 1 treat - remove to DONE baggie to show choice is no longer an option . I feel like I'm just getting a handle on visuals - they are alittle time consuming to prepare. A laminator and a paper cutter from Walmart will make it go faster. I buy the laminating film at Office Supplies (box of 100) the 5 mil thickness will last a long long time In a pinch I use packing tape. All the labels on the walls, doors, sinks, etc are taped onto the wall and are surprisingling water proof. I also tape new words/ideas / pictures / mazes to the table each week. Hope these ideas help. www.setbc.org has many PECS like Bedtime Routine and How to Brush Teeth Mama to Sam 8 yrs, PDD NOD OCD ODD PPD and Alex 2 yrs We just put a pic. of the things we are going to do for the day on a strip . We put up two pics at a time because if there is something up that my son wants to do first he will try to pull the pic of the preferred activity. It can cause big meltdowns and obsessive behavior. But it is not helping right now because my son has lost it since school let out. He just wants his regular schedule back. Wait until school starts back at a whole new school and teacher. It's not going to be pretty. I makea weekly thing to send to summer camp each Monday morning as an icebreaker for Cole to talk about. I don't know how to get a Powerpoint page to paste in here, otherwise I'd just stick it in here. Will try again in a minute. I just use Powerpoint to make 7 columns and label the days. I use clipart of a schoolbus to indicate going to summer camp. On the days we go to the healthclub to swim, I insert clipart of a pool and type the name of the club above it. On days we go to the movie theater, I google "IMAGES" of the movies title. Then I save the little movie poster, paste it into the calendar. The zoo or circus are other things I use clipart for. Are you any good at Powerpoint? We also have giant laminated monthly calendar (the month and dates you write it) from a school supply store. I put velcro strips across it, and use cardboard schoolbuses to indicate days of school or camp. We put the same photo of their grandfather up everytime we are spending the weekend there. Good luck! I can't even scrapbook and I have to do all that? LOL! It will be worth it, I'm sure. I'm still making a take along PECS binder! Thanks - I have to do this for our sanity! To see his little eyes light up when he sees pictures, it's like the whole world makes sense for him :)
For the "stop" sign would it be best to have the actual red stop sign or a picture of a hand (like a policeman). Is it best to laminate to prevent wear and tear and to use the velcro dots on the back or would a picture on cardboard pinned on a board suffice? For me I just need to get organised and do it as I've been delaying it maybe hoping we wouldn't need to go down that track as it sounds very daunting. Do u take pictures of everything in the home he uses and recognises and out and about? they also sell this board and clock by melissa and doug that are very good for our kids. http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2314762&a mp;cp
Matty that was me too - I got a lot of useful suggstions from the folks here but I am HOPELESS at anything arty so I bought this
http://cgi.ebay.com/MY-SCHEDULES-200-PECS-Book-Autism-Speech -Therapy_W0QQitemZ230142652255QQihZ013QQcategoryZ102955QQssP ageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
if after copying and pasting it does not work - just type in PECS schedule on ebay and the 69.95 item is this
Tomorrow is my first day of starting with this
We first thought of Sign language - but it took us ages to teach him the sign for more though he is quite smart
board. You read the week across left to right, and the day top to bottom.
Because we have confident readers, beginner readers and nonreaders, I'm
using a combination of pictures and text. I've found a fantastic company,
which make excellent magnets, tiptoe educational products, and we
mainly
use these. They make a rainbow calender, where each day is a colour, and
the week is a wheel, but we felt a circular plan would be confusing. They
were happy to supply just the bits we wanted.. "do anything to help our
special needs kids" I couldn'y recomend them more highly.
www.tiptoeep.com.au is their site, enquiries and
orders...tiptoe@internode.on.net. Wish I was tech-savvy enough to post a
picture! Its made a big difference in our home... and the more NT amoung
us are using it every bit as much as the ASD!
They also make a great "give me five" positive behaviour reinforcement
chart.
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