A daily planner chart for your child?

[sarah5]

Does anyone have a daily planner for their child so they know exactly what is going happen throughout the day? My son has only had one paed appt so far but I am utterly convinced he has AS. I read somewhere that a board or chart can help them understand what is going to happen next (DS loathes change) but I wondered is this something you buy or could you just make your own?

 

DS is 5 and can not read so it would have to be a simple chart with pictures etc!

 

Thanks!

Edited October 6, 2007 by sarah5

[sarah5]

oooooooh I was just browsing ebay and came across this, just the thing methinks!!

Edited October 6, 2007 by baddad

[baddad]

oooooooh I was just browsing ebay and came across this, just the thing methinks!!

 

Hi sarah - I've removed your e-bay link as it didn't seem to work (sale finished maybe?), but would have had to anyway as the forum rules don't permit direct links to commercial services... if you can locate a piccie to the product that isn't part of a 'shop' advert, feel free to post a link...

 

That said, most people tend to make a board planner up themselves using 'Pecs' system symbols or home photos, as these provide better continuity and are easier to interpret. That may be how the product you found works, so forgive me if that is the case!

 

In general terms, these types of boards can be really useful for kids who have high 'routine' dependency and dislike change, but like all things in AS other kids find the boards themsleves challenging while others may be totally indifferent about them; so it's a question of 'suck it and see'

Even for kids who do find them helpful, it's always good to have a few 'grey' areas and overlaps, and build more in as the child learns to cope with them. Change is a part of everyday life, and the 'greys' help them develop strategies to cope with that.

 

Hope that's helpful

 

L&P

 

BD

[Bard]

We have had discussions here before about visual timetables, using piccies, photos and velcro.

It might be worth having a search around the forum threads.

In school, we all have a VT on the wall for the whole class, and we each made our own.

[sarah5]

Oooops I am so sorry about the ebay link, I won't do it again, promise!

 

Thanks for your advice, I will do a search of the forums. I noticed that DS's school also have VT's on the walls of each classroom, I thought that was brilliant.

 

Thanks again and my apologies again for the ebay thing xx

[stressedmumto2]

Yep, we have used daily planners from time to time.

 

If your child is of an age when they can read really well you can just use words, if they are quite visual and learn better that way then use pictures.

 

We would have pic's with

 

wake up

go downstairs

eat breakfast

take of pj's

get dresed

have wash etc etc

 

You can do much smaller steps for things like having a wash which some children find difficult, so you could have "wash" on normal time-table but also have it in bathroom with smaller steps i.e pic of face being washed, then teeth being brushed then hair being combed etc.

 

A suprise card can be good for when changes happen. If you get your child to also help with the daily time-table by choosing the pic's etc that will help them in the long run.

 

If you lamanate the pic's and use velcro that will probably save you time aswell and they will last longer plus make it easier for you to individualise the time-table.

[sarah5]

Thanks that is really helpful, I am going to put my creative "talents" to work now! Although DS has not yet been dx I know that this would help him REGARDLESS of the outcome. Thanks again.xx

[JsMum]

I have made what I call a routine chart.

 

It has a clock with the time, then in text the task so I wake up, and then a visual picture of a child waking up.

 

The clock will present the time he wakes up.

 

so it will be like as follows.

 

 

clock showing 7am I wake up Picture

Clock showing 7:30 At half past seven I eat My Breakfast A picture

Clock showing 8:00am At Eight o clock I put on my School Uniform A picure

Clock showing 8:10am I brush my Teeth A picture

Clock showing 8:15am I put on my shoes A picture

 

We have done one showing his objects he needs for his school bag, so water bottle, homework case, pencil case, P.E Kit.

 

We have also done a chart for evening routines too, all with picure and Text, the pictures I get from the computer and other times we took photos of J doing the tasks and put them into the chart.

 

 

He also has a Text star chart and every task he does he gets a star, over 35 stars a week he gets yu gi oh cards.

 

 

I feel that personally doing a chart you can adapt it more personalised, and we laminated them after wards too, the laminater was �9 from wilkos and we have made awareness cards too so if he got lost then the cards would explain that J had a disability.

 

 

Visual displays are really good for J because he has attention to detail and picks up more strongly with pictures, I want to purchase widgets but its expensive so i am applying for a fund from a communication charity, but for now we use the computer to make our own, and its good as J helps with the lamination and preparing it.

 

JsMum

[baddad]

Hi all -

 

J's mum - your planner sounds brilliant

One tiny further suggestion for later on if you can... build into the clock some 'grey' areas, so i.e. for 'breakfast' have the clock pointing at eight, but with the minute hand in a shaded 'v' between the eleven and one... That way it says 'breakfast around 8 o'clock' rather than 'breakfast at eight'. It may sound trivial, but i used to work with a client (sorry 'service user these days, isn't it? )who would smash up his room (or the coach, or the shop, or the cafe) if you didn't have the tea in his afternoon tea-cup at three.

 

There is a link somewhere in our resources that goes to a site with samples of official (pecs?) symbols... i'll try to track it down and paste it, but if anyone else finds it first

 

 

L&P

 

BD

 

PS: meant to say with that shading - If you can, have a 'gradient' in there, so the edges are even more obscured - where does the grey end and white begin is a very open (and helpful) question

 

PPS: found the link now:

linkyplinkylinkinthing

 

The official pecs one used to have 'freebies' but i couldn't find that area now... If anyone looking could report back, and if they are only a 'shop' now I'll delete the link - so there!

Edited October 7, 2007 by baddad

[sarah5]

OOOOOOH Look at that, I can see a load of FREE pecs - thank you SO much for that link BRILLIANT I am soooo pleased !!

 

And thank you everyone else for your brilliant suggestions, I know exactly what I'm going to do now, I think this is really going to help our little boy (and us!).

 

BIG THANKS!

Edited October 7, 2007 by sarah5

[bid]

I have a visual timetable for a month at a time (no pics! ), and it makes the world of difference, because I can't 'see' the time ahead IYSWIM, it's just a sort of vacuum, and that is really stressy and panicky for me. I also cross off each day so I can see where I am.

 

Mine has my work shifts on it, and even when I need to change bedding

 

I need to be able to 'see' my life for the next few weeks at a time.

 

Bid

[smiley]

Me too Bid

 

For my sons visual timetables, I also have some 'Oooops!' cards for when things don't go to plan, and some 'Whatever!' cards for when there's a deliberate break in the timetable. That way, it's not a empty square, that will make my son panic, but a 'Whatever!' which encourages him to think of something for himself.

 

I also don't tend to use exact times (unless it's for shorter periods of time, ie; getting organised for school in the morning. I have a day chart - with breakfast, lunch, dinner and bed along the side rather than times. Otherwise, he'll get into a flap if lunch doesn't happen at 12.30 exactly.

 

Happy laminating!

[KarenT]

J has checklists in the rooms he'll need them, eg one in the bathroom for brushing teeth, getting ready for bed or dressed for school, another beside the front door to remind him of what he has to do before leaving the house in the morning, one in the bedroom to prompt him to make his bed. He also uses a Job Chart, with tickets blu-tacked on for whatever tasks he has to do eg homework, take his stuff upstairs, get PE kit for school etc. The chart's just divided into Morning and Afternoon so it encourages him to accept that they don't have to be done in a particular order. If he's a bit flappy I can put them in order for him to follow, if he's particularly calm I can suggest he decides which task he wants to do next. He's learning time-management from it too, that he can do the tasks quickly and have more time for playing afterwards.

 

Karen

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