First/Then Visual Schedule for Autism
Lately my daughter has been regressing a lot. They tell me what she is doing is typical...but, I am pretty sure that those who say this have never had a child flop into full tantrum mode over condoms in a check out lane. To her it wasn't a condom, it was a balloon. To me it was mortifying.
Ever seen a 5 year old argue with her mom over condoms? Yeah, either had the people that were staring at us...
The only thing the evil packet said was glow in the dark, and it quite honestly looked like an individually packaged balloon...if they made those.
I seriously wonder who's bright idea was it to put "Glow in the Dark Fun" next to candy in the checkout? Kids love candy and balloons. I can see how that could be confusing.
She previously was at the point where she could easily be redirected. Lately she has been overstimulated to the point where there is no reasoning with her. So despite my attempts, she wasn't focusing on a thing I said.
Children with autism are anything but typical. And day to day life with a child with autism is anything but typical. And that is a wonderful thing.
But...I had reached my limit. There is only so many times you can fail at redirecting before you loose control and become that burned out mother who is always yelling at their kids. I promised myself I would never be that parent.
So my solution? This First/Then Visual Schedule. And so far it has worked wonderfully.
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It's fairly simply. There are five boxes with five smiley faces. For each three minutes she completes a task successfully she gets a smiley face. Once she has collected them all she gets the incentive.
(I will have one done in a couple of days for the grocery store, and will share it once it is done).
To make this is very simple.
I attached velcro to the board (which is laminated cardstock) and to the buttons. Once the timer goes off (we love the timer on my phone) she moves the buttons to their place on her own. This in itself is a motivation as she loves to cross things off her list.
I carry the incentives in my purse so I can whip this out whenever it is desperately needed. (Lesson learned - real balloons are now included in the contents of my wallet).
Below is the basic template:
It has been left blank so you can modify it with your own clip art for your specific needs. If you use this I would love to hear about how it helped your family!
