Keeping kids on track with a visual "to do" list

Thanks so much to Nancy Peske over at SensorySmarts.com for another terrific newsletter with this great  resource.

This online "Make-a-Schedule" program from the great folks at Do2Learn allows you to create daily schedules with picture cards for our kids (okay, and some of us parents) that need some extra help staying on track with the activities of the day!

It's also great for calming anxieties about what is going to happen next, transitioning to a new activity or preparing for the dreaded medical visits. The cards for those are great...

Parents and teachers have been making their own cards like this with hand drawings, photos, and scavenged clip art.

For children who can read, Chartjungle can be helpful and sites like Handipoints that lets kids earn online rewards for completing chores can be motivating, but this makes it even easier for everyone and covers so much more ground.

The full version with color is $49/year but there are also some free picture cards:

• Shows what happens at a doctor visit (including dentist, eye doctor,  psychologist, speech, OT, MRI
• Lists daily activities (self-care, eating, sleeping, school activities, home routine, etc.)

Using the cards

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  They can be used to create story scripts or to communicate about an experience
  
  
  
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  Reminder strips can be created for common routines
  
  
  
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  Pictures can be affixed to calendars or left as cards to move from the "to do" container the "finished" container
  
  
  
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  You can depict which behaviors belong in which settings and which ones don't belong.  Clearly these people have been to my house before:  (Although playing in water and dousing the entire kitchen and all family members under 10 is one of the lesser "evils" that occur while on the phone!)
  
  
  

Be sure to check out Raising a Sensory Smart Child: The Definitive Handbook for Helping Your Child with Sensory Processing Issues By Lindsey Biel, OTR/L and Nancy Peske, with a foreword by Dr. Temple Grandin.

NEW EXPANDED EDITION ON SALE NOW!

I own the original version and found it to be extremely useful. 

It was one of the more practical books I read when trying to first learn about how to deal with my son's sensory challenges.

Their website is also full of practical tips you can use right now to deal with toothbrushing, bathing, hair cutting, getting dressed, and all the other challenges of everyday activities.