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10 ways to have fun with occupational therapy

  Occupational Therapy Week takes place this  week in the UK .

It has prompted me to reflect on the occupational therapy (OT) my son, Tom  has received over the years. Gulp… it’s also focused my mind on the amount of money I’ve spent on buying OT resources!

The main emphasis for Tom has been Sensory Integration Therapy  to help him cope with his sensory difficulties.  A personalised programme of activities focusing on developing his gross and fine motor skills and his sensory perception (i.e. touch, body awareness, balance, auditory & visual skills) has been game changing. 

Naturally some activities and resources have proved more successful than others so I  thought it would be helpful to select our TOP 10 to share with you.

1. HUG & TUG

hug and tug

Tom followed a series of activities from The Handle Institute . Hug and Tug was one of his favorites and an exercise he still uses today. 

This simple exercise can calm anxiety, increase concentration and help develop fine motor skills.  Just needs two hands and can be done at any time!

Here’s how:

  1.  Rest your arms on a supportive surface or place them lightly against your lower ribcage.  Interlock your index fingers.
  2.   Squeeze and pull with your interlocked index fingers – one relaxes as the other pulls, then the other relaxes and the other finger pulls. Both of your arms remain relaxed – only the fingers are moving.
  3.  Repeat the back and forth pull-release three or four times as the index fingers stay hooked together.
  4.  Unhook your index fingers and interlock your middle fingers , and repeat.
  5.  Continue with all fingers and then, finally, hug and tug your thumbs

 2. SCOOTER BOARD

At his last school  Tom cut quite a dash scooting along the corridor propelled by his arms! Great for building up shoulder stability and core strength.

Sensory Direct have some reasonably priced boards.

3. ANIMAL ACTION CARDS

card exercise 1

Make a set of cards showing different animal walks then take it in turns to choose a card and complete the exercise shown on it. Try dog walks, bunny hops, kangaroo jumps, crab walks – whatever takes your fancy. Great for building upper body strength and a sense of humour!

This is a good activity to do with siblings and as a rainy day or birthday party game.

Stuck for ideas? Pop over to the blog Pinning With Purpose for some good tips on how to make your own animal exercise cards.

4. TIME SHOCK

time shock puzzle

Have you got a steady hand? This frantic beat-the-clock game is great for developing fine motor skills and also uses visual memory.

The aim of the game is to place the shapes in the matching slot before the time runs out. Need nerves of steel though and can get competitive!

5. POP-UP TUNNEL

play tunnel

Crawling helps develop shoulder stability which is important for writing skills. This simple item also offers hours of fun playing peek-a-boo which encourages eye contact.

IKEA, Tesco and the like all have similar versions.

6. PUTTY

Great for developing hand muscle strength. You could even try making your own putty.

Fledglings have are some lovely reasonably-priced Rainbow Putty which comes in a variety of different colours and is colour-coded to indicate the level of resistance.

7. HIDDEN TREASURE

sensory bean box

Fill a tub with rice or another pulse and hide small objects such as toy cars, figurines or sweets. Great to develop fine motor skills and another fun party game.

8. SWING

cuddle swing

Swinging is good for vestibular movement. My son particularly liked this cuddle swing.

They can be expensive to buy so here’s some tips on how to make your own cuddle swing and there’s even some ideas for versions that don’t need attaching to the ceiling.

9. CRAFT ACTIVITY

There are plenty of options here – we chose to make our own domino game using card, craft foam, marker pens and stickers.

There were lots of opportunities to practice fine motor skills with all that cutting, sticking and drawing and we all enjoyed playing the finished result.

10. CHEWY TUBE

chewy aid

Our bright red T-shaped Chewy Tube saved many a shirt cuff and tie being shredded! Very resilient and helps develop chewing skills as well as reducing anxiety. Sensory Direct and  Chewigem both have a good range of oral motor aids to choose from.

Click here to find out more about what occupational therapists do and how occupational therapy can help . 

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Help autistic children manage changes to routines with TomTag visual supports

My autistic son Tom (the inspiration for TomTag visual schedules) struggles with changes to his routines. His autism means that he perceives the world differently to other people. For him, the world can often seem a strange, unpredictable, and confusing place. It is understandable why he craves the stability and predictability of repetitive routines and activities, and the comfort of familiar food.  However, as a wise man once said, the only constant in life is change. Learning how to be flexible and less rigid about routines is a crucial life skill. It is one that Tom has developed over the years, with the help of visual supports.

Visual schedules are a great tool for teaching flexibility around changes to routines.  This may seem surprising – surely a schedule means sticking to a repetitive routine? However, it’s not the visual schedule that makes changes to a routine difficult but the way it is used.⁣

In this blog, I’d like to share with you an approach you can use with TomTag visual schedules to help your child be less rigid and more tolerant of changes to their routines.

Use a schedulered tomtag button holder with symbols in sequence for morning routine

Make sure that your child understands how their schedule works and uses it regularly. If your child doesn’t  understand their schedule or use it regularly then it is unrealistic to expect them to deal with changes to it.

Need some support  introducing visual schedules ? The TomTag Show me how:Timetables and routines guide can help. 

I am flexibleGrey button holder showing buttons for change of routine activity

A TomTag I am flexible tag is a great way to introduce your child to changes to routines when used alongside their normal routine tag. Using the format ‘instead of ‘  …  ‘I am flexible’…  is a simple visual way to familarise your child with a proposed change in their routine.

Words can have a powerful effect.  I am flexible is a positive affirmation that will  give your child  a sense of achievement and boost their self esteem.

 

Start with positive changesred and grey tomTag button holders showing symbols for changes to routines

Start with something positive, for example, a change to a preferred activity or food choice.

In the examples shown- sand play instead of inside play, fish fingers instead of pizza (go with the preferred activities/ food choices for your child!)

Start with a change that is not upsetting. This also reinforces the idea that a change does not always have to be negative.

Giving initial warningsTwo purple and one grey TomTag button holders showing symbols for a morning routine with a change of activity

Although the aim is to get to a stage when you don’t have to give warnings  about changes – life is unpredictable after all – you shouldn’t expect your child to immediately accept changes without doing the necessary groundwork. 

Like all new skills, the best way to learn is to break the skill down into small sequential steps. 

  • Refer to their morning schedule tag and show them the proposed change. In this example, if their morning routine shows inside play then show them the I am flexible tag with the new play activity at the earliest opportunity e.g. before breakfast.
  •  Ask them to change the activity on their schedule to the new activity themselves. Our symbol packs include 2 copies of every symbol so you don’t have to worry about running out of symbols. Their morning schedule tag now shows the new activity.
  • Keep the I am flexible tag handy. Depending on your child’s level of understanding, a short verbal explanation of why the change has taken place would also be helpful.
  • Give another warning just before the changed activity happens. Show your child the I am flexible tag to reinforce your verbal warning. This will help them remember the change and prepare for it.

Praise and encouragementA golden star in a green box saying well done.

Praise your child specifically for handling the change well using supportive positive statements like, “I like how well you managed it when we changed the schedules” or “Change can be hard, but you are doing a great job!”

Saying “You are so brave handling that change in the schedule without getting upset!”  is particularly useful if your child is very anxious about change.

Try not to say “See it wasn’t so bad was it!” as this could belittle your child’s genuine feelings of anxiety about changes and make them feel anxious about having these feelings. 

Fade the warnings

Once your child can manage changes to their routines with warnings, start moving the warnings nearer to the time when the actual change is going to happen. 

So in the example tags  I have used above, you could move the warning about the change of play activity to later in the morning. 

Be consistent

Make sure that your child’s schedule is always accurate.

Being prepared makes changes to routines so much easier to manage. It also keeps the schedule consistent so your child knows they can rely on it.

I hope you find  this approach useful in helping your child learn to accept and manage changes to their routine.

Want to make your own schedules, routines and I am flexible tags like the ones shown in the examples here or need more advice before getting started on introducing routines or changes to routines? Take a look at the resources below or get in touch with Clare via our contact page.

Resources

  • Back-to-School Toolkit

  • Early Years Home Toolkit

  • Early Years Sticker Pack

  • I Can Do It Learn At Home Kit

  • I Know What To Expect – Morning and Evening Mini Kit

  • I Know What To Expect At Home Kit

  • I Know What To Expect Early Years Kit

  • I Know What To Expect-My Christmas Day Mini Kit

  • Learn At Home Sticker Pack

  • Morning and Evening Routines Sticker Sheet
  • STICKER SHEET SHOWING 20 WIDGIT SYMBOLS

    Non School Day Routines Sticker Sheet

  • Primary Years Home Toolkit

  • School Bag Packing Checklist
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Household chores -Teach children life skills with TomTag

Yellow tag howing wshing up routine and washing up on draining board

Set your child up well for later life by by helping them learn a life skill such as household chores when they’re young (and eager!).  

Children learn how to look after themselves and their home and become familiar with concepts such as teamwork and the discipline of routine. Household chores can also be a way to improve self-worth and encourage independence for the future.

We all like the feeling that we can help! Make use of the increased shared time we are having together at the moment and  give your child a sense of pride and accomplishment at being able to contribute and enjoy some time with you.

 TomTag is an ideal tool for teaching a life skill such as household chores. Here’s some ideas from our Help at Home kit of how you might use it :-Blue, red and yellow tags showing household chores

  • Use a set of tags to give step-by-step instructions for cleaning different rooms in the house.
  • Label a tag with the name of each child and list the chores they need to complete that day/week.
  • List the jobs you want completing on separate tags. Let each child pick a tag out of a hat to find out what their task is.

Start them young

Building good habits from an early age always makes things easier in the long run. Children as young as 2 years old can pick up their own toys, put dirty clothes in a washing basket and wield a duster.

 

 

Make it fun

Turning tasks into a game always makes things more fun. Turn the radio up and dance while hoovering, shout out colour names when sorting laundry or let kids compete to be the first to tidy their room (to your standard!).

The right chores

This will naturally depend on your child’s age and developmental level. You’ll find plenty of guides online but you’re the best judge of what your child’s ready for. Watering plants is always a favourite in our house. Who doesn’t like pouring water! Build up gradually to the more difficult tasks so they don’t get frustrated if they can’t complete the task independently. Our Pinterest Household Chores board has lots of ideas for age-appropriate chores.

 

A family affair

Set a good example by making sure that everyone helps out – in an age-appropriate way. If you child is old enough, involve them in a family discussion to decide who should do what around the house. Offer options so that children can choose the jobs they prefer. If no-one wants to do a particular task (such as cleaning the toilet!), use a rota system so that everyone takes a turn.

 

Praise and encouragement

Don’t expect perfection, especially at first or if they are very young. Praise those things they did well and they’ll feel proud of what they got right and motivated to do the job again next time. Tell them how much it helped you and they’ll feel they are making an important contribution to the family.

 

Reward

This will depend on your own family values and views but if you want to add an extra incentive, chores can be linked to giving pocket money or earning other treats. Use a blank sticker to add a £ button to each chore checklist, like this one for helping out at mealtimes and doing the dishes.

mealtime chore photo

 

Resources

  • Clean & Tidy Sticker Pack

  • I Can Do It Help At Home Kit

  • I Can Do It Independent Living Kit

 

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Getting dressed – TomTag Tips to help Autistic Children learn dressing skills

Plastic yellow tag showing sequence of clothing items

 Getting dressed independently is an important life skill for autistic children. Teaching dressing skills to my autistic son required a lot of time, practice, and patience.Putting on clothes in the right order, fastening buttons and zips and tying shoelaces involves mastering many skills. Add sensory triggers into the mix and it is easy to see why it took him longer to develop dressing skills compared with other children his age.

 However, it is worth the effort. Being able to get dressed by themselves gives autistic children confidence to function independently at school and it’s one less thing for you to worry about in the mornings!

Now is the perfect time for your autistic child to start developing their dressing skills. With schools closed, there’s no pressure to get everyone fed, dressed and out of the front door in the morning so there’s plenty of time to practice at your child’s own pace.

Let’s practice!

Getting dressed takes a lot of motor skills that autistic children may need time to develop. Balance and co-ordination of movements are needed to get their limbs in all the right places. Fine motor skills help them deal with many types of fastenings. 

Improving motor skills does not have to be boring! Here are some activities you can do at home with your child to make practice fun.

  • Practice balance by making a line on the floor and step with one foot in front of the other like “tightrope walking”. You could make it more interesting by pretending that they are walking a tightrope across a river full of snapping crocodiles!
  • Work on fine motor skills with a hidden treasure hunt. Fill a tub with rice or another pulse and hide small objects such as cars, or small figures and ask your child to find them. Sand play and messy play are also activities which practice fine motor skills.
  • Therapy putty is ideal for developing the hand strength needed to manipulate clothing and fastenings.

coloured buckets fuoll of sand and tag showing choice of play activtiesUse a TomTag visual list to help your child choose their preferred activity. Our new Early Years Activities sticker pack has lots  of activities that make fine motor skill practice part of playtime.

Getting Dressed

Once you’re ready to practice dressing try ‘backward chaining‘ . This method lets the child feel accomplished every time. They start with the last step then work backward from there.

Little changes can make a big difference in reducing your child’s frustrations while dressing. Here are some things you can do to make things easier for them.

Clothes

plastic yellow tag showing dressing sequence and yellow t shirt and blu jeans

 

  • Choose trousers or skirts with elasticated waists where possible and opt for loose fitting items with velcro or large buttons which are easier to put on than tight fitting ones.
  • Use a simple visual checklist like TomTag showing what order each item of clothing should be put on. You could also lay the clothes out in the shape of a body to help with visualisation.
  • Offer a choice, “ you can wear the blue shirt or the red shirt”.
  • Lay out clothes the night before, making sure they are the right side out.
  • Organise the wardrobe separating play clothes, school clothes and ‘going out’ clothes

 socksSocks

  • Begin with large, short socks that slip more easily over the feet.
  • Show  your child how to scrunch longer socks up first before pulling them on
  • Socks with colored heels make it easier to get them the right way round. We love the brightly coloured Ez Socks  from Special Kids Company that also have handy pull up loops.
  • Try Little Grippers school socks for socks that stay on – and up! – all day long.

shoesShoes

  • Having a designated place for shoes will save valuable time spent hunting for them
  • Start with slip on shoes or use no tie elastic laces such as Hickies, Greepers and Lock Laces
  • Teach shoe tying with a  step by step approach. The ‘bunny ears’ is a popular method and YouTube is an excellent resource for demonstrations of this and other tying methods.

coatCoat

  • Start practising with different, larger types of coat.
  • If the sleeve by sleeve approach isn’t working try this flip flop over the top method  wonderfully described by Connectability.ca – you might want to stand well back until they get better at this one though!
  • Attach a zip pull or a key ring to the zip to help with gripping the tab and make zipping easier.

starWell done!

Don’t forget to give plenty of praise to your child for their efforts at each stage and consider using a star chart to help them establish their routine.

 

Sensory and developmental issues 

If your child is sensitive to clothing consider how to reduce their sensory triggers .

Check for labels and seams that might cause irritation and cut them out where possible. Wash clothes several times before wearing to help  soften them. 

The Sensory Smart Store started by a mum of an autistic boy with sensory processing disorder has a great range of clothes to help sensitive and sensory children and adults. Whilst EcoOutfitters offer school clothing made from 100% pure organic cotton.

Dressing in front of a mirror provides important visual cues that can help a child with sequencing, body planning and body awareness. If your child continues to have difficulty with dressing, a qualified occupational therapist should be able to help.

Have you any tips or experiences to share about teaching dressing skills? We’d love to hear from you in the comments below.

Resources

  • Back-to-School Toolkit

  • I Can Do It Learn At Home Kit

  • I Can Do It Self Care Skills Kit

  • I Know What To Expect At Home Kit

  • School Morning Routines

  • Self Care Sticker Pack

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Games for Children with Autism – 5 Fun TomTag Activities

Plastic tags showing examples of games for children with autism

Play is one of the main ways that children learn and develop. There’s no reason why children with autism who use visual supports are any different. So why not bring play and fun games for children with autism into your visual supports too. To them they’re playing games, but you know that they’re getting some occupational therapy, speech activities and thinking skills thrown in. Games may also help children with autism engage more readily with using their visual supports. It’s a win-win!!

Here’s some of our ideas you could use to help your child engage with TomTag. 

#1  Indoor I- Spy.

Colouful plastic tags showing examples of an indoor I-Spy gameStuck indoors? Why not encourage language and memory skills with a fun indoor I -Spy game.

Instructions:

🌈Ask you child to choose a colour tag and room in the house.

👀Can they look round that room and find, name or point to items that are the same colour?

✔Click a reward button into the tag for each item found.

😊Praise them for their effort and move onto another colour and room.

In the examples shown, we used stickers (rooms and stars) from our In the house sticker pack. We drew the other symbols onto blank stickers. 

#2 Outdoor I-Spy

Colourful plasticm tags showing examples for an outdoor I-Spy gameUse your daily walk to play  I- Spy and spot things you may see in your city, town or village using a personalised TomTag checklist.

TomTag is also super portable and robust – ideal for taking with you when you’re out and about!

Instructions:

🗨Ask your child to suggest things they are likely to see on their walk – perhaps they can guess what order they will spot them in!

✍Make up the checklist together – we’ve used stickers from our Out and About sticker pack but you can just as easily draw or write on some blank stickers.

👀 On your walk, encourage your child to spot the things, find it on their tag and turn the button over. This shows  they’ve seen that thing.

🧐Praise them for keeping their eyes open and being a good detective.  

#3 Feelings & Emotions Charades

Colourful plastic tags showing images of feelings and emotions Help your child understand, recognise and express their feelings and emotions with a simple game of charades.

No Oscar winning performances required!

Instructions:

💬Talk to your child about the feelings and emotions included in the game – choose ones that your child needs some help with.

🤏 Jumble up the feelings and emotions symbol buttons and ask your child to choose one for you.

😀Act out the feeling or emotion shown. Can they guess it? If so, pop it in the tag otherwise have another go.

🔁Swap places and ask your child to act out the feeling or emotion for you to guess.

We’ve used symbol stickers from our Feelings and Emotions sticker pack but you can easily draw or write on blank stickers.

#4 Categories and Pairs

Colourful ploastic tags showing examples ot items that belong togetherDevelop vocabulary with a game of categories or matching pairs

Instructions:

▶Categories

🤏Choose a category. For example, things to wear.

🧦Ask your child to find all the symbol buttons showing things that can be worn and click them into the tag.

🚿Repeat with a different category, e.g. things I need to do in a morning.

▶Pairs

🧼💧Ask your child to find the items that go together e.g. what do I need to clean my teeth or wash my hands?

We’ve used symbol stickers from our self-care sticker pack, but you can easily draw or write on blank stickers.

#5 Sequencing skills

Colourful plastic tags showing daily activity sequencesPractice sequencing skills with a simple game of “what happens next”.

This game can also help reinforce familiar daily routines so it’s a win-win for everyone!

Here’s how to play the TomTag way.

🤏Choose an activity sequence

🤔Jumble up the symbol buttons and ask your child to find the one they think they should come first, second etc.

✔Click them into the tag into that order and ask them to check it is correct.

🗣Call out an activity and ask them to find it in the tag and turn the button over to show they have completed the activity.

Depending on your child’s ability, you could take out a few of the steps and build up to the longer 6-step sequence. We’ve used symbol stickers from our two popular mini-kits: teeth brushing and morning and evening routine.      

                                                                                                                              

Do you have any tips for games you can play with your TomTag? Please let us know in the comments below.

Useful resources

  • Out & About Sticker Pack

  • Feelings & Emotions Sticker Pack

  • Self Care Sticker Pack

  • Blank Stickers -Sticker Pack

  • Blank buttons – pack of 40

 

 

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Autism and anxiety in lockdown – sweating it out!

Exercise routine

This year’s World Autism Awareness Week takes place against the backdrop of a global pandemic. With a third of the global population under lockdown our daily lives have been dramatically changed. Forced to remain in our houses and adapt to new circumstances, many of us will be feeling bewildered, frustrated and anxious.

Sweating it out!

The anxiety many of us are now experiencing around these unprecedented changes gives us an insight into how many young people with autism, like my son Tom, experience an unwanted change of plan – it’s fraught with worry, it’s out of anything we could have predicted and it’s not what we wanted.

Our ‘new normal’ in these strange and unsettling times is very much how he feels all the time. Imagine having to deal with that level of anxiety every single day!

So, given everyone’s heightened levels of anxiety how can you manage autism and anxiety in a lockdown?

We’d like to share some daily strategies which we are using to support Tom’s mental health during this lockdown period. We’ve called it the SWEAT approach – let’s sweat this one out!

tips for good mental health
Daily SWEAT

Socialise – maintain social connections

Tom misses his dad, grandparents and college friends. Thankfully technology makes it relatively easy to keep connected. However, just as in normal social situations, we’re careful not to put demands on him to socialise virtually either.  We offer him a choice of how he stays connected and how often he wants to have contact.

Work – provide structure and routine

written timetable
Tom’s written weekly timetable

Routines and rituals help establish stability and order for children and young people with autism like Tom.

Like many young people with autism Tom struggles with flexible thinking. That means he finds it difficult to adjust and readjust to changes in his routine and this can cause him anxiety. A useful strategy has been to highlight what has stayed the same and what has changed. This reassures him that even with all the uncertainty some things, like his college work, mealtimes and bedtime routines, remain the same.

Keeping familiar routines going as much as possible is therefore important to provide structure and reassurance. Tom accesses his college work and sessions with his speech therapist, English tutor and German teacher online. A simple written visual schedule shows him what to expect each day and can help navigate these confusing times. You can also create symbol-based home visual schedules quickly and easily with TomTag.

However, it’s important not to set the bar to high! Be mindful that there will be days when the ‘home-schooling’ isn’t done and instead it is just a day of being together. An example of this was during the recent warm weather when we abandoned the schedule and went for a family walk.

Emotions – share worries and concerns

talking at table
Discussing concerns

Set aside time each day to talk about worries and concerns. Try to contain your own anxieties around the current situation because this anxiety gets transferred to our children. Now more than ever our autistic children need patience and support from the people they love.

Tom, like all of us, is naturally worried about events and this is amplified by worries about whether he is catching or spreading the disease.

We keep news coverage to a minimum and explain things in a clear and consistent manner using language appropriate to his level of understanding.

Making a wish list, where we write down all the things we want to do after the pandemic has passed, is also working well – though at the moment, it mostly revolves around football and Swiss trains!

Active – encourage physical activities

Keeping active is good for both our physical and mental well being. Tom has a daily fitness programme and he’s set up an exercise challenge with his speech therapist.

using exercise bike
Tom training hard!

Focusing on activities and encouraging him to do some chores – like washing the car and helping his sister deliver essential shopping to his self-isolating grandparents and other vulnerable members of the community – provides positive reinforcement that is so vital to keep up his self-esteem, confidence and sense of purpose.

Time alone – relax with special interests

reading book
Spending time alone

Build in lots of down time, together with time to indulge special interests. With all the family thrust together it’s important for mental well being that we all carve out some time for ourselves.

It’s a difficult time for all of us particularly for children with autism and anxiety. Hopefully by following these strategies we can sweat out this lockdown period.

What tips can you share that make this lockdown period more manageable and less stressful in your house?

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Home Visual Schedules For Autistic Children-TomTag Tips

If you’re a parent of an autistic child, the chances are you have been advised to use a visual schedule at home. But where do you start and is it really worth the effort?

In this blog, we discuss the reasons why home visual schedules can help autistic children and how you can get started with using them.

Why should you use visual schedules at home?

Using a visual schedule at home will help to build a sense of consistency, predictability, and security

Visual schedules at home can help you to communicate to your child when activities or events will happen throughout the day.

They use a sequence of drawings, symbols, text or pictures to show what a child is expected to do.

The more children can anticipate what is happening, the safer and more secure they will feel.

Tips for creating home visual schedules

Here are some of the tips that we have taken from our Show me guide – visual timetables, Schedules and Routines.

We call it the TomTag 4 P’s approach!

Plan

Notebook and pencil for planning schedules
Planning is key

Depending on your child’s developmental age, sit down each evening and try and plan out a rough schedule for the next day. Decide which activities for the day or part of the day you want to show. Choose the length of the schedule that you think will be appropriate for your child and adjust as necessary.

A simple daily visual schedule could include some education, fun activities and chill time (for them and you!) to help give some meaning and purpose to the day. If you’re interested in creating or using educational resources have a look at Twinkl and Education.com.

Try to replicate some elements of your child’s typical day. For example, encourage them to get dressed, brush their teeth, eat breakfast, etc. You could use a mini schedule to target these specific skills by breaking down a single activity into smaller steps.

Symbols showing a bedtime routine
Example of an evening routine using Widgit symbols

Make sure the schedule includes things like bedtime, time for exercise and meals. You could also consider giving children a chore or job to do to help them feel useful. This could be as simple as clearing the table or putting away their clothes.

Setting aside time every day to do a family activity that you know helps everyone in times of stress is also important. This could be watching a movie or playing a game.

Worried about challenging behaviour?

Try starting with activities that your child usually does willingly. It makes sense to structure the day so that harder tasks are done first when children are likely to be more rested. After schoolwork or chores are complete you can follow with easier tasks as a reward for accomplishing the harder tasks.

Prepare

Boy playing with lego as shown on his visual schedule

A home visual timetable or schedule doesn’t have to be complicated– a simple written, maybe colour-coded, chart pinned on the wall so your children can see it and refer to it will do the trick. 

There’s lots of examples of visual schedules and timetables online to copy or download. For a quick and easy way to create home visual schedules our TomTag Primary Home toolkit or Early Years Home toolkit are great options.

Prompt

Most children will be used to seeing a visual timetable and prompts at school to show them what to expect during the day. Introduce a visual schedule at home using the following steps:

  • Cue your child with a brief verbal instruction when its time for an activity to begin e.g. “check your schedule”
  • Gently guide them to look at it or place it in their hands and prompt them to look at the next activity picture
  • Using the least amount of words, describe the activity e.g. get dressed
  • Help them do the activity or model how to do it.
  • Praise them for completing the activity
  • Cue them to check their schedule again so they can move smoothly onto the next activity.
  • Fade the prompts once your child learns how to follow the schedule

Patience

Keep prompting, praising, and be patient!

It may take some time but it’s also important to acknowledge the pressure we’re all under. If the schedule goes pear-shaped, take a break and try again another time.

 

Helpful resources

Five Minute Mum is a great blog offering lots of ideas for keeping children occupied during the day.

Recommended TomTag products

  • Back-to-School Toolkit

  • Early Years Home Toolkit

  • Early Years Sticker Pack

  • I Can Do It Learn At Home Kit

  • I Know What To Expect – Morning and Evening Mini Kit

  • I Know What To Expect At Home Kit

  • I Know What To Expect Early Years Kit

  • I Know What To Expect-My Christmas Day Mini Kit

  • Learn At Home Sticker Pack

  • Morning and Evening Routines Sticker Sheet
  • STICKER SHEET SHOWING 20 WIDGIT SYMBOLS

    Non School Day Routines Sticker Sheet

  • Primary Years Home Toolkit

  • School Bag Packing Checklist

Maybe you have a tip on how best to use visual schedules at home? Please get in touch or leave a comment below.

 

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Transition to secondary school for autistic children – 10 tips for smoothing the move

mum hugging boy in school uniform on secondary school offer day

“I’m feeling worried about eating in the canteen.”

“I am concerned that the lessons are going to be a long time.”

“I worry about wearing my blazer all day.”

These were some of the worries my autistic son Tom had when he was moving from his beloved small and familiar mainstream primary school to a much larger secondary school.

The move from primary to secondary school is one of the major transitions in a child’s life. All children are likely to feel some level of worry about this move but for many children on the autistic spectrum, who crave stability and predictability like Tom does, this transition can be particularly difficult.

Secondary school transition issues

Like many children with autism, Tom has anxiety about the unknown and finds it difficult to think flexibly. He felt safe and secure with familiar routines established in primary school. Not being able to predict what might happen in his new secondary school and the thought of dealing with change and different rules was a real worry to him.

As a parent, my worries were mainly around his lack of social understanding, his communication difficulties, and his sensory challenges.

How would he:

  • cope with the many new social situations he would encounter in secondary school?
  • manage his feelings and emotions when things didn’t go as planned?
  • deal with the increased sensory demands of his new environment? 

Preparation is key

Every child with autism is different so a ‘one size fits all’ approach to transition is therefore not going to work. It’s vital that transition planning should be personalised to each child. By preparing your child as much as possible beforehand using some of the tips we’ve listed below, we hope you’ll be able to make those first days and weeks in the new school a lot less worrying for you and your child.

Extracts from Tom’s transition to secondary school booklet
Extracts from Tom’s secondary school transition booklet

Top 10 transition tips

Tip #1

Arrange for your child to visit their new school several times before they start and at different times of the day e.g. lunchtime, breaktime and during lessons. Tom made frequent, short visits which helped make his new school more familiar to him and took away some of the worry he felt about eating his lunch in the canteen.

Tip #2

Make a “My School transition booklet” which your child can keep and use as they need in order to reduce anxiety.

Tom’s booklet included a map of the layout of the school, photographs of key staff (particularly the teaching assistants that were going to support him) and photographs taken of him in the important places, like the school canteen, main hall, classrooms and a safe place for times of stress.

A photograph of Tom on the stairs in the school corridor with his written note of the correct corridor etiquette

A photograph of Tom on the stairs in the school corridor with his written note of the correct corridor etiquette – “walk on the left hand side so we don’t get squashed and we can let other people pass” was a simple inclusion in the booklet but meant that he knew what was expected of him when the corridors filled with students.

Tip #3

Establish a link with a member of staff who can act as a mentor and home-school liaison. Set up a home-school book to pass on information about any worries/concerns or any relevant developments at home.

Tip #4

Create a personal profile written with the help of your child to include all the information new staff should know about them. Tom’s profile mentioned his need to have frequent movement breaks and his worry about the long lessons.

Tip #5

Get used to a homework routine in advance of the new school start. Start simply with a 10-15-minute task at a regular time each evening in a quiet environment.

Tip #6

Make a visual timetable showing the school day to make lesson order & break times more predictable. The TomTag School Timetable kit is ideal for creating portable and personalised timetables for your child without the hassle of printing, laminating or Velcro!

Tip #7

Practice the journey to and from school, making sure your child knows the location of bus stops, road-crossings, meeting points or anything else significant on their journey.

Tip #8

Familiarise your child with their new school uniform and deal with any irritating seams or labels. Tom practised wearing his blazer at home so that he got used to how it felt and was also told he could take it off during lessons.

Tip #9

Practice packing the correct items for school. The TomTag school bag packing checklist would be perfect for this!

Ask your child’s current primary school to work on preparing your child for the transition by including activities around organising and managing their own items at school.

Tip #10

TomTag feelings notebook with example page filled inSet aside time to discuss your child’s worries and concerns about the transition. Encourage them to write down or draw about any concerns they have about moving to their new school. Remind them of relaxation and self-help techniques they could use if they are anxious. The TomTag Feelings Notebook is a helpful place to record worries and concerns. 

Transition to secondary school resources

The Autism Education Trust also has some useful resources for parents dealing with transitions. 

  • Back-to-School Toolkit

  • I Can Do It Pack My Bag For School Kit

  • I Know What To Expect At School Kit

  • cover image product feelings notebook

    My TomTag Feelings Notebook

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Making pancakes – an easy-to-follow visual recipe to help your autistic child

Pancake day – it’s one of our favourite days of the year! 

Tom loves pancakes and helping to make them. With inspiration from this great visual recipe guide from Widgit Software we’ve set up TomTag with appropriate visual prompts so he can follow the recipe with me. There are definitely no prompts needed for eating them!

Pancake recipe visual supports

Pancake recipe symbol supported equipment list

Pancake recipe symbol supported method

Pancakes symbosl supported toppings choice

If you’d like a set of these bespoke pancake-making symbol stickers contact us.

Have fun making your pancakes – I know we did, yum-yum!!