I Know What To Expect At Home Kit

£38.00

When Tom was younger day to day life at home was hard for all our family.

He found it tough going from TV time or playing outside to bedtime or dinner time. These transitions would cause him to scream,  have a meltdown or break his toys in frustration.  It was awful to see him so anxious, irritable and unhappy. Our family life suffered, and it was exhausting dealing with his behaviour.

Using pictures to create a visual schedule made life so much easier for all of us. Knowing what to expect meant that Tom’s day was more predictable, planned, and structured. Seeing what was going to happen and when helped him understand his routine and anticipate transitions. This made him feel safe, reassured, and calm and helped to reduce his anxiety levels and meltdowns at home and when out and about.

Letting Tom choose an activity from his visual schedule to do after doing something he didn’t like to do such as brush his teeth, helped him feel in control and meant less frustrations around doing necessary tasks.

We put together this kit to help other families like us who want a calmer, happier child, and family life.

Use this kit to create personalised visual schedules, reminders, and checklists to support your child’s home routines and transitions so that, like Tom, they can say, ‘I know what to expect at home’ too!

Key benefits

  • Creating a structure and routine to your child’s day at home results in a calmer and less chaotic family life
  • Showing your child what to expect during their day removes unpredictability and helps reduce their anxiety and meltdowns.
  • Seeing what they need to do gives your child independence and boosts their self-esteem as they take pride in being able to do something by themselves.
  • Showing your child what they need to do and in what order without constant nagging leads to less frustration and anxiety when moving between tasks
  • Giving your child a choice, where appropriate, makes them feel less frustrated and more independent.
  • Portable and discreet- perfect for use in the home and when out and about

Kit contents

  • 7 TomTag Button Holders
  • 50 blank buttons to give you the flexibility to create multiple schedules
  • 2 attachment loops to fasten TomTag to a hook, belt or bag
  • Easy to follow instruction sheet to assemble your TomTag
  • In The House sticker pack which contains

72 different symbol stickers (2 copies of each) for

    • Personal care & behaviour: Get up, shower, get dressed, brush hair, brush teeth, undress, wash, bath, bed time, use toilet, wash hands, go to sleep, tablets/medicine, glasses, ear defenders, mobile phone, please,  thank you, time out, reward, use timer, quiet, share
    • Mealtimes: breakfast, snack, fruit, lunch, sandwich, dinner, sweet treats, picnic, eat, drink
    • People & places: mum, dad, brother, sister, family, grandparents, visitor, friend, babysitter, living room, dining room, bedroom, bathroom, kitchen
    • Activities: TV, games, baking, read, hobby, homework, tidy up, go to school, no school, walk dog, craft, play inside, iPad/tablet, messy play, listen to music, gaming, play outside, party, lego, pack school bag, puzzles, sensory time, computer, get ready
  • 12 blank round stickers for personalisation
  • 8 blank rectangular stickers to label your TomTag Button Holders
  • Week day stickers to label your TomTag Button Holders
  • Out & About sticker pack which contains

72 different symbol stickers (2 copies of each) for

    • Places to go: art gallery, museum, day centre, school, friends house, theatre, cinema, café, restaurant, library, home, leisure centre, club, bowling, soft play, church, park, farm, zoo, playground,
    • Shops: Shop, supermarket, shopping centre, market, butchers, bread shop, fruit & veg shop, shoe shop, toy shop, clothes shop, changing room (M & F)
    • Shopping: buy, spend, take change, bank card, pay with card, checkout, wallet, purse, cash machine, trolley, shopping bag, shopping
    • Transport & travel: car, car seat, fasten seat belt, car park, tricycle, bicycle, scooter, bus, bus stop, train, train station, crossing, cross road, town, city
    • Behaviour: no biting, no pushing, no kicking, toilets, treat, don’t touch, walk, don’t run, walk together, hold hands, queue, look and listen, wait
  • 12 blank round stickers for personalisation
  • 8 blank rectangular stickers to label your TomTag Button Holders

Click the gallery to view the symbol images

Dimensions

  • TomTag Button Holder:18cm x 3cm
  • Buttons: 2cm diameter

 The TomTag I Know What To Expect Range 

The TomTag I Know What To Expect range was originally designed by a mum to help her autistic son, Tom With this range, it’s quick and easy to make personalised visual timelines, schedules  and reminders which can be used anywhere in the home, at school, in care settings or when out and about.

TomTag visual supports can provide structure and guidance to the day or week ahead, helping to lessen anxieties and mange expectations about what is going to happen. This can lead to improvements in behaviour, communication and encourage personal responsibility and independence. 

These are truly versatile visual supports.  Use the tags singly to highlight sections of the day or particular tasks. Work towards using just one tag to cover a whole routine or time of day. 

TomTag is easy to clean and keep hygienic. TomTag’s plastic button holders and blank buttons can be washed in warm water and a little hand soap should they become dirty and dried with a soft cloth. The stickers are highly water resistant. Simply wipe over with a wet cloth or anti-bacterial wipe.

How does TomTag work?

TomTag uses symbols to show a series of separate tasks or steps involved in a task that are part of a routine, a sequence of events in a timeline or they can be used as a list to teach a new skill by breaking down a single activity into smaller steps.

Many children with autism and other additional needs have strong visual skills. They are more likely to remember and understand what they have seen rather than what they hear. Using a visual support like TomTag to present information visually and in a step-by-step manner allows visual thinkers and learners to take in information at their own pace. Visuals can also act as a reminder when children forget what’s been said or become distracted, TomTag helps to bring their attention back to the task or current situation.

Our Customers say

“The day always start off with tomtags, making sure my son’s visual timetable is ready to help him understand what’s happening on the day.”

“My daughter is able to see what happens visually and it has made such an impact to her behaviours. She now can see the routine and this seems to have calmed her down during transitions. An amazing product.”

“What a fabulous product! I have used and had the greatest week in years….encouraging independence and taking away all anxieties around transitions. thank you for a fab product!”

“Fantastic visual aids, with a good variety of changeable pictures. What a simple way to walk our children through day to day life.”

WARNING: Please note – TomTag is not a toy. Not suitable for children under 36 months due to small parts.

Symbol images produced under licence from Widgit Symbols (C) Widgit Software 2002-2022 www.widgit.com. All other images (C) Orkid Ideas Limited 2022

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