My VISUAL SCHEDULES Conversion Story

Getting stuff done!

I am very aware that visual schedules are helpful tools for autistic kids. I have seen them in Jack’s classrooms and his in-home behavioral therapists used them. I just never took the time to think through our home schedule and then MAKE one. Maybe I was afraid that a rigid schedule would tie us down. Or maybe I was just too lazy to figure it out.

However, with 5 kids at home during the summer, I do make a to-do list for each kid in order to manage chores. And I have always excluded Jack. It never occurred to me that he could handle it. This year, as I was editing and copying and pasting lists together on the computer, I finally thought to make one for Jack. It took me a few days into the summer to explain it to him because I had low expectations of him getting it.

Hooray, Jack proves me wrong yet again! It seems obvious to me now that it would be wildly successful. The concept of following a predictable morning routine has worked wonders. Jack will come downstairs after waking up, find his list and get started. If he randomly stops and asks to play on a screen, we refer to the list and—”Oh no! You haven’t picked up toys yet”—that gives him a concrete reason as to why we we can’t get distracted right then. This list becomes like unto a ‘bad cop’ that makes him follow the rules and I’m just the nice mom who helps him through it.

I realized that my reluctance to a ‘rigid schedule’ was silly. This is just a list of obvious activities that would always happen in a morning. Of course he will eat breakfast and get dressed. This is for HIM to visually organize what he needs to accomplish; this is not a lot of extra work for me. And when I get to thinking about it, a schedule really helps out with transitions, helping Jack know what has to happen as the day begins.

For the record, despite my reluctance to making formal schedules, our family has always had an unwritten (yet very official) list of 3 tasks to do at night. Each kid knows they need to “go do their 3 things”, meaning 1) go to the bathroom 2) get dressed 3) brush teeth. That list is clear and consistent, thus it is completed.

There are crazy amounts of visual schedules out there. This is the simple one Jack refers to daily:

Jack’s 1st Summer Chores

After seeing success with this one, I believe I will be making one for before school and for after school to keep him on track. Which keeps me on track. And with my 5 active kids, that is a good thing.