Schools and timetables go hand in hand, so what happens to routines when school is out for children with autism? How does it feel to go from a highly structured minute by minute schedule to a more relaxed environment? Should parents be encouraged to copy what’s been set up in school or should the day look very different? What could a parents home routine look like for their autistic children?
Many parents right now are debating these very questions. Parents want to do the very best for their children but where to begin is the big question? Read on for thoughts and ideas to support routines for children wherever they are.
So let’s consider a different angle. In school we may have created the perfect timetable for a child, so much so that they may even be completely in sync with the routines and remind us what should be happening next.
I am one of these teachers who really appreciates having the student with the inbuilt clock who, closes their book at precisely 10 seconds before the bell goes for break. How do they do it?!
Everything runs like clockwork for these students until there is change. But, let’s not forget, change in routines can happen at any time. It is something parents deal with throughout the school year. Weekends, holidays, illness, teachers training days, snow days all result in a child not going to school resulting in the parents home routine adapting.
When the time out from school is for a prolonged period, it can make us feel anxious. Without doubt, anxiety is often brought about by a feeling of a loss of control. We can just roll with it or let the kids relax and have some down time, but if you are like me, there are also nagging thoughts in the back of my head:
Is it OK for him to watch 4 hours of youtube a day?
How will I get her back into going to school again?
I feel exhausted. I am constantly picking up the mess and calming the sibling fights.
So what if we lean in and take control of the situation? Preparation and forward planning are our best friend here, so below are some key points to consider to help bring back a little order when learning away from school.
What is your aim?First consider what your overall aim might be? What do you, your family and your child need right now? You can always change and add to this as the days go by.
- Create a sense of purpose for the day
- Create a calm house for all the family
- Share a fun activity with your child
- Teach valuable life-skills at home
- Maintain the mental and physical health for all family members
- Play for 30mins without a device, independently.
The importance of meeting basic needsNext, consider your child’s basic needs. We all too often focus on learning targets and bypass the most important rule of all. If the basic needs are not met, then the chance of being in a ready state to learn is limited.
- food
- sleep
- toileting
I am hungry and I know there are biscuits in the cupboard that I want. However, I can’t express my need verbally to you, so I might keep running off, have a meltdown or even bite you.
What about their physical and sensory needs? Perhaps your child has an OT program to follow? If not most children will benefit from completing a sensory circuit at the start of the day. Some children will need to complete sensory based activities throughout the day. You can CLICK HERE for ideas.
All children need movement time and even better if you can do this outside and gain the valuable daily input of vitamin D.
- sensory circuit
- exercise
- outside time – vitamin D
Individual learning stylesFinally, think about how your child engages in the world around them. Think of learning that has been successful in the past. What approaches did you use, and how can these help your parents home routine?
- Keep a school routine? Autistic children are the most honest children you will find. They will let you know straight away if they want to follow school type routines at home or not at all. Listen and watch their responses. There are many children who refuse to read anything that looks like a reading scheme book at home or complete anything resembling a worksheet. For some, the crossover between school and home is too much. And this is OK.
- Motivators. Does your child need a highly motivating rewards to work towards? Could you try an activity of your choice followed by the motivating toy?
- Length of activity. How long should each activity last for? Short tasks with opportunity to achieve and feel success work best. Expecting a primary aged child to read for 1 hour will probably end in tears. Yours!
- Control. The world can feel out of control to autistic children. Often decisions and demands are made without the child’s input as of course we adults know what’s best for them. Or do we??? The chance to have some ownership, control and create your own journey can have huge benefits when trying to get your child to engage in a new routine. Giving control doesn’t mean letting the child do what he likes all day. It is much more subtle. You have to think ahead and give a choice of 2 options when opportunities arise. eg. Are you going to use the blue or black pen? Shall we walk or hop? Blue t-shirt or green t-shirt today? The black t-shirt that is now in the laundry so it is just not an option for today.
And now breathe…….there is a lot to consider when teaching children with special educational needs. It is understandable that it can seem really overwhelming at times. Therefore, in the back of your mind hold on to these 3 thoughts:
- There is a reason many children have a high level of adult support at school to help them learn. You are 1 person. Go easy on you. When will you have a coffee break? What manageable sleep pattern can you maintain? Who is your go to person for support?
- When things don’t go to plan, don’t force the situation. It’s OK to let things go and return to them another day. Perhaps your child isn’t yet ready to touch play dough – even if 1001 posts on Pinterest tell you how good it is for fine motor skills. It isn’t a battle. No-one is getting one over on you. Your child might just be expressing their needs. Take note and reassemble for another time.
- Amazon…….Buying new toys, just teaches kids that you can keep buying new toys. It might keep them entertained for a bit, until the next thing is advertised on TV. You might want to break the association of spending time at home resulting in Amazon deliveries. However exciting it is in the immediate moment. This cycle can be difficult to stop once you start.
Activities to tryNOTE: To engage in an activity, often an autistic child has to see what the endpoint is. Certain approaches work better than others, again depending on the child. When a collection of craft materials is put on a table with the instruction “make a cat”, this may raise too many questions in an an autistic child’s mind. What colour? How big? Standing or sitting? The instruction is not specific enough. However, “Make one like this (show picture or one you have made earlier), is much more easily understood and leaves no room for questions. The rate of success is also higher which means they will be more willing to try the next activity.
Depending on your child’s needs, abilities and engagement, you may want to try some of the following ideas as one of their tasks throughout the day.
Sensory Play – If you are feeling adventurous create mixtures together using household items. Flour is one of the easiest ways to start – hide items in a bowl of flour for the kids to find. Loads of ideas can be found HERE on The Autism Junction Pinterest board.
Life Skills – Put laundry into washing machine, set the table, brush your hair. More ideas HERE for household chores.
Physical – Create physical challenges. Get out and go for a walk or fresh air every day. Everyone will feel better for it. Check out these IDEAS for inspiration.
Independent – Looking at books for 15 minutes, rolling in the garden, etc. This could include their special interest or simply down time that isn’t adult led.
Joint Attention – These are led by you or another family member. The idea is that you take part in a fun, exciting WOW moment together. Laughter, suspense and surprise is key. Find ideas HERE on our Pinterest board Attention Autism.
Academic Task – Either set by school or try phonicsplay.co.uk or oxford owl.co.uk to start with.
We constantly search and gather the best ideas for engaging autistic students to our Pinterest boards with the aim of supporting others – take a look now for ideas and inspiration.
Create a system to check off tasksAll children are familiar with the visual timetable at school. However, for parents providing a home routine, they might need to look for something a little different. Try displaying the day’s activities, (selected from the ideas above), with a little imagination. If you focus on 4-6 tasks a day you can create a set amount of objects 1-6 and link each one to the task you want completed. Always reuse your object timetable and mark each one off as you go, meaning no need for printing and laminating all of those visual cards. Recycle and use whatever is available to you.
Gain a reward or token each time a task is completed. Use what’s available to you at home.If your child needs a little more visual representation, label items linked to the activities. Or perhaps simply put them in the order for the day.
lego / snack / cooking / paintingSo primarily, just use what you have at home and be creative. There is no wrong or right way of doing this as the most important thing is to always be consistent. Above all, if you have set up a certain way and your child engaged on day one, then follow a similar pattern the following day. Also, you can show the passing of time by removing each activity marker as it is completed or gain the reward – you choose. Check out the ideas below.
Use toilet rolls as activity markers. Finished the task? Move the cardboard tube to show its finished – knock it down, post it somewhere or even thread it onto a broom handle!Similarly, drawing the schedule works just as well……..no printing and no fuss, just draw your best stick men!
So in conclusion, routine is needed for many autistic students to understand their day, and as a result this calms anxieties. Consequently, structure should be encouraged at home and school to enable healthy and curious minds to develop. Therefore I find that the perfect blend is a little creativity in routines mixed with a little dose of control given to the child. And just in case things do not always turn out as we expected, we only take one small step at a time.
“With a new day comes new strength and new thoughts.” Eleanor Roosevelt
And finally, remember that each new thought is a chance to think differently………that’s what we want to encourage at The Autism Junction.
thinking differently
The Autism Junction