How many cards you use is up to you and your child. Some children may need prompts for getting dressed and using the toilet; others may only need them for outings and activities. You might find the prompts relieve a long-standing problem caused by the frustrations of poor communication. For a number of months we had a problem if we went out and our son didn’t know which car (Mummy’s or Daddy’s) or which parent he was going with. After I had made cards for all the permutations – both parents in Dad’s car, both in Mum’s car, Dad in Mum’s car, etc. – the problem suddenly lifted. I used simple stick ‘men’ and ‘women’ drawings (plus a stick child) and luckily the cars are different colours! Picture representations can be made for anything, including a sequenced set of cards to depict the order in which to dress, wash hands, etc.
The website www.do2learn.com has a great selection of copyright-free pictures that you can simply print off and use. Also see Chapter 4 for lots of ideas on making the most of your computer to access and make visual supports.
A morning in pictures might look something like this:
After an activity is complete, have a posting box or envelope for your child to put the picture card in to indicate that is the end, then return to the board for the next activity.
Introducing choice and flexibility
Even though choice and flexibility are difficult areas for children with autism, after your child is used to using picture prompts you can also use them to help him make choices. His first choice may be which reward to have, for example ‘biscuit’ or ‘video’. You might also use them to help him choose an activity for ‘free play’, for example ‘trampoline’ or ‘cars’. Don’t put all the choices on the board; provide two, from which he can choose one and give it to you. Physically giving the card to you and gaining a response demonstrates to him that communication not only involves others, but that it works.
Using pictures to aid communication appeals to the ‘visual learner’ – children with autism often think and learn visually. Pictures are easier to decode than words, they make a direct and concrete link to the activity.
Pictures help to prepare him mentally for the next task and allow him to ‘shift gear’, reducing anxiety and confusion.
Pictures are excellent communication aids; their motivating and ‘attention-grabbing’ qualities make them suitable not only for nonverbal children but for all children on the autism spectrum.
Pictures are a physical aid to help your child exercise choice and control.
Once you’ve started using picture prompts, give your child plenty of time to associate the picture with the activity. It’s tempting to give up too soon if this takes some time. However, if you stick with it you should gain a tool that will reclaim some order in all of your lives.
Chapter 4
Your Computer as a Valuable Resource
Information on autism, chat rooms, support communities, resources and advice are all now available at the click of a mouse in most homes. However, we have to be selective about the sites and resources we use and wary of information posted about autism that is misleading or exploitative. In saying that, the computer can save us time and money, especially when it comes to finding resources and materials: we can make our own picture cards in a fraction of the time, source innovative activities, and use interactive programs designed to assist our children’s understanding in specific problem areas such as recognizing emotions.
To help you through the overwhelming maze, here are some activity websites, ideas and downloads which I feel are the most useful.
Remember that ‘ABA’ has come a long way as an early intervention strategy and even though you may not be on or wish to be on such an intensive plan, the sites set up for and referring to ABA can have extremely useful resources to use when you are working on directed learning activities.
Free picture communication aids
There is no longer a need to invest large amounts of money to create a bank of picture aids for your child. There are unlimited images on the internet for you to print off and use, from the logo of your child’s favourite restaurant or play area to standard Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) cards for typical activities such as dressing and bathing. Here are some useful sites:
www.speechteach.co.uk
Free picture cards and games that can be used for communication; click under resources and find the links.
www.childrenwithspecialneeds.com
Click on PECS for more free picture and photo cards and matching activities.
http://trainland.tripod.com/pecs.htm
Scroll down to ‘Free standard size PECS pictures’ for links to hundreds of symbols.
www.abaresources.com
Click on ‘Free downloads’ for picture symbols for commonly read children’s books and popular games.
www.do2learn.com
Many free printable cards, or for a small charge you can download ‘Make a Schedule’ for access to over two thousand colour and black and white images for using in schedules and Social Stories™.
www.angelfire.com/pa5/as/asteachersites.html
Click under ‘positively autism’ for lots of free printables, aimed at teachers but great for structured learning time at home.
Remember that if you are looking for a specific image and can’t find it, key it into an internet search engine such as ‘Google’ and search in ‘images’ and choose the cleanest, most representative picture. Keep backgrounds to a minimum and avoid ‘overly stylized’ illustrations. If the picture looks too busy, copy it into Microsoft ‘paint’ (or equivalent) and use the eraser tool to remove some of the ‘fussy’ elements to leave you with a clean image.
Websites to explore emotions
www.transporters.tv
Anecdotally, children with autism seem to find Thomas the Tank Engine highly appealing. Based on this observation, ‘The Transporters’ is a world of imaginary toy vehicle characters who have emotional experiences and adventures. It aims to help children enhance their understanding of the causes of emotions and of emotional expressions. Children who don’t naturally want to look at people’s unpredictable faces may be interested in the characters’ faces which are ‘grafted’ onto beautifully predictable, attractive vehicles.
On this site you can watch/download the episodes and play the quizzes. You can also download the characters’ faces and make your own emotions matching/recognition games.
www.dotolearn.com/games/facialexpressions/face.htm
A computer generated face from which you can choose to view eight pre-set emotions or program