I have a relatively set schedule for Jimmy.
After we wake up and come downstairs, he picks out which color marker we will use on his visual schedule. I have four dry erase markers: red, green, blue, and black. Some days I lose track of where I've put the marker for the day before. Some days he is OK with this, others he is not. On a bad morning, we simply do our best to move forward, pick one of the remaining colors and it often cascades into everything else throughout the morning. Anyways, after we select which color, we mark off essential things we need to do on our morning chart (a picture of this is below), which is based on a original schedule, created last year by Jimmy's speech teacher at Main Street, Julie.
It says at the top "Time for School!"
Below it, is a grid. First is a picture of a bagel with the words "Eat Breakfast." with a box next to it. In this empty box, after a task is completed, we place an "X"
Next is "take a bath" with a picture of a bathtub. (Some days despite my insistence he will NOT take a bath or shower...on those days I simply mark the chart with a "NO")
There are two empty boxes to the right, where I typically write things, draw a happy face, draw a pizza for pizza day (which is usually Thursday) and we always write the day at the top.
Next: "Get Dressed" with a picture of a child getting dressed.
Within our morning routine, is, to quote a Star Trek term, a "sub-routine"! (Sorry mom is serious sci fi geek/nerd!) With the help of Julie from Main Street, we created a routine which must be followed or he tends to be very unruly and upset. We have an empty peanut butter jar with a slot cut out in the top (another prop from Julie, God Bless her), and for each item of clothing we have a milk jug top. While each milk jug top is not exactly the same in style/look, they are the same color and need to be the same color. I tried substituting a blue top for a red one and got a serious meltdown.
Each number is for each of the main items of clothing:
1=underpants
2=socks
3=pants/shorts
4=shirt
5=sneakers/boots/sandals
Anyways, 1 used to be diapers, then became pull ups and now it's UNDERPANTS! YEAH! And some days I'm out of it, and put #4 where #3 is supposed to go and I get a serious yelling-at!
Next to the block for "Get Dressed" is a picture of a TV--Jimmy is only allowed to watch TV in the morning after he completes the first three tasks. Jimmy mostly watches PBS Kids (http://pbskids.org/):
- Arthur on at 7:30 in Syracuse
- Curious George on at 8:00 in Syracuse
- Clifford on at 8:30 in Syracuse, though only get to watch one out of the two stories
I love it when he watches these shows, because my Jimmy loves music and he sings along with the theme songs. Despite not being able to enunciate the words, he certainly has the inflection down!
Ever watchful of what time it is, at a specific time, usually very close to 8:30, I either use several verbal reminders or set a timer so that at 8:45 he needs to turn the TV off. We then have time to use the toilet, if needed, wash his hands, and brush his teeth. There are many times that he will refuse to use the toilet, so I don't push it too much since I have to keep him on task for everything else!
In the bathroom I have to have the almighty choices, in this case--toothbrushes! He has about 4 or five right now. I won't even go into the prompting that must take place to have him brush and I can never leave him alone as he'll either squeeze out five tablespoons of toothpaste, get into the medicine cabinet or something else.Then on the schedule is a picture of a pair of sneakers with the words "Put on My Sneakers" and after the empty box is a picture of a backpack.
Then we go outside to wait for the bus which comes to our street. Some days Jimmy is tolerant, will listen to my simple requests, and be ready to get on the bus. Some days, he takes off down the street and I have to go get him. We can both lose patience with each other and get frustrated easily. Now that a month has passed, the morning routine is becoming easier and easier to predict and to deal with. Now if I could just manage weekends!!!!!
