Schedules

One of the most fundamental things that a parent can do for their autistic child is to create a daily schedule.

In the past we have used a basic written schedule like the one shown here. For many years this served us well until we realised that it had some real drawbacks for our child.

Although Zoe can read very well, her comprehension ability is not anywhere near as advanced as her reading skills. We have found that Zoe would refer back to her schedule and would get distressed if any part of the schedule was not crystal clear and as predicted.

We have since moved over to a picture based schedule system which simpy uses basic and very clear images to represent activities which will form the schedule for each day.

These picture schedules are available from a number of sources, such as Autism Buddy and the National Autistic Society. By using a clear schedule our child is able to predict and cope with each new day.