Ideas to help DS focus, please...

[sunset30]

Ds is nearly 4, and probably has an ASD.

he goes to nursery school (I think it's equivalent to pre K?) 5 mornings a week.

when he gets there he has to put his book bag away, self register, and change his shoes (take his outdoor shoes off, get his shoe bag, find his indoor shoes, put his outdoor shoes in his bag and put his indoor shoes on)

Trouble is, he get to put book bag away and self register and by then he has no idea what next, and no inclination as he has wandered off and found something intersting to look at / do.

He CAN do his shoes by himself with LOTS of prompting, or he loses focus etc.

(the same at home actually, he can't dress himself, becasue he can't focus for long enough to get it done, so while he CAN in about 30 minutes get his underpants, trousers and occasionally socks on, the rest has never really occured. Thus changing into his PE kit at school requires a LOT of help)

School don't really want parents there inseide helping the children in the morning, they want the children to do this for themsleves, by way of learning independence etc.

I need some ideas on how to help him stay "on task" long enough to get all this done, and remember it al while also being in a stimulating and interesting environment.

(and maybe then I can move on to working on his "space invading" and his ability to focus on asking number / information questions ad infinitum - yesterday the teacher had to tell him, after telling him the number of her house and the name of the town she lives in, that the street she lives on has to be a secret)

it's really starting to hit me that working ALL his issues out (I haven't even got to what to do if the fire alarm goes off - he is hypersensitive to sound and spends a fair amount of time with his hands over his ears, and he also HATES the unexpected) is going to be a MASSIVE challenge. THings that were not one bit of a problem in a child of just 3 are already becomng a problem in a child of nearly 4...I guess projecting out that they will be even MORE of an issue in an older child......

Help please?

 

[treehugnmama]

could you do a picture schedule for him. you can do a small picture of each task in a strip and post it in his area for him to refer to. you could also do it on cards on a key ring and he could loop it to his belt but this may be more difficult, you can take a picture of each step for this

 

[Piper]

That is a LOT for a Pre-K kiddo to remember to do without a picture schedule and a lot of teaching. I always had a lot of picture reminders (photos) around my classroom (ex: how to go to the restroom--turn on light, go, flush, wet hands, apply soap, rinse hands, dry hands, throw away paper towel, turn off light) I went over the steps every day for the first two weeks or so for any routine. Even then, I would see kids looking at the pictures before they did one of our "routines." I would also periodically reteach a specific routine--especially when we got a new student.

Some of my ASD kiddos responded well to photos of themselves doing the task--and my neurotypical kiddos loved their photos as well. A picture truly is worth 1,000 words!

 

[bookwormde]

Image based reminder posters with check off boxes can work well.

bookwormde

 

[sunset30]

Thanks guys, never thought of doing pictures for such things (guess I need to start re learning what uis hrad and what is "ordinary" huh?) Ds's teacher has a son on the spectrum, so I am hoping she will be a help with his issues, but right now we just have to get the "basics" covererd