Visual "help" cards for my boys with autism

[DisMomAmy]

I have two boys, Alex (8), diagnosed with PDD-NOS at age 2 and Zachary (5), possible Asperger's diagnosis in the works. While Zachary doesn't have a formal autism diagnosis at this point, he has a lot of anxiety issues and I think will benefit from these cards. I made this set today for Zachary. I'll post Alex's set later after I make them.

Here are pictures of each of the cards. For some reason I couldn't get good pictures of the text. The flash just washed everything out and without the flash they got blury... I tried placing them in the sun and out of the sun - but nothing seemed to help.

I will type out the text and post it later. If anyone is in a hurry for it, just let me know and I'll do it right away. I used Boardmaker software - software specifically made for children with communication disorders.

(Posted new pictures 4/22/09 - figured out how to use the close up feature on my camera.)

Zachary doesn't read yet, but I included text for us to go over the cards with him.

See post #17 for Alexander's cards.

 

[mrsksomeday]

Wonderful idea !! I love the visuals, I would think it would help so much.

Thanks for sharing .

 

[bookwormde]

Very nice, they should help with moving through the process in each area.

bookwormde

 

[Schmeck]

I love BoardMaker! I think your options/solutions are fantastic. You're an awesome Mom!

 

[toodycat]

Those are impressive. Your boys will feel much more secure with them. You are a terrific, creative mom! One thing we did for J when he was little was to get a hospital-style ID bracelet and write his name, our names, our hotel and our cell # on it. That way, we knew if he got lost, someone would be able to get all that info, even if he didn't articulate it.

 

[momtwoboys]

Those are amazing! How much does it cost to "copy" those images? I know my son uses those types of icons in school. We are heading to Disney May1st wish I found this sooner. How long did it take you to make? Our son Luke is 8 and has Asperger's, Sensory Processing..... this could come in very handy.

 

[DisMomAmy]

Thanks for the comments everyone! I really think the cards will be helpful for both boys.

I finished up Alex's set yesterday - I'll post pictures soon.

toodycat - I put our contact information on business cards and laminated them. I'll attach them to the kids clothes.

momtwoboys - Boardmaker is expensive - $329. They do offer a free trial - go to the mayer johnson website if you want to check it out. You could also make similar cards using clip art of finding images on the web - for free!

 

[Schmeck]

Those are amazing! How much does it cost to "copy" those images? I know my son uses those types of icons in school. We are heading to Disney May1st wish I found this sooner. How long did it take you to make? Our son Luke is 8 and has Asperger's, Sensory Processing..... this could come in very handy.

Could you ask your school to make some photocopies of the icons he uses? You could even use them at home for continuity and consistency, as well as on vacation.

 

[MarieS]

These look great! I have something similar but I have it in a book form and comb bound.

 

[momtwoboys]

I was thinking of asking for some from school, great idea! I like how those are specific for Disney situations. I have a few basic ones at home ( sit/listen/walk) Thanks for the idea. He is already obsessing about not being able to sleep in his own bed I have decided to pack our own sheets to feel more like home

 

[SueM in MN]

Very nice.

I am going to post a link to this thread in the disABILITIES FAQs thread, in post #3, under the Communication/PECs information.

When my DD was little, her Speech Therapist did print us some copies of Boardmaker symbols. We cut them out and put them on communication boards.

I have taken pictures of my DD's communication device screens and have some suggestions for taking pictures of your cards.
1) See if you can turn off the flash on your digital camera. A lot of times the flash makes a reflection on the card.
2) Then, see if your digital camera has a close up setting. On my camera, it is a picture of a flower. That's for close up and then there is another flower for super close up. My guess is that your text is coming out blurry because you are too close for the lens to focus. By using the close up setting, you can change the focal range so something closer is able to be in focus.

Hopefully that will help you to get some better pictures (although the ones you have do show quite well).

 

[mousescrapper]

Awesome AMY!

 

[buffettgirl]

wow, what a great idea. well done.

(gotta ask, how will you handle it if your son pics "leave" every time?? That's what mine would pick..... )

 

[DisMomAmy]

Could you ask your school to make some photocopies of the icons he uses? You could even use them at home for continuity and consistency, as well as on vacation.

Great idea!!

These look great! I have something similar but I have it in a book form and comb bound.

That's a good idea too - I couldn't decide on the format to use at first, but I'm always adding things, plus I might re-use some of the cards after Disney so I wanted to be able to change it.

I was thinking of asking for some from school, great idea! I like how those are specific for Disney situations. I have a few basic ones at home ( sit/listen/walk) Thanks for the idea. He is already obsessing about not being able to sleep in his own bed I have decided to pack our own sheets to feel more like home

Our biggest problem is that DS8 only likes to use the bathroom at home. Luckily in trips past, he has decided that the hotel is his home away from home.

Very nice.

I am going to post a link to this thread in the disABILITIES FAQs thread, in post #3, under the Communication/PECs information.

When my DD was little, her Speech Therapist did print us some copies of Boardmaker symbols. We cut them out and put them on communication boards.

I have taken pictures of my DD's communication device screens and have some suggestions for taking pictures of your cards.
1) See if you can turn off the flash on your digital camera. A lot of times the flash makes a reflection on the card.
2) Then, see if your digital camera has a close up setting. On my camera, it is a picture of a flower. That's for close up and then there is another flower for super close up. My guess is that your text is coming out blurry because you are too close for the lens to focus. By using the close up setting, you can change the focal range so something closer is able to be in focus.

Hopefully that will help you to get some better pictures (although the ones you have do show quite well).

Thanks!! I hope it can help someone else.

Awesome AMY!

Thanks Julie! You're my inspiration!

wow, what a great idea. well done.

(gotta ask, how will you handle it if your son pics "leave" every time?? That's what mine would pick..... )

Fortunately "leave" is not the option of choice for my boys. And we have talked about how "leave" can mean different things - it might mean leave the park, or it might mean leave a ride, but it could also mean leave that area (choose different seats at a show) or leave a line (and use an alternate entrance).

I shared these cards with some of the moms I see every week at DS's social skills group and they had the same question - for those kiddos who prefer to leave - I wouldn't give that as an option on the cards.


Thanks for leaving your comments everyone! You should all go check out mousescrapper's special guidebook too. (Link in her siggie.)

 

[SpecEdismyLife]

Great cards! We are all set to take our son in July, the first trip with his electronic augmentative device (DynaVox) that uses boardmaker. I am debating on doing these for him for when we are at the pool and places his device should not go like water rides. Excellent job on those, they look great!

 

[SueM in MN]

Great cards! We are all set to take our son in July, the first trip with his electronic augmentative device (DynaVox) that uses boardmaker. I am debating on doing these for him for when we are at the pool and places his device should not go like water rides. Excellent job on those, they look great!

I don't know if you have seen them, but there are some links to past threads in the disABILITIES FAQs thread that might be useful to you. They are in post #3 of that thread, under Communication. The third thread under Communication is a report of a poster's experiences with a Dynavox at WDW. The second thread under Communication has pictures of WDW Communication pages I made for for my daughter's device. Those might give you some ideas if you want to make some WDW for your child's Dynavox.

We have been to WDW with our daughter's Vantage augmentative communication device a number of times and found it not the easiest thing to carry around with us. (It is similar to a Dynavox, but uses a different language system).

We were concerned about it getting wet during rainstorms (which it did a lot in October of 2007). To combat water, we brought some clear, thin plastic bags and her Vantage spent most of the time in a plastic bag. That protected it and it still allowed use of the device
Because DD uses a wheeelchair, we didn't have to worry about carrying the device most of the time. We did have to be concerned about whether the wheelchair mount or the Vantage would be in the way when we went on attractions where she could stay in the wheelchair. We also had to remove the Vantage and usually also the mount for those attractions where she had to transfer from wheelchair to ride car. Since we didn't want to leave a fragile $7000+ device sitting out on the wheelchair while we were in rides, I got the job of taking it off and carrying it. Three pounds 9 ounces of device doesn't sound heavy, but it sure feels heavy at the end of the day.

Prior to getting her Vantage (and her Dynavox that she had before the Vantage), I made communication boards for her. Rather than laminate them, I used a small picture album as a holder for them.
After the wet trip of October 2007, on our trips in 2008, I printed copies of her communication device pages for WDW and some general ones like food, general needs. (you should have a "Print Screen" action that allows you to do that). DD picked out a Tinkerbell scrapbook album to put the pages in. We brought that with to the parks and places we were concerned about wetness. The device mostly stayed in our room and she used it at night to talk about what we had done each day.

ADDED LINK: This March we had another option - cooler than printed pages and not so big as the Vantage. An iPod touch with a new program called Proloquo2Go.

 

[DisMomAmy]

These are very similar to Zachary's cards... you'll notice Alex's first card is a "rules" card - he has fewer sensory issues than Zach but a lot more behavior issues that we want to try to keep under control.

There are a couple icons I need to fill in - "Hidden Mickeys" and "Cast Member". I have to draw them or import some photos into Boardmaker.

And a blank in case there is anything we need to add with a Sharpie...

 

[mookie]

These are very similar to Zachary's cards... you'll notice Alex's first card is a "rules" card - he has fewer sensory issues than Zach but a lot more behavior issues that we want to try to keep under control.

There are a couple icons I need to fill in - "Hidden Mickeys" and "Cast Member". I have to draw them or import some photos into Boardmaker.

And a blank in case there is anything we need to add with a Sharpie...

Your cards are EXACTLY what I am looking to use for my ds. unfortunately, I don't have the boardmaker program, so I don't think mine will look as pretty as yours.

Great job!

 

[SueM in MN]

Those are great.
(And the pictures turned out pretty good).

 

[MarieS]

Amy,

These are great! I like your idea of having a blank page to use with a sharpie.