Читать книгу Playing, Laughing and Learning with Children on the Autism Spectrum - Julia Moor - Страница 25

Throughout the book I make reference to using ‘picture prompts’ to communicate to your child which play activity you have planned. There are some for you to photocopy and use at the back of this book. Using picture prompts in this way is an idea from TEACCH (Treatment and Education of Autistic and related Communicationhandicapped Children) – for more information, see the references at the back of the book. It makes sense to use these prompt cards as part of a picture diary to communicate the course of the day’s events to your child. How you display and use the cards is a personal choice – you may display them left to right, horizontally or in a vertical strip, top to bottom. Make them durable enough to withstand a fair amount of use; either invest in a laminator, or stick them to card and cover them with sticky-backed plastic. You could use a piece of ‘hook and loop’ so that they can be peeled off and reused.

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.