My daugher, who has a few LD, but has not been diagnosed an Aspie, has a lot of organizational issues. She has several chores to do daily in the house, as well as things to do for herself (brush teeth, comb hair, etc.) One of her learning differences is a difficulty with auditory memory. I am lucky if I can get her to remember one thing long enough to actually do it, let alone a list of things.
She has requested that we get a list to help her. I would really need a daily check off list. I am thinking possibly a whiteboard for on the back of her door?
Do any of you have any suggestions?
My John - is a visual thinker/learner. I am not creative, so
he drew a list for himself, (for home) just like you are describing. It was a rudimentary list as he was younger then (5/6/7) so I don't know if pictures can be assigned to more complicated tasks...
He also drew a map, so he could remember the order he was supposed to do stuff at school. It looked like the family circus with a map of his classroom and arrows showing himself where to go.
You must be so pleased that she has asked for help.
My John - is a visual thinker/learner. I am not creative, so
he drew a list for himself, (for home) just like you are describing. It was a rudimentary list as he was younger then (5/6/7) so I don't know if pictures can be assigned to more complicated tasks...
He also drew a map, so he could remember the order he was supposed to do stuff at school. It looked like the family circus with a map of his classroom and arrows showing himself where to go.
You must be so pleased that she has asked for help.
I am thrilled that she asked for help. She really wants to be self-sufficient, and does not like that she has to return to me for the second part of any task. For instance, in the mornings it is always, get dressed, brush your teeth, comb your hair. But I cannot give her those three instructions. She always returns to me inbetween each thing. I think it is frustrating to her.
She is so abstract in her art, it may be hard for her to get it set up in a practical way. But that is an idea. I also do not want her to feel she needs to write a lot of letters, as that takes a long time for her.
I have auditory memory issues as well; I sympathize greatly. A whiteboard is a great idea. Another idea is to laminate a sheet of paper and check things off with whiteboard markers. Mom of honestjohn's idea of pictures is also a good one. Small pictures cut out from magazines might work, too (pic of a dress, a toothbrush, a comb, etc.), if your daughter wants to make her own list. If she preferred that you do it, maybe clipart or icons would better fit the bill.
If I were making one for myself, I would break multi-step tasks down into manageable steps and check off each one. I would also post it in a more high-visibility location, like above the lightswitch just inside my doorway. (If I put it on the back of my door, chances are I'd forget to look at it after the first item or two were done. With my auditory memory problems, a basic strategy I use is to make as many things visual as I can. [Actually, the idea is to
externalize things to decrease my cognitive load. It just happens to be a visual technique; there's nothing special about it being visual.] Your daughter's experience may be entirely different - just passing along what works for me
.) If the chores were to be done all at once, I would also have a blinking light on the list to remind me of what I was supposed to be doing - but I'm an electronics and gadget kind of guy, and maybe that's a little overboard for you.
It's great that your daughter is thinking about coping strategies. I'm sure over time she'll refine whatever you come up with to work better for her.
Best of luck to both of you. Hope I passed along some useful ideas.
good idea. i need to put that white board on my list of things to get. so far, i just have instructions up in the bathroom so my son knows how to brush his teeth. i also have a schedule posted on the fridge for our nightly routine. for example:
dinner - 6:30 - 7:00
shower 7:00 - 7:30
you get the idea..
That sounds like a good idea! I'm going to need one of those lists for college, as I'm not going to have my parents there to tell me when to do what. In addition to this, I have an AlphaSmart that you can set to schedule your day for different tasks and have it beep an alarm for each time/task you tell it to. That helps especially when I am in the library or food court and I need to get to class on time (one time, if it weren't for that, I would've gone to class an hour late).
Methinks the morning shower more effective, in case of night sweat, whatever.
Most effective of all, if walking to work, is to walk to gym, exercise, shower at gym, change into office wear, cross street to office.
A director (female) is also a member, and triply coincidentally, generally a neighbor in the community, close enough. (She has been known to commute on foot. Alexandria is generally safe enough for it, even for a woman. We have had attempted accostings of women walkers on the bike trail, however.)
I always wear a watch that you can turn an alarm on, and a PDA but it doesn't really make much sound when it goes off.
Also a pocket-calender or whatever you call it.
My mobile phone is full of reminders - and it is certainly loud enough for me to hear!
I have enormous difficulty setting up routines; I need to go back to daily lists. Tie the pen to the whiteboard or it will go missing.
And look at the kind of person she is; some people will be happiest with an ever-increasing column of ticks as they complete the tasks, others would get overwhelmed and would prefer the only tasks that need to be done the next day to be ticked the night before so that they can erase the ones that they have done. The latter helps if you have tasks that don't have to be done every day, as they can be left blank without causing confusion about whether they need to be ticked.
I made a checklist for the kids that I laminated for each of them so that they can literally check items off with a grease pencil. It has morning items and evening items. I downloaded duty-free clipart to correspond with each item. I can send as PDF to anyone who wants it. I suppose email sent from this group allows attachments, though I've never used it. PM and I'll try. *shrugs*
We have a list that is in a sheet protector for my 16 year old stepson. It hangs on his bathroom mirror and literally he goes down the checklist every morning: take a shower, brush your teeth, put on deodorant, get dressed, put on your watch, eat breakfast, make lunch, feed the dog, etc.
It has made his routine easier for him.
My ds loves his checklists!