delayedtoddler

photo by woodleywonderworks on flickr

Visual schedules. I know I talk about them a lot, don’t I? There is a very good reason for that, and that is that they work. B has been using a visual schedule in her speech therapy. Her therapy time always starts with circle time and it’s not really B’s thing, so she’ll try to point to the play time picutre first. Her therapist will show her again that first it’s circle time, then story time, then table time, then playtime and finally one more circle time. It helps B to sit through circle time because she knows that play time will come and that she really likes it. After each activity, B gets to take that picture off and put it in the all done envelope.

We haven’t actually gotten to making our schedule for home. I’ve made some attempts, but haven’t gotten it right yet. The good news is that in speaking with our resource teacher, she told me she can make us one. She has all the supplies at the office and from the sounds of it, she’s a pro at making these since so many of her clients use them. When we receive ours, I’ll let you know how it’s working for us.

In the meantime, I found this great website which gives a lot of good detailied information on why to use a visual schedule and how it works. You can find it here. The information is in pdf form, so it’s very easy to print out.

As for the picture I’ve used here, it’s just an example of how visual schedules can be used. This is not the kind of schedule we are currently using at speech therapy.

I’ve finally gotten started on making a visual schedule of my own for B.  My first step?  Order a laminator.  I debated about just getting sheets laminated at a store, but for the cost, I decided it was more effective to buy my own laminator.  I researched online to see what models were available and eventually went into a business supply store so I could see what the different models looked like to narrow down my choices.  I went with a model that does photo-size laminations rather than letter-size because most of the laminating I will do will be small pictures.

I suggest you do your research before choosing a laminator.  Consider what size paper you want to be able to laminate and how much laminating you are likely to do.  The prices vary widely for laminators, so take a look at a few before committing to spending a small fortune.  From what I have seen in the stores, I do not think there is a huge difference in performance between the expensive models and the less expensive models.

My laminator is currently on order and I hope to recieve it soon.  In the meantime, I have to get some velcro and find some good images that will be useful for developing routines with B.  I am not much of a routine follower, so this will be a good exercise for both of us.

If you are searching for a laminator, take a look at the one below. It is one of the lower priced laminators I have seen and looks like it would do a good job.

This one is slightly more expensive, but also in the low price range:

I’ll add steps to the Visual Schedule How-To as I go. If you have any questions or suggestions, please let me know!