If you're working on self-awareness and emotional recognition/regulation, try using our My Choice Board app to allow the individual to express how they are feeling. This is beneficial in two ways - it helps increase the individual's ability to self-report feelings and moods while also giving you much-needed insight as to how they are feeling. Implementation is simple - You can either use images of the individual or find generic images (if the individual is good at generalizing) online to use. Once you have your choice board created with all of your desired images, allow the individual to choose from the field (which can be as large or small as you'd like). This can be incredibly effective for grumpy morning risers, individuals who have medical/pain issues, and pinpointing environmental triggers/stressors.
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Encouraging completion of chores/household tasks: Looking for a creative way to encourage your loved one/client to complete chores at home, or even maximize efficiency in a vocational setting? Try using First Then Visual Schedule to provide a motivating and concrete set of instructions for completion. Here's how! For individuals who are good at generalizing, you can create one master "chore list," with images that correspond to the required task. Audio prompts can be added, and videos of the individual completing the task can also be attached to further personlize the schedule. At the end of the chore list, try adding a motivator (a token, monetary amount for older individuals, or a preferred item/video) to signal that the chores are all completed and they can have their reward. For those who may need more prompting to complete tasks, try breaking each chore/task down into multiple, easy-to-follow steps. an example of this would be an individual who has a difficult time cleaning their room, or keeping it organized. You can create a schedule solely for "Clean Your Room," and break down that task into each step required to fully complete the chore...keeping in mind those "fine details" that some individuals may miss. The schedule can then be further adapted to their level of understanding/individual capabilities. This can be a great way to show the connection between task completion and "payment," which not only promotes a good work ethic, but also sets the individual up for success in keeping their environment clean and organized and potential future success within a job-type setting.
The "Notes" feature of Visual Schedule Planner can be used for parents/caregivers to communicate with therapists, teachers, day program staff, vocational trainers, and anyone else the app user interacts with on a daily basis. This is an excellent way to maintain continuity between programs/therapies, while also opening a daily dialogue between home and school/work/training. Everything from behaviors to self help successes to toileting can be tracked and shared using this feature of the app, which can provide a comprehensive support and communication mechanism for both caregivers and the individual using the app. Taking your loved one to the doctor can be especially difficult when he/she is unable to let the doctor know how they are feeling. Scene Speak can be an excellent tool to use in order to afford your loved one the ability to express what is happening within their body, and to let the doctor know "where it hurts." There are a couple of ways that you can accomplish this. The first would be to use one of the preloaded templates within the app itself to create hotspots that label individual body parts. You can also add a picture of your own as its own VSD, and label your loved one's actual body parts to make it even more personalized for them (this works especially well when you're working with someone who may have a hard time generalizing). Scene Speak is one of many ways that Good Karma Apps has available to help you give your loved one back their voice. =) Do you need to add in a timed prompt/break between steps in your schedule using First Then Visual Schedule HD? Try adding a "holding step" between regular steps in your existing schedule, then attaching a timer for the length of time that you desire for the prompting step. You can add in an audio prompt of your choice (voice, etc.) to "alert" the user and remind them to stay on task. When your schedule plays out, they will have an extra "step" in between regular schedule items to bring them back to the task at hand. This is effective for those individuals may need a small break between steps to redirect them to their schedule. |
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May 2020
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