Visual timetables

My kid was old enough to know how to dress himself. He was in school and wore a uniform each day. He could physically manage most of it himself, needing some help with sock and buttons. However, he would simply just never dress himself. Even when I sat there with him and handed each article of clothing to him one at a time. Even when I used conversation to distract him, timers to encourage him, races, treats, anything I could think of, it would still inevitably take until we had to leave for school for him to only partially be dressed.

My first go to, was to assess any discomfort the uniform may be giving him. Sensory issues can be extremely difficult for little ones to deal with and they often cannot even explain to you what is wrong for them. Once I had ruled out any issues with textures, labels, colours etc I knew it was not a sensory issue. How then, could I encourage him to dress himself. It was clearly not just laziness, he wasn’t waiting because he knew I would eventually dress him, it was something else.

Queue the lightning bolt of inspiration. We dressed him in plain black long sleeves and long trousers (no socks) and took a photo of him. Then we laid out and took pictures of each individual article of clothing he needed. The clothing was photographed laid how it would look on a body. Even each sock was laid down for their own photos. Then everything was printed in large. One lamination later (for protection and repeated use) and some Velcro placed at the back of each item, we were ready to go. We hung up the picture of him on the wall. Each morning I laid out his clothing on the floor in a line. The corresponding photo was placed beside the clothing. He could then dress the photo on the wall as he dressed himself. Pants on? Then pants on the wall him. Sock on? Then sock on the wall him. Genius paid off. He slowly started to dress himself.

As he got slightly older he lost interest in dressing up the photo on the wall and slowly regressed to not dressing himself again. Same problem, but different age needing a different solution. I made a visual timetable for him. I drew a picture of his clothes on little squares of paper. Each article of clothing got their own drawing – except the socks, this time they were drawn as a pair. Then the drawings were put on a Velcro strip on his favourite colour card. I attached a plastic pocket to the poster and his name. Now, as he got dressed, he could place the clothing drawings in the plastic pocket – the done pouch- after he had put it on. This worked great and I realised I could use the same method for his brother who needed constant reminding of his morning routine. His visual timetable included one card for getting dressed but also cards for; brushing teeth, washing face, breakfast, shoes and coat. Brilliant. My grateful thanks goes to the friend who taught me about visual timetables.

If your child needs a visual timetable, I make bespoke ones in my store – check it out, and much luck.