Josh was having a little trouble when we visited the library. He was so distracted and overwhelmed by all the fun things to do. He had trouble sitting still and sticking to any one thing. So one of his teachers created a visual schedule for him. These are particularly helpful for kids on the autism spectrum because of their difficulty with too much verbal information. I took a bunch of pictures of the library. Josh's teacher laminated them and put velcro on the back of each picture and each time we go to the library we sit down just inside the door and we let Josh decide in what order he wants to do things. He arranges the pictures by sticking them on a folder with more velcro on it.
We let him decide whether he wants to take the elevator or the stairs.
We show him a picture of himself quietly reading in the book area so he has a visual of appropriate behavior. This is far more effective than me just shushing him all the time and telling him sit still rather than climbing all over everything. He doesn't always process my verbal instructions. It's almost like he doesn't hear me.
He can also choose from fun activities to take a break from sitting still and reading with mom. We let him decide whether he wants to rock in the special chair or play on the computer.
But once he has made his schedule he needs to follow it. When he gets distracted, we point to the schedule and remind him of what we are doing. Now while this may seem rigid, this schedule helps Josh organize his thoughts which is very difficult for him. Without these visual cues, Josh is running from one area to the next stopping for only a moment and then moving on. I struggle to get him to focus and keep an eye on Jane. No learning happens. No books are read. No computer games are played. He's like a busy bee buzzing from one flower to the next but he's not getting any nectar. This schedule will allow him learn something from his library visits, to understand how libraries work and enable him to participate in library visits when he goes to elementary school.
The schedule has proved invaluable. We have made two successful trips to the library with Josh's teacher. Josh seems so much calmer. He feels he has control because he can make choices. We have been able to read one or two books together and play a few games. Jane is learning too and our visits to the library have become much more positive experiences.
A lot of children who have autism follow these visual schedules for all kinds of things like morning or bedtime routines, for visits to public places like stores or churches, and as a way to follow classroom routines. Children with autism are often unable to take cues from their setting, listen to given instructions and follow norms like most typical children. When they walk into a new environment, they have trouble discerning what is important information like rules and appropriate behavior and what is less important like the smell in the room or the color of the walls. A typical brain learns to filter out or push these lesser details to the back of the mind. But a child with autism often is overwhelmed by everything and often resorts to rote behaviors to shut out the sensory overload. For Josh this means, constant motion and sometimes random vocalizations, or withdrawal from the outward environment to some sort of internal place. He gets a glazed over look in his eyes and stops participating. I don't know where his mind goes but it is no longer with the group or the external moment.
This is only one part of autism and children with autism struggle with this to varying degrees. But it is helpful to know why they act the way they do at times, that these behaviors or not a sign of willful disobedience but an inability to process or fit into their current situation. The most wonderful thing about all of this is that children like Josh can be taught how to do these things. They do not have to remained locked away from the rest of us. With a little patience and extra support, they can become more comfortable and content in their environments. And that's a miracle.
