“Before anything else, preparation is the key to success.”
— Alexander Graham Bell
In this post, we’re going to look at specific ideas and suggestions for the first category of transition strategies: Preparation. As you do in most areas of life with sensory children, you’ll need to experiment to determine which strategies work best for your family. You’ll also want to build on the ideas below and adapt them to your specific child’s and family’s needs.
Preparation strategies preview the transition for your child and prepare him for what comes next so it’s familiar. Here are ideas for strategies to prepare your child for smooth transitions:
• Use verbal cues accompanied by a timer for each transition
– Let your child know well in advance of a transition. Give more than fair warning.
• Choose an auditory and/or visual timer that works with your child
– There are different kinds of timers you can use. It’s very easy to use your smartphone, of course. But if your child does better with more visual input, you might want to use a visual timer that shows how much time remains in an activity: the colored section disappears as the allotted time runs out.
• Be very specific in your countdown
– Preview each transition with a countdown that includes many announcements about how much time is left before the activity ends.
For example, if your child has been playing at home until it’s time to go to the playground, you might give the following verbal cues, setting a timer for each one: “In fifteen minutes we will leave to go to the playground. You can play for five more minutes, until the ten minute timer goes off. When the timer goes off, you need to go to the bathroom.”
When the ten minute timer goes off, you might say, “It’s time to go to the bathroom now. When the timer goes off, you need to put on your shoes and your warm jacket.”
When the five minute timer goes off, you might say, “It’s time to put on your shoes and your warm jacket now. Do you want help or do you want to do it yourself? When the timer goes off, we will walk out the door.”
In the next post, we’ll discuss specific strategies for the second category of transitions: Rituals.
Do you ever use any of the above transition preparation strategies? What response do you get? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below. Also, let me know there or via email what topics you would like to discuss or hear more about.
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I look forward to hearing from you!
All the best,