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Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Using Schedules the Right Way

Schedules are important for all of us, and especially important for individuals with ASD! For an individual with ASD, a visual schedule:

1.Clarifies expectations of what is going to happen, and in what order
2.Informs the person of when preferred activities or breaks are occurring
3. Promotes flexibility
4. Informs the individual of when change occurs
5. Communicates all this information to the person in a way that is visual, concrete, and meaningful

Object Schedules

Schedules should be individualized and will look different based on the strengths, needs, and interests of the individual with ASD. A very young child may understand objects best, and his parent or teacher may give him his shoes to indicate it is time to go outside, or a diaper to indicate it is time to go to the bathroom. Objects are the most concrete form of communication, and often young children or teens or adults with more significant delays may understand and use objects to communicate quite independently.

Picture or Photo Schedules

Other children or adults may understand pictures or photos, which are more abstract than objects. Do2Learn offers several resources that provide various pictures for making schedules, picture lists, and story boards. Free printable picture cards are located here and include cards for self help, leisure, home, school, social skills, and other activities!


Make-a-Schedule is an easy-to-use program that gives you access to thousands of picture cards. In minutes, you can create schedules, story strips, and forms. Users subscribe to the Make-a-Schedule program for one year. Here is an example of picture cards that can be printed and made into a schedule for a trip on an airplane.


Written Schedules

Individuals with ASD who are able to read and comprehend fluently may excel using written schedules, reminders, and lists. The individual should be taught to interact with his schedule by checking or marking it off, and may eventually begin to create his own schedules. Some folks enjoy having their schedule on a portable device such as a small notepad or a  smart phone.

Tips to Using a Schedule the Right Way
1. Pick the appropriate cue: object, picture, or written word. The schedule is an organizational tool, not a time to work on building vocabulary. The schedule should make sense to the person with ASD on his or her worst day - when it is raining, their stomach hurts, and their favorite shirt is dirty!

2. Vary the schedule every day to promote flexibility. The person should not memorize the schedule and routine, but instead should refer back to the schedule each day to see what is happening in what order on that day.

3. The person should be prompted to check the schedule via non-verbal means. Telling someone "check your schedule" causes them to be dependent on you, their parent or teacher. But teaching them that every time they see a certain pen or a checkmark to check their schedule will promote independence!

4. Encourage and teach the person to interact with their schedule, not just look at it. Some folks with ASD have excellent memories and can look at their schedule in the morning and memorize it for the rest of the day. But if they are not interacting with it during the day by crossing off tasks as completed, they will not know if a change has occurred or may get upset if they forget a task and then are redirected. Interacting with the schedule promotes thoroughness and independence.

5. Consider the length of the schedule. Some individuals like to know what is going to happen the whole day. For other folks, that amount of information is overwhelming. Some individuals are on a "What's Next?" schedule and are simply given one object at a time. Others do best with a First - Then schedule, or a part day schedule.

6. Mix preferred and non-preferred activities. Just as we schedule coffee breaks or chat breaks during our work day (sometimes without even thinking about it!), folks with ASD need breaks as well.

7. Incorporate choice and, as much as possible, teach the person to begin creating their own schedules and lists.

Have you had success with using a schedule with a person with ASD?

Monday, May 23, 2011

Parents' Frustrations and Confusion: Where do I Begin?

Entering into the world of disabilities is like entering into a country where you don't speak the language and don't understand the people who live there. This new land is full of signs and road maps and, worst of all, acronyms...but you don't know what they mean and you aren't sure who to trust for help.

Do2Learn has developed some content that can be helpful as a cross cultural guide into the world of disabilities. Our Disabilities section includes:

A screenshot for just some of the info on strategies for individuals who are Twice Exceptional

These are just some of the resources available under the Disabilities tab on our home page at Do2Learn. Tell us...what did you find most confusing about navigating the new world of disabilities? Is there anything else you think we should add?

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

JobTIPS for Folks with ASD

Do2Learn has developed JobTIPS, an exciting free program designed to help individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) gain meaningful employment.





Finding employment is tough for many individuals right now, but this is especially true for individuals with ASD who are seeking work. Communication, social, and organizational deficits often cause challenges and misunderstandings in the workplace in terms of task completion, interpersonal interactions, and coping with stress. These are challenges all of us face, but again, people with ASD may struggle more with managing these stressors.



JobTIPS approaches the goal of obtaining meanginful employment for folks with ASD in two ways:



1. JobTIPS provides a free web-based curriculum that the user with ASD can access himself in order to learn strategies on how to find, get, and keep a meaningful job. This includes videos, printable materials, situational stories, Why? boxes, and coping comics to make the content interactive and fun while facilitating deeper understanding of concepts and generalization of skills.



2. The Transitional Toolbox educates teachers, job coaches, parents, transition coordinators, Vocational Rehabilitation staff, and clinicians how to teach appropriate employment skills by providing them with strategies across the developmental range as well as materials. The content for this section is being developed now, and should be ready this summer!



We are excited for more people to learn and use JobTIPS, and are thrilled that JobTIPS has received such attention and praise recently! The Autism Society of America profiled JobTIPS in April, which you can check out here. Autism Speaks noted how JobTIPS helps to level the playing field, and the National Institutes of Health remark that JobTIPS fills a critcal gap for teenagers leaving school and therfore most of their ASD-related services.



Check out JobTIPS and tell us what you think! What do you think is the hardest part of gaining meaningful employment for folks with ASD? And...what's your favorite part of JobTIPS! We love feedback!

Friday, May 13, 2011

JobTIPS - Helping Folks with ASD Find Meaningful Employment

Do2Learn has developed JobTIPS, an exciting free program designed to help individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) gain meaningful employment.




Finding employment is tough for many individuals right now, but this is especially true for individuals with ASD who are seeking work. Communication, social, and organizational deficits often cause challenges and misunderstandings in the workplace in terms of task completion, interpersonal interactions, and coping with stress. These are challenges all of us face, but again, people with ASD may struggle more with managing these stressors.

JobTIPS approaches the goal of obtaining meaningful employment for folks with ASD in two ways:

1.      JobTIPS provides a free web-based curriculum that the user with ASD can in order to learn strategies on how to find, get, and keep a meaningful job. This includes videos, printable materials, situational stories, Why? boxes, and coping comics to make the content interactive and fun while facilitating deeper understanding of concepts and generalization of skills.



2. The Transitional Toolbox educates teachers, job coaches, parents, transition coordinators, Vocational Rehabilitation staff, and clinicians how to teach appropriate employment skills by providing them with strategies and materials across the developmental range. The content for this section is being developed now, and should be ready this summer!

We are excited for more people to learn and use JobTIPS, and are thrilled that JobTIPS has received such attention and praise recently! The Autism Society of America profiled JobTIPS in April, which you can check out here. Autism Speaks noted how JobTIPS helps to level the playing field, and the National Institutes of Health remark that JobTIPS fills a critical gap for teenagers leaving school and therefore most of their ASD-related services.

Check out JobTIPS and tell us what you think! What do you think is the hardest part of gaining meaningful employment for folks with ASD? And...what's your favorite part of JobTIPS! We love feedback!

Thursday, May 12, 2011

JobTIPS for Folks with ASD

Do2Learn has developed JobTIPS, an exciting free program designed to help individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) gain meaningful employment.


Finding employment is tough for many individuals right now, but this is especially true for individuals with ASD who are seeking work. Communication, social, and organizational deficits often cause challenges and misunderstandings in the workplace in terms of task completion, interpersonal interactions, and coping with stress. These are challenges all of us face, but again, people with ASD may struggle more with managing these stressors.

JobTIPS approaches the goal of obtaining meanginful employment for folks with ASD in two ways:

1. JobTIPS provides a free web-based curriculum that the user with ASD can access himself in order to learn strategies on how to find, get, and keep a meaningful job. This includes videos, printable materials, situational stories, Why? boxes, and coping comics to make the content interactive and fun while facilitating deeper understanding of concepts and generalization of skills.

2. The Transitional Toolbox educates teachers, job coaches, parents, transition coordinators, Vocational Rehabilitation staff, and clinicians how to teach appropriate employment skills by providing them with strategies across the developmental range as well as materials. The content for this section is being developed now, and should be ready this summer!

We are excited for more people to learn and use JobTIPS, and are thrilled that JobTIPS has received such attention and praise recently! The Autism Society of America profiled JobTIPS in April, which you can check out here. Autism Speaks noted how JobTIPS helps to level the playing field, and the National Institutes of Health remark that JobTIPS fills a critcal gap for teenagers leaving school and therfore most of their ASD-related services.

Check out JobTIPS and tell us what you think! What do you think is the hardest part of gaining meaningful employment for folks with ASD? And...what's your favorite part of JobTIPS! We love feedback!

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Do2Learn - What's It All About?

Do2Learn is a great online resource that offers educational materials for educators and parents of children with special needs.



Our Mission:
The mission of Do2Learn is to use technology and the web to provide special learning resources for individuals with disabilities and the professionals and caregivers who serve them.

Working with leading educators, clinicians, and parents, we develop games and learning materials targeting specific deficits of individuals with neurological disorders including ASD, fetal alcohol effects, intellectual disabilities, attention disorders, learning and communication disorders and others. We specifically address deficits in the areas of behavior, socialization, communication, coping, and daily living skills.
Do2Learn has many tools and strategies online, including visuals for schedules, educational games, emotions and coping printables, and JobTIPS, a program for helping adolescents and adults with autism spectrum disorder seek and gain meaningful employment.

We will be profiling our programs on our blog, and we love feedback, so let us know what you think! Until then, check out our website at http://do2learn.com/