DIY

Not sure if you know me well, but the ones that do know that I am a DIYer! I love do it yourself projects, therefore I am in love with Pinterest....my problem is finding the spare time for me to do all these projects.

I have had several things on my list and have been able to check a few off! 

My first is a sensory box. I made a sensory box about a year ago but decided to do some theme boxes....that last one is a huge hodgepodge of different textures and items. This one is simple, several bags of field peas and a set of Zoo animals from hobby lobby. Connor loves it! We can work on some many things just with this one box: tactile exposure, work on naming and counting the animals that he "digs" out, work on following 2 step directions (big goal in speech therapy right now). I, myself like to just dig my hands in the peas and feel the textures...very relaxing to me! My next sensory box is going to be an under the sea theme.

My latest DIY project has been coming up with a visual schedule for Connor. He understands more than we know, but we can't assume he knows everything we are talking about. He has difficulties with transitioning....you might wonder what I mean by that. Basically switching from one task to another, one activity to another, one  routine to another can cause some fits (or meltdowns as they call it in the autism world). I wanted to help him understand what we are asking of him and by doing a visual schedule that helps. 

I found these wonderful *FREE* visual pictures online at www.do2learn.com , printed them, added some color,DIY laminated them, then put some magnets on the back. FYI- you can buy laminating material and slide the sheet inside of a tshirt and use your home iron to laminate it! No need in spending $100 on that fancy machine that laminates things....

I purchased a large oil drip pan from the automotive section and hung it on Connor's closet door. Right now the  morning rountine is very difficult and takes quite some time to complete so I figured that would be our first schedule to introduce to him. Under the sun on the left are all the steps that we need to complete in the morning and the star on the right is what to expect for bedtime. I am hoping to find a little basket or make an envelope to place the task once he has completed it. We are working on introducing this slowly, hopefully he will get the hang of it and it will make our morning routine a lot smoother. 

 

At the bottom I just bought some cheap ($.69) wooden items, slapped some magnets on the back and just let Connor play with those.