Morning Routine - HELP | Autism PDD
Hi everyone :)
My son has HFA & ADD and has always had a very difficult time getting up, dressed, and ready for his day. (except on weekends!). I live in Ontario, and there is two weeks left of summer, and I am at my wits end trying to figure out how to motivate my son to get ready in the mornings!!!
Typically, I wake him up, and let him know it is time to get up, and I get his clothes out (he likes me doing this for him). I also give him about 5 minutes for him to get himself used to the idea that he has got to get up.
I constantly have to remind him and coax him to do what he has to do. No matter if I get him up earlier, or reward for good behaviour...he is so slow he makes me late for work! Thank goodness my work doesn't say much about it, but I really need some advice on how to get him to function in the mornings well enough so that I can get to work on time (after taking him to daycare).
I know he knows what is expected of him EVERY weekday morning! He gets REALLY distracted and just can't keep on task, and doesn't want to keep on task...doesn't want to get up or go to school. This summer I have been lucky enough to have my daughter take him to daycare in the mornings but this will be ending in 2 weeks!
I appreciate ANY advice!!!!! THANKS!!!!!
Have you ever done a picture calendar? Place a board with velcro pics that state..get up, potty,put on clothes..brush teeth..eat breakfast .ect..and let him take it with him and remove pics when he has done them..we attached a bag to the bottom of it to put in:)
Make it portable so he can take it with him.and find some very high reinforcers to reward him with:)
Good luck!
My son is 9, and I have to help him a lot, too, so I understand where you're coming from. Staying on task is not easy for my son, and while it is improving with time, it's also a basic part of his disability and not fully under his control. It was an eye-opener for me to watch gtto's video "Boiling water"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fUi1EYq6Rs
In our family, the key to having a smooth morning is taking 5 minutes to snuggle and connect upstairs on the couch before making demands and rushing through all the must-dos.
Have you tried a social story?
I wish I had more advice to offer. Good luck with everything.
My son at 10 still has a hard time remembering what it is he is supposed to do. I have to remind him to change his clothes, brush his teeth, take his meds, and eat breakfast. I have tried that social stories and a picture calander but nothing helps. I would think at 10 he should remember to change his clothes and brush his teeth. Will be eagerly watching this topic
Lisa
an alarm works for my son. also when he was younger school had a hard time getting him motivated in mornings so they started with 5 minutes of excersize in morning when he got there and it made a major change in him. maybe an excersize video he could do for a few minutes. it seemed to wake him upI ran across these book excerpts today, and thought they might be helpful to you:
They're from the book "Social Standards at School." Each page has a short pre-made self-talk story (social story) and self-monitoring checklist, plus room for personal additions. Subjects covered are: getting ready for school, walking to school, waiting for the bus, riding the bus and arriving by car.
http://attainmentcompany.com/pdfs/bookSamples/SSS_Sample.pdf
Sounds to me like you have a pretty good plan going. My niece can sleep through a tornado, I kid you not, to get her out of bed and ready for school in the mornings. My sister, literally has to physically pull her out of bed, stand her up, lead her to the bathroom to brush her teeth. It is a constant fight between the two of them everyday. My niece is 11 and only has moderate ADD. Some kids are just harder than others I guess.Wow thanks everyone for your advice! AND letting me know I am definitely NOT ALONE
I try to get him to bed between 8:30 and 9pm. He has a hard time transitioning to sleep mode though, hence the lethargic sleepy kid in the mornings. PLUS he is even less motivated on weekdays as he finds school stressful, and also mommy leaving for work all day is stressful still too.
I love all the ideas here! Especially the picture frame / dry erase checklist! I'm going to spread that one around up here in Canada! :). I have already started preparing him. I think I will change some prep time into the evenings...and then I won't get so stressed, which will help all around :)
I also loved the thread on rewards! We are all such great support for each other, no matter where in the world we live!!!
For the record, during the school week Payne has to be up and at the bus stop by 7 (used to be 6:15 - so we got up at 5:45) so he goes to bed by 7 - usually 6:30...he's ready to go at 6 AM. Maybe altering the bedtime by even as little as a 1/2 hour might help?I just printed out clip art and list of steps in our morning (and evening) routine - toilet, breakfast, hamper, underwear, teeth, wash face, shirt, pants, socks, shoes, add a smile
I then taped a dry erase marker to a string on the back of the frame. So each time a routine needs to be done he checks off each step with the marker. So far it has helped him focus because he just thinks about the next step before checking it off then continues on down the list.
He has a sense of pride at doing it all and I get a little relief from the nagging and all that goes with it.
Can't honestly say it is foolproof but it sure is an improvement from where we were!!
I would give anything for Skylar to sleep in ANYTIME!
This boy is up at 6am faithfully 7 days a week. I can't remember the last time I got to sleep late.
I go in to wake him up...constant reminders that he needs to get going thru all of the stages...when he does one thing (put on a shirt) then I tell him to do the next in steps so he doesn't get frustrated and give up. I used to use the kitchen timer...still do after dinner and it's almost bedtime...the timer goes off it is time to clean up and get in bed. What time is he going to bed?
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