From Chaos to Calm -- Part 2 by Karen L. Alaniz
Plan for Changes in Routine
In real life, not everything can be scheduled. Things come up and changes in routine throw your child into a multitude of negative behaviors. Help him learn how to cope by giving him a visual cue. Use the schedule as a place he can look to for changes that might occur. Place a Velcro dot above each day of the week. Draw seven stick figure people on seven separate cards and put a Velcro dot on the back of each. Teach your child that if the stick person is right-side up, it means everything will be the same. But if the card upside-down, it means something is different about the day’s schedule. He will learn to ask you when he sees the cue, so you can explain. Perhaps the upside-down-day means he has a doctor appointment that day, or maybe he was invited to McDonalds for lunch. When given the time to process the change, he will begin to be able to better handle changes in routine.
