Creative Kiddo..sort of

As some of you may know, if you have read any of my older entries, our oldest son has been diagnosed with Autism. While it was very rough in the beginning, he is improving by leaps and bounds. One of the things we struggle with is routine and remembering what is expected of him.

Last summer, after a consultation with a behavior specialist, we came up with a visual chart made from poster board that had pictures of his morning and evening routine. Each picture had a red colored dot velcroed to it, and when each dot had been removed, he was rewarded with 30 minutes of his favorite movie. As children with Autism are very visual, and crave consistency and routine, this completely changed our lives. We had been doing a visual "schedule" with him since he was 2, but this was teaching him independence, appropriate behavior, and cause/effect.

This chart has seen it's last days. It has been ripped from the refrigerator with a frenzy one too many times. So today's art project was done completely by Caleb, with minor support from me. We talked about making a more permanent chart that he could hang in his room, and it was his responsibility to create it.

First we started with this...which I love, but didn't have any use for anymore.

I spray painted it for Caleb.

He got out his stash of stickers, and came up with this.

I glued the clothespins on (red was chosen as his favorite color), and he designed the stars, cut them out, and came up with the routine he wanted to complete each day. I wrote them in. So in essence, this project is all Caleb. I couldn't be more proud!