First, let’s talk about some tasks in the morning that you can teach your child to do themselves. Things like brushing teeth, bathroom time, getting dressed, brushing hair, eating breakfast. 

A visual schedule is one way to teach your child to work on these tasks in succession. Visual schedules serve as prompts to remind your child what needs to be done. These are especially helpful for children with autism who may find constant verbal reminders overwhelming or may need concrete visuals to connect meaning to what you’re asking them to do. 

Visual schedules can be as low tech or as fancy as you want to make them! Personalize it to meet the needs of your family. Simply printing pictures onto paper of the tasks they need to complete does the trick, or they can be more interactive using velcro, dry erase or magnet boards so your child can see what they’ve completed. 

FREE Download - Morning Routine Visual Schedule - GREEN

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Incorporating positive reinforcement into your child’s schedule is a sure way to increase their independence. There are so many fun ways to do this! You can create a token system where they put a star on their chart when they complete a task & cash those stars in at the end of the week for some extra special fun. Your kids can swap those stars in for extra TV time, a new free iPad game, double dessert, staying up past bedtime, kids’ choice for dinner, or maybe an extra trip to the park. Another way to add reinforcement into the schedule is to arrange the schedule so a favorite activity is at the end. When you start teaching your child that after they complete their morning schedule, they get some free play time or get to watch a show, the chances of them actually doing their morning routine will be greater because they know the fun stuff always follows. 

Start small. If your child is younger or just maybe not ready for all of these steps at once, start by really focusing on independence with one step of their schedule and providing reinforcement when they do one step independent! This is often referred to as chaining. Did they wake up and get dressed without you telling them? Yay! Progress!! Now work on adding the next step to the chain and provide the reinforcement after they finish 2 steps (wake up, get dressed, brush teeth), etc. until all the steps are taught and independent. Don’t forget to praise your child’s attempts and improvements along the way!

FREE Download - Morning Routine Visual Schedule - GREEN

FREE Download - Morning Routine Visual Schedule - PINK

Remember, learning takes time, but your child will benefit from each step and maybe one day soon you'll even get to drink your coffee while it's still hot!