How to use an Icon Planner.

When my son was just diagnosed things changed a lot in his life. He had to go to a different preschool which meant things became very difficult for him. Even though he went to a pre school that was especially for children that are on the spectrum. For him it was all new and unclear. He was just three years old and up until that point, he had spent most of his time at home. Where he knew what to expect and where we already used a lot of structure by default.

So, we had to find a way to help him what to expect in a day. After some research, I found this Icon planner. It looked colorful and fun but was very practical in use. There were many icons included and it was made with Velcro which made it suitable for our son to use it by himself.

Before you start using an icon planner you have to have a clear idea off what situations or activity’s you want to include. You have to make sure not to be too extensive because that can make it to unclear for your child. For our son the most important thing was that he knew when he was going to be at school and when he was at home.

After that we included important activity’s like birthday parties, doctors’ visits, trips. When he started getting used to the planner, he indicated that he wanted to add more things to the planner. After which we slowly added the smaller things like playing outside, doing arts and crafts the more regular things.

When choosing which icon planner, you will want to use for your child, think about their needs:

• What situations will you use it for?
• How far ahead do you want to plan (day or week planner)?
• Does your child respond better to drawings, simple black and white icons, or pictures?
• Can you adjust the planner to your specific situation?

The most important effect of an icon planner is that you are conscious about what your day or even week is going to look like. When you have a child that’s on the spectrum you always have to look 5 steps ahead so you can spot potential problems and prevent them from happening. Apart from that it gives your child a place where they can go, for some clear information that will give them peace of mind. So, they will have more energy left in a day for all the other, for them, difficult situations.

If you want to know more about how to use an icon planner, watch my video

(How to use an Icon planner) on the website or on youtube.