Stuff With Thing

I’ve put together a little social story for Heidi about Annie and I going away.

After some thought I kept it very simple. I put in a table with the 3 days and 2 nights we will be away. This way I am hoping (if hubby remembers) that at the end of each day / night that square can be crossed out. This should give Heidi a very visual way to see when Annie and I will be back.

It isn’t the best social story I’ve every done because I left it to the last minute and I realised after printing it that I didn’t use the bigger kid friendly font I usually use.

Here is a .pdf copy of the social story:

Going-Away

We went to Church today for the first time in some months and Heidi happily went to Sunday School but got very distressed when the teacher left the room for communion and things went down hill from there.

I’m trying to put a social story together to tell Heidi about Church to make the next visit a little happier. This is what I have so far. I’d appreciate any help with this.

*Going to Church*

Sometimes I will go to the Church with my family.

At Church we sing and pray and listen to Pastor.

When Pastor is speaking, I have to be quiet.

Sometimes other people might read from the Bible or say some prayers and I have to be quiet.

During Church I can chewy on my chewy necklace, colour in, play with the toys in my toy bag or do something else quiet.

When it is time for the Childrens Address all the children in the church go up the front to sit.

I can go and sit with the children up the front or sit on a chair with a grown up. I sit quietly and listen to the story. If I want to I can chewy on my chewy necklace or rub the red carpet with my fingers.

After the Childrens Address is over I go to Sunday School with the other children. Mummy and Daddy will stay in Church.

At Sunday School we play games and sing and listen to Bible stories.

If I need to go to the toilet I can tell the teacher “I need to do wees or poos in the toilet”.

Mummy will give my Sunday School teacher a chewy snack for me to eat if I get hungry.

During Sunday School our teacher will leave the room to go to Communion. Another teacher will stay in the room with us until our teacher comes back.

When Sunday School is finished Mummy or Daddy will come to the Sunday School room and get me. I need to stay in the Sunday School room until Mummy and Daddy get me.

Then I can have morning tea at Church and have something to eat or drink.

We are having a family party at our place today for Annie’s 5th Birthday. Mothers Day with the in-laws, should be good, we like each other and it is coming up to the anniversary of my MILs passing away so we don’t want FIL to be feeling alone (especially on mothers day).

But our home being invaded by 20+ people does leave us with some problems - namely Heidi and how will she cope.

I’ve emailed the family -

quote:

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A few requests.

To make Heidi feel more secure with so many people around I need to ask your help in a couple of areas.

1. the girls bedroom is a no-go zone. This is Heidis safe place and I need her to continue to feel safe there so that she sleeps at night. We will be putting a lock on the door but if things get too heated the I will have to unlock the door so Heidi can hide out in there away from everyone. If you can prompt your children before hand to be aware that they are not to go into the girls bedroom I would greatly appreciate it, as it is usually easier to enforce this rule if everyone knows in advance.

2. Heidi has the hyper-sensitivity to certain noises so common in those on the autism spectrum. In particular high pitched noises can cause her great pain which results in unpleasant meltdowns - I’m talking here about things like the mosquito ringtone, 80s pop music, other childrens screams (when constant and on going). Please be aware of this, I know there is not much we can do in some cases (ie crying child) but in others they are avoidable (high pitched ring tones etc).

3. If things get too much for Heidi then either Ralph or I will pop her in the pram/car and go out for a little while with her, thus allowing the part to continue. We don’t anticipate needing to do this but just so you know there is a plan B.

Thank you so much. We are looking forward to seeing everyone on Sunday.

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After I did that my next priority was a social story for Heidi. I don’t care if the party food is not ready in time, if the house isn’t clean, so long as I get that social story ready and Heidi fully prepped.

and here in all its glory (well minus pictures because they’d take forever to upload) is the party social story. Basically each line is a new page complete with pictures to illustrate what the written words are saying. It is much longer than anything I’ve previously attempted.

[snip] list of people who will be at party names removed for privacy [/snip]