We have a routine and visual schedule for practically everything. And I do mean just about everything. That includes all sorts of activities, meals, the general day, specific times of the day and yes- you guessed it, we have a bathroom routine visual schedule.
When my daughter was younger, these visual schedules helped us out so much. And it’s still become such a part of her routine, that we continue to utilize them.
What to Include in a Bathroom Routine Visual Schedule
Well this really depends on your goals! Since this isn’t a general personal hygiene schedule or personal hygiene routine, we broke it down into steps. And yes, I mean we really broke it down into steps.
- Going to the bathroom
- Washing Hands
If you want to go more detailed and work in toilet training, you can use the toilet training cards that we have in the Visual Schedule Toolkit. Or, if you’re just looking to reinforce skills that were learned at school and continue at home, this method works wonderfully.
How to Implement a Bathroom Routine Visual Schedule
As with all visual schedules, you want to have the charts in the room that they are needed in. And you also need to keep in mind as to what’s the most convenient or appropriate for your child. For example, if you want them to associate more than one bathroom with being okay to use; you’ll have multiple places to put your schedule.
You can also use the Personal Hygiene chart and cards in the Autism Family Guide.
For steps and sequencing purposes, you can start small with a First-Then method or you can go with a sequenced method.
We like to start with a sequenced method that shows all of the necessary steps in the process. The first then will then act as our placeholder for the schedule aspect. Once the sequenced steps are mastered, then we move onto the actual visual schedule part with time elements.
Sample Bathroom Routine Visual Schedule for Autism
Let’s say you’re just starting out. You would include:
- Sequenced steps for going to the bathroom (and yes, that does mean every step)
- Visual schedule element to move cards (ex. First – then or sequenced steps)
If you are also tracking this activity, not quite as a reward chart but just for recording purposes, you can also include a weekly tracker for your own records. This really isn’t something that your child will need to worry about but if you keep a binder or something similar; you can include it in there.
This is a newer style for me but I’m super excited about how this new visual schedule turned out! If you’d like to purchase a copy, visit the Autism Family Life shop.
Download the Personal Hygiene Chart and Cards along with the Daily Schedule in the Autism Family Guide.
From an autistic autism mom to you
The Autism Family Guide is your shortcut to autism parenting.
How do I know?
Because friend, the resources in this guide are lifechanging.
Create routines with ease, calming strategies at your fingertips, and more.
Kori
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