Printable Self Calming Strategies Cards for Autism Meltdowns
One of the things that we’ve had to deal with when it comes to Sweet B’s autism is the occasional meltdown.
She does have certain calming strategies in place and I’ve also learned to recognize her triggers. At school, she prefers to use her PECS book to communicate her preferred strategy, but we don’t have that at home. Rather, it’s up to me to watch and realize what’s going on. And while this method does work, sometimes I think it would be great to have a similar system here at home.
To help us with that, I created a printable set of my calming strategies for her and since I like to share, I’m offering it up for free to share with you all. This can be used in combination with more of my free printables for autistic children to create a social story.
Inside the My Calming Strategies Cards
Now, this is a pretty simple set, but I hope that it will help both Sweet B and myself. I think it will also help when I’m not at home but Kyle is. That doesn’t happen too often, but every Thursday evening I do have choir practice. Mostly, Sweet B will stay in her room and keep herself occupied but it’s nice to know that there’s a back up plan in case.
So what do you get this book of my calming strategies?
- Calming strategies cards (with and without text)
- Emotions cards (with and without text)
- When I Feel/I Can chart
I would recommend printing this out on cardstock and laminating for lasting use. You can also use Velcro tabs to help keep the pieces together.
Here’s a little preview of the cards in action:
As you can see, I printed out my set in black and white (to save on ink) but the set is in full color.
And here’s a preview of some of the cards:
Most of the time, I can recognize when Sweet B is about to have a meltdown. But not always. So, I think having these calming strategies cards around will help us both.
Looking for more calming strategies? Be sure to check out this amazing resource on how to create a Calm Down Kit.
This is awesome! A great way to teach toddlers how to express and deal with emotions.
Absolutely 🙂 I just might be using this for my toddler, as well.
Kori these are cute! I love them and will be using them. Thank you!
THis is actually useful for any age. To this day i sometimes am too overwhelmed to realize *I* need a simple strategy (breath, etc).
Thanks and love,
Very nice resource! Thank you!
[…] These cute printables serve as great reminders of what to do when feelings get too big. […]