PECS problems

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My little girl is verbally delayed and responds well to using PECS in school and her therapy sessions. I very likely have Aspergers (do not have a diagnosis, but the online tests support this) and I have serious problems with executive function. Specifically I have problems with disorganization, I lose things, then forget what I'm looking for, I'm easily distracted and sidetracked, zone out, have poor working memory etc. I have a real problem keeping track of all these stupid little laminated visuals. Whenever I need one, they are nowhere to be found, I'll do up a visual schedule then I'll lose the schedule, by the time I get organized my daughter's gone back into her little zone and I've lost the opportunity to engage her. It causes me alot of anxiety and makes me feel like a terrible mother

I don't know how to improve this, no matter what I try I can't seem to keep them organized. Does anyone have any advice?

I have very much the same feelings of inadequacy and PECtastrophy too. We have the house littered with PECS, when he wants one it's missing, and it causes me stress, mainly because I worry we are not doing a good job and are missing the opportunity to develop his communication. I have been stewing about it. I think I'm going to make a big list of what should be in his folder and write that up on an A3 piece of paper and stick that on the wall. Then I will make 5 of everything and have them stashed away in alphabetical order in another place, then I won't care if the house is littered with PECS as long as I know what is needed in his folder is there for him to make requests, and that if they go missing we can replace them fast then that will be a good start.

If you could keep track of an iTouch or iPad, there are lots of apps for PECS and visual schedules.

First of all, repeat after me "I am NOT a terrible mother (or father, or guardian,) I am just disorganized."

The following are suggestions to implement over the course of a weekend. Get someone to help you (respite care if necessary) It's a huge amount of administration but it's one time and then you're done.

I find that the more stuff I have in one set place, the easier it is for me - so everything's on my computer, and my computer syncs to my phone - if you can use zette's method, that does work for me. (We don't use PECS, but this works for me with everything else.) Spend one afternoon making folders on your computer to organize the PECS into categories that make sense to you: One big folder for all the PECS, little ones for each category - and make sure they are each labeled so you can use the computer's search function to find them, too. Better yet, upload them to Google Docs and keep them there.

If you can't do stuff electronically, I have found that carabiner clips like these http://www.logoprintedmagnets.com/item_ ... 9934E18B16 help me keep track of things like keys, etc: I clip them to my purse or the clothes I'm wearing, and they don't disappear into a pocket or on a table, and I forget/lose them less. Add noisy stuff to the carabiner (like keys) to help you hear it when it hits the floor, and to give you a tactile/auditory cue that they're with you.

First, physical sorting: If I were doing this with PECS, I'd get several different colors of small carabiner clips or key rings, organize the PECS into categories, punch a hole in the top corner of each one and assign one category to each color. Then I'd clip all the clips/rings together with one big carabiner, and attach it to my belt loop or my purse, so I had it around when I needed it (of course, this depends on how large your collection is.)

Follow your own behavior: If you find you are losing the big clutch of PECS, pay attention to where you find it (say, next to the phone or next to the fridge.) Make a hook to keep them there (or it may work to have one hook in each room, if you can divide them into categories pertinent to that room.) Make the other places you tend to drop the PECS inconvenient for doing so (put decorative stuff in your way, so there's no flat surface.)

Redundancy: Make 4-5 copies of the big clutch of PECS and find a place to hang a hook to keep one in every spot where you tend to lose them.

Sound: Get one of those remote keyfinders http://www.amazon.com/SmartFinder-finde ... B003EG2PDM (I'm just finding random examples, not endorsing any particular brand, btw.) and attach one to each group of PECS. Make sure the locator stays in a fixed place (meaning, glue it to the wall.)

Resist the urge to remove the PECS you're using from the clips: get clips that allow for enough movement so you can use them as one big thing.

Hope this stuff helps: I'm a long-standing member of the "I can't find it" crowd, and my son seems to be as well. (Was crying just yesterday because I got lost in a building finding an office where I've been going to quarterly meetings for six or seven years now.) I get it, I really do.

momsparky seems to ahve it pretty well covered - I would just add a mantra that I say to myself over and over again "Don't put it down, put it AWAY". That has a dual meaning, the first being that everything must have A place to be, as described above, a hook in every room for a clip full of PECS cards. And then comes the REALLY hard part, once the thing has ITS place to be, you have to train yourself to put it there EVERY time. Try to you catch yourself if you put it DOWN instead of putting it AWAY. Once you can make something a habit, then you don't have to think about it as much.