Process Analysis on how to make a proper PECs schedule.

     An important part of what I do for a living is following schedules. Alot of the kids I work with Live by their schedules that we call PECS schedules. They are made with either real pictures or drawings of an area, or a function. It is important to know how to make these schedules, although a boring process. You have to consider what time a child wakes up in the morning, what their morning routine is, and possibly what they eat. Now these schedules start from the time they wake up, until the time they go to sleep at night. I had to learn how to put these schedules together for kids, and their different needs. Obviously not every child needs a picture reminder, " oh yeah, I need to go to the bathroom".

     The first thing you do when making an individual schedule is consider if the child showers at night, lets say for the sake of this essay, Johnnie showers in the morning. So I would put on his schedule for the morning,  first shower with a picture of a shower. The next picture would be use shampoo to wash your hair, and a picture of soap with hands on a head. The next step would be a diagram of how to wash the body starting with the face then body, legs feet, then private areas. Some kids also need hand over hand direction until they learn how to bathe properly. I know to you or I alot of the hygiene stuff seems normal, and we should know how to do it ourselves. To a child whom has had this done for them their whole lives, they do not know how to properly bathe themselves. After this, there would be a diagram on how to properly dry off, and how to dress, which some still may need help with this also.

     Onto breakfast. Monday thru Saturday, the kids are given an option of two bowls of cereal two juices, and a piece of fruit. They are also given the option of toast, juice and fruit.
One would also have picture of these options in a childs PECs book. From there, there would be a diagram of how to properly brush ones teeth, and how much time it would take, also along with that some may need a timer telling them how long tweo minutes is. In essence, when setting up a PECs book for their schedules, it is important to have all the pictures one would possibly need. The books are set up with velcore so you can take out the pictures, and show them to the child. With the none verbal children, they will usually respond with moving towards the area, or start doing the activity within their processing time, which I have mentioned before in another post.

     This schedule, and or book would include all of their individual class times, and a picture to go along with it. These schedules are also offered on the weekend if they would like to join in weekend activites we have on campus, such as tech lab, various arts and crafts, and community outings. They are also individualized to include childrens sensory needs, such as deep pressure- squeezing a child from and appropraite angle, which is basically a hug, but not called that for professional and personal reasons. So you would need to think about a child and individual needs from the time they wake up, until the time they go to sleep. It is very difficult unless you really understand, and respect the needs of these kids, and indiviuality. Like everything else, I was not perfect at this, but after time, I have become a pro in knowing, and thinking for a child, and being his or her advocate.