After Jackie was diagnosed as autistic, one of the things I learned that was really helpful for her was having a visual scheduled board. It was something they used in her special education preschool class that was really helpful for her. Once COVID hit and I was teaching her at home, I knew it would be beneficial for us to use one around the house as well. So I decided to put one together myself.

When I shared my binder organization system a few years ago, I also shared the autism/medical binder I created for Jackie. At that time, a lot of the overwhelming response I got was: I wish my parents had done something like this for me and then given it to me when I graduated! Combine that feedback with conversations I've had with other parents I knew, I wanted to create something universal that had all of the information someone with a new diagnosis would need in one place.

Have you ever heard of a social story? This is something we learned about in therapy with our daughter. They are extremely helpful when we are introducing new concepts, new situations, or stuff she's never done before. And while our daughter is autistic, this actually works for pretty much any kid in any situation: kids with anxiety, kids that don't have anxiety, or kids that just need that additional structure knowing what's going to happen when they have a new experience.

Jackie was having a hard time getting dressed in the morning. It seemed to be very overwhelming and causing a lot of anxiety for her which made our mornings really hard. So we talked to her therapy team and we came up with this idea of a clothing choice board.