Homemade PECS Visual Schedule for Kindergarten

Thanks, Ryan.  I know. 

Ah, PECS.  If you know what they are without having to click on the link, well then, we're in a special club together, aren't we?  Your kid has autism of some variety or is otherwise "spirited".  Abby's diagnosis matters less and less to me as long as she is getting what she needs to succeed. 

A short day.  Removed one so you can see the Velcro strip beneath.

So, this is what I've been up to on the craft front... though that's more necessity then creativity.  It is a serious pain in the ass, to be honest. We are very fortunate that we only need to use PECS to let Abby know what to expect for the day, as a visual schedule, so please don't think I'm being ungrateful. She has zero trouble communicating and in fact I'd be happy if she STOPPED talking, but she can be very slow to adapt and any unexpected transition has a 50/50 shot at causing her to meltdown like Chernobyl.   The visual schedule is a recommendation from her behaviorist and does seem to help!

I went around and took photos of everything she's likely to encounter in her school day, from her mat at "Morning Mat Time" to her Spanish teacher (who, yes, looks like a model even when I catch her running to her car after school) in order to make Abby individualized images.  This was WAY more labor intensive then I'd anticipated and I seriously appreciate the pre-packaged sets now, but for our situation doing it myself was the only way to go.

And let's not forget about this guy!  Henry doesn't get what the big deal is with the schedule and the stories and the endless appointments and playdates, but is aware his sister is getting some disproportionate attention--  I've solved this by actively playing video games with him.  Sad, but true.  He's thrilled!

 

Obviously there are lots of ways to make your own PECS, but I stole a bunch of ideas from the Internet:

1.  Since Abby doesn't need a million of them to communicate, I went ahead and enlarged the standard format from 2X2 to a much less likely to be lost 3X3 inches.  This makes everything easier to see and read, but it also means commerically available PECS pockets and folders won't work with my homemade ones.

2.  I laminated mine onto cardstock-- this makes them more rigid and sturdy.  I used a non-descript color so I don't have to worry about matching it later when I need to make more.  The cutesy-colored and decorated ones are great and all, but if you have a kid who values "sameness" this is key.

3.   Blank PECS!  This is a brilliant idea.  Like with our chore charts, I just write on the laminated square with a dry erase pen if something unique is happening in her day and I need to give her a heads up.  For instance, I'm not going to make her a special PEC for an "Earthquake Drill" she only does once a month.  Plus, how do you make a non-terrifying image for that??  I stuck Velcro to the pen and attached it to the binder too.

If only these emoticons were gifs...  moving them back and forth with my hands isn't the same.

4.  The folder that IS the chart:  stole this idea from Pinterest but can't find the image now... that said, go ahead, search Pinterest for the word "PECS"...  pretty nice treat for Mommy!  Anyway, this is great.  I used a standard binder (make sure it is the kind that will lay flat), sticky backed Velcro, hole punched sheet protectors and plastic dividers. The dividers must be plastic, the paper ones no matter how sturdy will rip. The sheet protectors keep her "Social Stories" neatly organized, her teacher's rough (to the point of uselessness, but that's just me bitching) daily outline, and her weekly "smiley face reports" safe.  All her interventions are in one place!  The Velcro strips on the cover are for today's schedule, any PECS not being used are stored inside on the dividers.  

Social Stories deserve their own post since they are in some ways the most creative part of this whole mess.  "If I Am Late to School.." is our most recent project.  The ones that gets the most use are "When It is Time to Stop My Work..." and the infamous, "Recess is Over and..."

Things are improving for Abby and I am grateful, but it is intense and, to be honest, costs a fortune.  It leaves me little time for my own hobbies and interests (and friends and sleep and coherent thoughts) so that is why the blog has been dead.  I do have some awesome Halloween costumes to post before the holiday!  Watch out!

Wedding Crafts: Jam Jar Labels, Flower Girl Barrettes, & Bolero

No posting because I've been swamped with other tasks, mainly related to my fabulous sister-in-law's equally fabulous wedding the end of last month.  She got engaged while we were all in Paris last year and pulled off the largest, most amazing wedding this year.  Personally, I was engaged for five years, so... she's just an overachiever as far as I'm concerned!  I also went on vacation for awhile and have been generally spending all my free time in the pool. Summer is sweet, but almost over.

Wedding stuff!  In addition to making the labels for 300 jars of jam in five flavors and two sizes, I helped tie/hot glue the raffia to them for the place cards (I thankfully had nothing to do with that massive seating chart).

Tip for wedding beginners:  Combine the favor and the place tag  and save room on the table for important things like wine and food and wine.

This was the version the happy couple chose;  still think I would have gone with a simpler design myself, but this did have the advantage of the jam flavor listed for the guests.

But mostly my time was spent corralling my (adorable) children in their roles as a ring bearer and a flower girl.  I made the three girls' bow barrettes. They all have super fine, super thin hair. My mother-in-law wanted really understated bows, made with a specific translucent ribbon, which is exactly the opposite of what I would have done, but they were cute on the girls so my stress about it was stupid.

Henry & his fellow ring bearer looking gentlemanly.  I had to do nothing for the boys.  Thankfully.

My nieces sporting their handmade hair bows- constructed with love and a heavy sense of anxiety by me.

In between those actually necessary wedding tasks, I made myself this bolero to wear over my dress.
I wanted to make the bolero a little less formal as I was afraid that my dress was too cocktail.  I used Simplicity 3921, though I made a few changes to View C. I used a cotton polka dot fabric to dress it down and lined it with a coordinating costume satin.  I shortened the sleeves and narrowed them; I don't think a wide sleeve is all that flattering.  I also expanded the front curve to accommodate my bust line without having to make darts.   I skipped blanket stitching the edges because... who would do that?  

Trying out different sleeve lengths.  Please ignore the unfinished dress underneath-  still working on that.

Flipped open to see the lining.  The cheap costume satin worked fine and looked way better then most lining fabrics would have looked.

The only trouble I had with the pattern were the instructions on how you attached the sleeve lining to the sleeve at the opening.  I followed the directions word for word multiple times and always messed it up, so I just hemmed them together, made some narrow bias tape, and called it done.  I would really like to figure out what I was doing wrong.  In the end I never wore it. HA!  I'm an idiot.  


I will now be making all my own wraps.  Suck it, Macy's (tiny evening-wear-accessory-department)!

Random picture:  Abigail drinking milk at the Barndiva bar before the rehearsal dinner. Yes, she's winking and  yes, she ordered that milk from the bartender herself.   She LOVED being in the wedding party.

Other Crafts: "Make Your Own Damn Lunch" Back to School Printables & Garden Tour

Something free today!  My Etsy shop, Starbee Designs, is going on an autumn sabbatical for the upcoming wine grape Harvest.  I looked over my priorities and I just won't have the time for the next couple of months.  My current listings will expire soon and obviously any orders placed before then will be honored, but I'm not going to take on any custom work for the time being which is about 90% of all my orders. 

Cabernet Sauvignon.  Coming to a wine bottle near you... in two to three years. 

I was going to list a set of jar labels and a fun lunch checklist before school started and never got around to it (see! too busy!) so I thought I'd just share the labels here as a free printable.

2 inch label on an Elite Ball jar.  My sister wanted me to say "jamn" instead of "damn" which I thought was brilliant, but wanted to use these for more then just jam.  I like them filled out with pencil.

You can write in any flavor of jam, hummus, pickles, etc. and practice you penmanship. I was super bummed when I realized that my son's new school is nut-free.  No more PB&J on the days I can't figure out what to make him!  And we have sooo much jam from our garden..  My mother-in- law raided our garden and her own and made more then 300 jars of jam this summer (for my sister-in-law's wedding next year to give as favors), plus the dozens of jars we made for ourselves... and we still have berries!

Here for a PDF sized to fit  2.5 inch round labels (Avery 5294 or OL 350)
or
Here for a PDF sized to fit 1.67 inch round labels (Avery 5293 or OL 325)
or
Here for a PDF sized to fit 2 inch round labels (OL 5375 or print on a full sheet label or copy paper and glue to use with a 2" round punch)

Back to School Garden Tour!  Please note that I LOVE my garden, but am in no way responsible for it's glory or yummy output.  I have a single house plant named Harvey.  No tips or tricks from me.  We (obviously) can't eat all this.  We give a lot of it to friends and co-workers and take everything leftover to the Food Bank.  To keep myself from looking foolish I only took pictures of things I recognized;  there was an embarrassing amount I didn't.  Mostly trees. 

Never ending Raspberries.  Delightful!

The Green Bean Tunnel.  Abby plays here a lot and I can't blame her.  Great fresh and so many ways to pickle them.

Pumpkins!  Told you Halloween was coming up fast.  Expect carvings on the blog.

Artichokes.  I had no idea these were in our garden.  Not really lunchbox-able.

Apples- these are great baking, not so good for school lunch.  Not sweet.  Might be Gravensteins??  I don't know my apples.
*** I've been informed this is a rare quince tree, not an apple at all which would explain why you can't just eat them.***

Mulberry TREE, not bush, people.  Make as a chunky jam-chutney and use on meats, like duck.

Some sort of lettuce...  I think.  Embarrassing.
***My mom emailed me to say that this is in fact Swiss Chard and that she has served it to me multiple times in my life.***

Row of cherry tomatoes, I like to take these as snack to the preschool with mini whole wheat bagels and cream cheese.  The kids love it.

Strawberry wine barrels.  Jackrabbits will devour them if you plant them in the ground.

Cutting flowers for arrangements that I constantly forget to go cut and arrange.

A huge pile of garlic, dusted with redwood needles.  Who needs a root cellar when you have trees?   My husband roasts and pickles these.  They kind of freak me out like this.

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