10 Proven Strategies for Creating Routines That Support Children with Autism

Now that school is back in full swing, we hope your family is settling into a new routine (or an old one that you picked up again) that helps you stay organized and minimize the chaos.

It’s important to remember how vital routines are for children with autism and other developmental concerns. Kids on the autism spectrum are naturally inclined to routines because it’s comforting for them to know how their day will play out and what is expected of them. Otherwise, they can become stressed and anxious to the point of acting out.

Although children with autism like routines, it does take some effort to create one in a way that your child can easily follow, benefit from, and like doing. So, we thought this was the perfect time of year to pull together a list of 10 proven strategies for creating a routine that can help you and your kiddo thrive.

If you need a help creating a routine for your child, just reach out to our team of autism and ABA therapy experts. Asking for support is always a winning strategy. Here are a few more: 

  1. Keep your kiddo in mind when designing their routines.
    This may seem obvious, but what you think is a perfect routine, may not be so perfect for your child. Get them involved if possible and consider their interests, likes, dislikes, and any sensory sensitivities. Build off any routines your child already follows, like at bedtime, that can be enhanced or expanded to include new skills.
  1. Bring routines to life with pictures and words.
    Routines are typically made up of tasks. Brush your teeth. Get dressed. Go to ABA therapy. Do your homework. Have some fun. Some tasks might also have multiple steps to them. Make it easy for your child to understand what they are to do by using pictures and words that describe and show each step and/or task. If you’re not the creative type, not to worry. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel. There are many resources online that offer free templates you can use to illustrate your child’s daily routines. Here are two sites to check out – here and here – but there are many more you can find with a simple Google search.
  1. Use transition alerts to help your child more easily move from one task to another.
    It’s not uncommon for children with autism to have difficulty going from one activity to the next even if they know what’s coming next. To help them feel more comfortable, a transition alert gives them a heads-up that tells them they have to finish what they’re doing and move onto something else. A transition alert can be a timer or alarm clock sounding, a notification ding on their phone if they’re older, a first-then chart to motivate them (ex. First you do this, then you can do this), dimming of lights, or any number of things. Practicing transitions with your kiddo can also help them manage transitions with more confidence.
  1. Include downtime in your child’s routine as well as time to enjoy hobbies and other interests.
    This is great advice for parents, too. We all need time to decompress, reset, and have some fun doing things that make us happy. This strategy also helps make daily routines more interesting and enjoyable, because you always have something to look forward to. 
  1. Create a special getaway area in your home for your child.
    Even with a great routine in place, children with autism can still become overwhelmed and require a sensory friendly place to escape for a little while, where they feel comfortable and regroup before continuing on with their routine.
  1. Add flexibility to your child’s routine.
    Routines should provide your child with structure and predictability to their day. But it’s also good practice to include some flexibility to avoid being rigid that can quickly take away from the benefits of having a routine. Give your kiddo choices throughout their day, like letting them decide the after-school or after-therapy activity they want to do. Giving them some control over their routine helps build their confidence and independence. Flexibility will also help your child learn how to manage changes to their routine.
  1. Plan ahead for the inevitable disruptions to the routine.
    Things will always come up in life that force us to change our routines. While number six above will begin to help your child learn how to manage changes to their routines, it’s best to have a plan in place that will support your child in times of change. If a change is known ahead of time, prepare your kiddo in advance by letting them know what the change will be, when it will occur, and why it’s happening. If the change is sudden and unexpected, make a plan that focuses on ways to help your child feel understood, safe, and empowered. 
  1. Don’t be afraid to modify your child’s routine.
    Your child’s routine should be modified to support their continued development and accommodate any new interests they have. Talking with your child’s therapists and teachers can help you decide when to make changes and how to introduce those changes to your child in the most productive way. If your child resists the changes you want to make to their routine, introduce them gradually instead of all at once and be sure to communicate with your child about why the changes are happening.
  1. Maintain your child’s routines as much as possible everyday, everywhere.
    It’s all about providing your kiddo with predictability that works to eliminate the stress of the unknown and the uncertain. Encourage them to follow their routines not only during the school week, but also on weekends, during holidays, and especially when traveling.
  1. Provide lots and lots of positive reinforcement.
    Positive reinforcement is any gesture that lets your child know they did something well or tried well to do something. Examples of positive reinforcement include verbal praise, a high five, a gold star, a favorite cookie or candy, extra time playing a video game, a trip to the park, and so on and so on. We use positive reinforcement in ABA therapy to encourage children to keep repeating behaviors that will help them continue to learn, develop new skills, and reach their full potential. You might have to try several types of positive reinforcement to find the one or ones that your child responds to the best. But even the smallest of gestures can make a big impact on your child’s success and well-being, and daily routines provide many opportunities for you to lavish your kiddo with positive reinforcement.

Please let us know if you have any questions about what you’ve just read or would like to learn about the ABA therapy services here at The Behavior Exchange. As a Behavioral Health Center of Excellence® with the highest accreditation possible, the level of care we provide is anything but routine.

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Ashvina attended University of Bombay and graduated with a Bachelors of Commerce. She got her Montessori Diploma in 1985 and taught ever since. Ashvina came to TBE in January of 2016 as Admin Assistant. During the years she got the opportunity to learn and work in different departments such as HR, Finance, Office Manager and Executive Assistant. Last summer TBE bought billing in house and her current focus area is Revenue Cycle Management. She is detail oriented and enjoys working with people. Ashvina volunteers to deliver meals to seniors and local shelters on the weekend. She loves to spend time with her family and grandkids. Ashvina loves her job because she enjoys hearing different points of view, and she feels her contributions help fuel the direction of our company.

Working with children comes naturally to Angela. Her mom was a special education teacher for 30 years and often had Angela join her for Take Your Child to Work Day. And in high school, Angela spent every summer as the nanny for a little boy with an autism spectrum disorder. It was this experience where her passion for working with children with autism started to blossom.

From there, she went on to graduate from Oklahoma State University with a Bachelor of Science in Human Development and Family Sciences. She learned about Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) in a non-normative development class and from that moment knew that ABA would be her life’s work.

Angela moved to the DFW area shortly after and began working at The Behavior Exchange as a therapist. She worked on her Master’s in Behavior Analysis at the same time. A year after graduating, she earned certification as a Board Certified Behavior Analyst.

Now, as a Clinical Director at The Behavior Exchange, she brings a life-long passion to her work, holding a special place in her heart for children with limited language skills and working closely with families to develop healthy sleep habits.

Danielle’s passion for working with families is deeply personal and from the heart. Her younger brother has an autism spectrum disorder, and through their journey as a family, she found her purpose in life as an advocate for individuals with special needs.

After graduating from the University of North Texas with a degree in Human Development and Family Studies, Danielle began volunteering at The Behavior Exchange. She saw passionate therapists, meaningful change for clients, and families with hope for the future. After a summer of volunteering, she officially joined the team as Director of Admissions and found her home with The Behavior Exchange family.

With her extensive experience working as a client advocate with insurance providers, Danielle perseveres to help individuals of all ages and abilities receive the services they need to reach their full potential. She feels truly honored by each and every family who entrusts The Behavior Exchange to be part of their journey and is committed to the organization’s core values, mission, and goal of being a beacon of hope for the community.

Adam has always had a passion for helping individuals of all ages thrive and reach their full potential. He’s also an enthusiastic musician, songwriter, leader, and devoted family man, who has been helping children and team members grow with The Behavior Exchange since 2010.

Prior to joining the team at The Behavior Exchange, Adam was a mortgage loan consultant and grad student, pursuing his master’s degree in Education at the University of North Texas. He graduated in 2013 and also earned a graduate academic certificate in Autism Intervention. The following year, after years as a Behavior Therapist and seeing first-hand the power of ABA and the meaningful impact it can have on children and their families, Adam became a Board Certified Behavior Analyst. He then commenced from the Stagen Leadership Academy after completing the Integral Leadership Program (ILP), a 52-week practice-based program designed to develop executives serious about transforming themselves, their teams, and their organizations.

Adam is truly grateful to be a part of a dynamic, inspiring and compassionate team, and he’s dedicated to bettering the lives of all children and their families through the delivery of the highest quality of ABA services, while supporting the amazing team at The Behavior Exchange.

Soraya is from South Africa and moved to Texas in 1996. She graduated from The University of Texas and pursued a career, at that time, in Education. Soraya taught at a Montessori school for a few years and then took on a leadership role.

During her time in the education system, Soraya realized her passion was to assist children with special needs. So she joined The Behavior Exchange as a therapist, transitioned into a supervisory role in 2017, and a year and a half later, was promoted to Clinical Operations Manager.

She quickly learned the ins and outs of ABA operations and scheduling and successfully collaborates across departments to ensure The Behavior Exchange continues to provide quality services to clients and their families. She’s thankful to be part of such an amazing organization and excited to see what the future holds.

You could say Walter’s career started when he spent hours as a young child drawing superheroes and coloring maps. This passion, along with extraordinary swimming skills, landed him a full swimming scholarship at Texas Christian University, where he graduated in 1997 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communication Graphics.

During the next 13 years, his design and art direction skills, conceptual-thinking abilities, and marketing-savvy know-how were honed at a few prestigious advertising and marketing agencies around the Dallas area. In the mid 2000s, he helped his wife Tammy Cline-Soza (founder and CEO of The Behavior Exchange) create a unique and concise brand for her new business. From logos and websites to uniforms, brand voice and visuals, Walter has been the main creative force for all things The Behavior Exchange.

Aside from giving birth to The Behavior Exchange brand, Walter is helping Tammy raise two amazing, beautiful children, River and Sierra. In his spare time (the two minutes he’s got per week), you can find Walter illustrating iconic landmarks of Dallas and Texas or looking around for this next open-water swim. Once he gets back in shape.

After 20 years of building The Behavior Exchange, literally from the ground up,
Tammy couldn’t be more proud of the team, culture, and organization that it has become.

As a family helping families, The Behavior Exchanges looks for opportunities that will make the biggest impact and produce life-changing outcomes – for clients, families, and even for team members. Tammy believes that if a team, a family, a community takes care of each other, the possibilities are endless and the relationships built along the way can make life more enriching and challenges easier to navigate. You could say her goal has been to build a kind of utopia full of support, love, and expertise that brings the best services possible to the community and ensures more families have access to those services.

Tammy and her family have dedicated their lives to the mission of The Behavior Exchange and continue to grow, learn, cultivate, challenge, support, and create better models for success. To that end, she is committed to her own leadership development and actively participates in advanced training, mentoring, and deep self-exploration on how to live out her purpose to love and support her family and help others reach their full potential. She takes her position very seriously and tries to serve as a channel for what the universe wants to come to fruition.

She also loves travel, gardening, being creative, MUSIC!, tennis, yoga, meditation, journaling, reading, being in nature, adventures, and more than anything, spending time with her husband Walter and their two beautiful children, River and Sierra.