I need to do this!
Visual aids are so helpful for ASD kids. They frequently have difficulty expressing themselves, perhaps they cannot string the right words together, a phobia prevents them from verbalising a particular need, a meltdown prevents them from focusing or even being able to identify an issue. My 6yr old DS1 has a chronic bowel issue - it means he wears Pullup's constantly, and frequently has involuntary toileting accidents. He's often unaware this has happened, and if he is aware, will never tell anyone and will never ask for assistance to get cleaned up. He has had a history of dealing with ill-informed and uncaring adults in the past sadly, I fear this has a great deal to do with his continued reluctance to approach adults for help. He has a discrete bag of supplies in his school bag, but the current 'system' relies on someone identifying that he needs to be changed and proactively taking him. This rarely happens unfortunately. I'm somewhat ashamed that it's taken me so long to figure out a solution - and it's so simple.
In five minutes I printed (in B&W, still haven't replaced the colour cartridges!) a simple business card sized note that briefly states his name, his medical condition, and in bold print "Could you please help me get changed! Thank you!" with a smiley face clipart. In lieu of the pesky laminator I taped it inside a zip lock bag, and attached it to the outside of his toiletry supplies bag. Now he doesn't need to SAY anything - just present an adult with his bag and show them the note. He was absolutely thrilled with this idea. We'll see how it goes.
Sometimes it's the simplest things that are the most elusive.
