Welcome!
Firstly, a massive thank you for buying our Now Next Later Board. Every purchase really does help our small business. So, from our family to yours – thank you.Â
We started ASD after finding it incredibly hard to find high quality, ready-made visuals for our own autistic son, and becoming increasingly frustrated when our hand-made visuals fell apart after just a few short weeks or months.
Our aim, over everything else, it to help families just like ours to overcome some of the challenges faced while navigating life on the autistic spectrum.
With that in mind, we created this guide to help you get the most out of your ASD Weekly Planner.
Membership
Become a member and get instant access to a wide range of resources.
– Illustrated social stories
– A range of introductory guides
– In-depth toolkits
– Free postage on all orders
With our silver membership COMPLETELY FREE, and our gold membership less than the price of a fancy coffee per month, you really don’t have anything to lose.
What’s in the Box?
- 1 x A4 Schedule Board
- 32 x Activity Symbols
- Hook & Loop for all Symbols
We’ve made all our products as easy to use as possible – we know you don’t have time to spend hours on making these resources, and once they’re done they need to last.Â
We know from (bitter!) personal experience how gutting it is to spend hours making a set of resources only to have them fall apart a few weeks later.
That’s why all our resources are ready made, printed directly onto durable, BPA-free, non-toxic plastic.
Symbols ship in backing plastic to keep them safe in transit, so all that’s left for you to do is press the symbols out, pop the included self-adhesive hook and loop on the back, and you’re good to go!
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Need More Symbols?
Expansion packs are a perfect way to get the absolute most from your ASD Now Next Later Board.
Choose from a set of pre-printed themed symbols, or a pack of blank symbols for complete flexibility.
All our expansion packs come with a set of 24 blank plastic symbols, identical to the symbols that came with your Planner.
They also come with a sheet of self-adhesive plastic film, pre-cut to the right size for your symbols. Simply peel the film from the backing paper, and place on the symbol. The adhesive is considered permanent, and will reach full strength after 24 hours.
For the blank symbols, either draw your images using permanent marker pen, or print images directly onto the self adhesive plastic film (using a laser printer, bypass tray, on ‘labels’ setting).
Blank Symbols (printable)
£5.99
Indoor Activities
£6.79
School Subjects
£6.79
Home Education
£6.79
Christmas / New Year
£6.79
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All our visuals have been designed to seamlessly work together to provide an all round, fully comprehensive support solution. Most parents find their child adapts to using visuals best when they use multiple ones throughout the day. The visuals below have been specially selected as ones that work particularly well together for an integrated support system throughout the day.
Morning Routine
£9.99
Evening Routine
£9.99
Weekly Planner
£13.99
Day PlannerÂ
£10.99
Tips and Tricks
Consider starting off with just an activity for ‘now’ and one for ‘next’. Keeping it simple may help to reinforce the meaning behind the board.
Keep referring back to the current activity on the board, and when it is time to move on to the next one show taking it off and pointing to the next activity
Keep the board in the same place, either on the wall or next to them on the desk. Wherever you choose, make sure it’s always there so they understand they can rely on it.
Be consistent in encouraging them to look at it. Knowing they can find it whenever they want will help improve confidence and reduce anxiety.
Tailor the board to your child’s needs and preferences.Â
Think carefully about what activities to put on the board. Maybe start with a preferred activity for the ‘next’ one, so they can see the point of the board.
Encouraging the person to participate in putting their activities on the schedule can also increase their interest and engagement with the schedule. For example, ask them to choose what activity they want to do next.
Encourage interaction with each symbol.
As you guide the user through attaching and detaching symbols from the board during the day, discuss each task briefly.
This not only helps with understanding and memory, but also practices fine motor skills through the physical interaction with the symbols.
At the end each task, praise engagement with the board. Praise any indication that they are making a move to check the board themselves. Ask them to check it to tell you what is next.
If they normally ask what’s next, try to anticipate them doing so and instead ask them what’s next first – encourage them to look at the board to tell you.
Lots of praise is important, and it’s a great idea to have lots of rewards to start with for all engagement with the board.
This helps associate setting up and checking the schedule with positive feelings, and encourages them to stick with the plan.
FAQs and Troubleshooting
Why do you use symbols, not photos?
Put simply, symbols work better than photos.
For a literal thinker, a photo of a toy will mean that particular toy.
A toy symbol is much more general – it can mean whatever toy you are offering at that time. The important information to convey on a schedule is that they will be playing with toys, not necessarily the exact toy they will be using.
Having a toy symbol also cuts down the number of symbols you need to keep handy to keep the schedule current.
Why is there only space for 3 symbols?
There is space for the current activity (important to stay on track), the next activity (to mentally prepare for the upcoming transition), and one later on (to act as motivation to get through the other activities).
Some of our schedule boards have space for more symbols, but this board is deliberately kept simple to ensure that it is accessible to all, and helps the person really focus on what they are doing.
If you have too many symbols on a schedule, it can get overwhelming and distracting – exactly the opposite of what you’re trying to achieve!
Why do you use cartoon images?
We thought long and hard about the types of images to use. We selected Picture Communication Symbols because they have been specifically designed for autistic people. They are 2D images, with bold outlines and flat colours (no shading). This is important because often autistic people can focus on the detail in an image rather than the image as a whole, and we want our symbols to be useful, not distracting.
These symbols are used in the Boardmaker software, which is used globally. They are the ones most commonly used in special education settings and in therapy sessions, so are most likely to already be familiar to the person we’re looking to support.
Where can I get extra symbols?
We’ve worked hard to make sure the symbols that come with the board are as helpful to as many people as possible.
However, inevitably, there will be some that aren’t so relevant for you, and others that you wish you had.
If you need additional symbols, we have a couple of options for expansion packs that you might find helpful.
Our Now Next Later Expansion Packs are themed packs of 24 symbols, and are a great way to increase the use of your calendar.
Alternatively, you could use our Blank Symbols Expansion Pack – 24 blank symbols you can print your own images onto. Simply print onto the self-adhesive plastic film using a regular laser printer, and then stick to the base plastic symbol.
Explore the Expansion Packs above
