Book chapter excerpt: Smartphone calendaring and special needs

For the book. Comments welcome …Calendar management is one of the most powerful smartphone tools for independent living. Knowing what to do when takes a lot of memory stress away. The Calendar is where healthy and helpful habits are maintained. It can be very hard for spectrum Explorers to initiate new work, scheduling it on a calendar can be a good launch step. Special Hockey games, doctor’s appointments, work schedules, study schedules, screen break times, family outings, dates, holidays — it all starts with the Calendar.That was true in the days of the family wall calendar, but the smartphone Calendar is a big improvement. It’s always at hand, appointments have reminders, and, best of all, it’s easy for one or more Guides to manage an Explorer’s Calendar.Calendars are powerful but relatively easy to use. Every Explorer able to read at a 3rd grade level will be able to use a smartphone Calendar app. The key is to practice and reward Calendar use. The “Guide’s Toolbox” chapter described a general approach, with the Calendar there are some simple specific techniques. One is to respond to most “when” questions by asking your Explorer to access and review their smartphone Calendar.  Another is to reward routine daily review of the current and next day’s Calendar. Some Explorers may be stressed by the imposed structure of formal Calendar, in this case you will need the usual mixture of patience, reward, pressure, support, persistence, strategic retreat...
Source: Be the Best You can Be - Category: Disability Tags: adolescence adult Asperger ' autism brain and mind cognition computer smartphone support technology Source Type: blogs