Video: Ideas to help me connect with others outside of the home

﻿Going out is something that a lot of us will find difficult to do, and our visual sense plays a big part in this. Today's lesson, we are going to look at ways and strategies that can make going out and meeting up with people a little bit easier. We, as therapists, have tried to think of the best way to continue to support children, young people and their families. We will be exploring topic areas that we regularly provide advice and support on across all ages and abilities. Each lesson will have ideas and activities that can be carried out at home or in school. This information is to be used alongside any specific strategies or resources which have been given by your child's school or therapist. If you have any questions or would like help tailoring this to your child's needs, then please contact your local therapy service. In today's lesson, we're going to look at different strategies to make it easier when we go out and meet up with people. One way that we're going to do this is to add to our sensory passport. So, for today, I'm going to ask you to ask your parent or carer to help you get ready for today's lesson. You will need some paper, some pins, and some magazines. So pause just here, and when you've got everything together, we will start the lesson. So, things that may be difficult when leaving the house: there can be a difference in light, there can be, you know, we don't, we may not know where we're going and that can make us feel worried. If we don't quite know what is going to happen next, that's another thing that can make us feel worried. And also, who am I meeting? If you don't have a picture of the person that you're going to meet in your head, it may be hard to know what to expect, and all of these things can make us feel really uncertain. So, things that may help us when leaving the house is maybe to wear a cap or some sunglasses to help with the difference in light, maybe to have a picture of where you're going and something, you know, that you have a little plan of what you're going to do will also help. It really helps to have a picture of the person that you're going to meet, especially if it's someone that you're not that familiar with. My sensory passport: this is your little book that we've started to kind of, to put together, and today, we're going to add to the visual page. Here is a reminder of what a sensory passport will look like. A normal passport is something that we use when we travel to another country, and it has information about us, like our name, our date of birth and where we were born, and this information help people to know who we are and where we've come from. In the same way, a sensory passport will help other people to understand what it is that you need to be able to go out or to join in with activities. We're going to make a plan. That's the first step in making a, contributing to our sensory passport. So please chat to your parents and carer about a time when you had to meet someone. Think of what you could have done to make that easier, and what your parents or carer could have done to make that experience a little bit easier. What plan can you have for when you meet up next time? Once you've chatted about this, you can then press play again and we can carry on with the lesson. Now that you've chatted about a plan that you're going to have for next time when you meet up with someone, you may want to add this to your sensory passport. Using the same headings, add some words or pictures to your sensory profile. You can use more than one page, if you want to. I've used the following headings. I said, when I'm out and about, visual things that I like, I enjoy sunshine, a photo of who I am meeting, a photo or a map of where I'm going. I, there's also some visual things that I don't like. This can be not knowing where I'm going or not knowing who will be there. And thirdly, visual things that makes me feel comfortable. I like wearing sunglasses, a baseball cap, because that helps me manage the lights. I also like to sit facing forwards with a window in a car, otherwise I feel a little bit carsick. Having a little visual plan helps me to know what to expect, and having a visual fidget toy with me also helps me when I go out. So you can think of the same three headings or you can add a few more if you want to, when you make your sensory profile. Right now, it's going to be your turn. Pause the video to complete your task in making your sensory passport. Ask your parent or your carer to help you add your little bit about when I'm out and about page to your sensory passport. Once you've done it, press play again and we will carry on with this lesson. You can either make a paper-based sensory passport, where you want to make, maybe put together some pieces of paper into a folder that you can take with you during the day, or you may want to create a digital document using some PowerPoint or slides to create your sensory passport and keep it on your video-based device. It's been brilliant to do this lesson together, and please remember to share your work with Oak National. If you like, please ask your parent or carer to share this on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter, tagging @OakNational or #LearnwithOak.

Lesson summary: Ideas to help me connect with others outside of the home

Today we think about ideas that make it easier to go outside the home.

Ideas to help me connect with others outside of the home

Visual Sense

UNIT

My visual sense

Regulation: Being over or under responsive

What is proprioception?

Getting ready in the morning: Waking up

Getting ready in the morning: Routines

Getting ready to leave the house

When playtimes are tricky

When homework is tricky

Getting ready for bed

Fussy about food (Part 1)

Fussy about food (Part 2):  Strategies

Ideas to help me connect with others outside of the home

Video

Lesson summary: Ideas to help me connect with others outside of the home

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