I use duration maps a lot in therapy. Duration maps provide a visual representation for children so they know how much time is left before they can be (or have to) be done with an activity. A simple way to do one would be if your child has 5 minutes left in activity to draw 5 circles on a piece of paper. Let your child know that your have 5 minutes left to complete the activity. For some children, it’s helpful to have a visual representation of what is next on the schedule to make the transition easier.
I use duration maps a lot to help my clients know how many trials or repetitions they need to complete before they will be finished. Sometimes I just hold up my fingers, sometimes I draw out circles on a piece of paper. Today I wanted to draw a map but realized I didn’t have a piece of paper nearby. Oddly enough, I did have a paper plate handy.
So I quick drew 10 circles on the plate. And they kind of (not really) looked like cookies. I had the client draw in the chocolate chips, but you could make those part of the activity. (Say rhubarb 5 times and then draw 5 chocolate chips.) I realize that no one will probably ever ask their clients to say rhubarb, it’s just what came to mind late at night.
Then we finished up our activity. Every time we finished a 3 picture cards, we got to “eat” a cookie. We crossed off the cookie and made obnoxious cookie eating noises.
My drawings were horrible (clearly) but it was a really fun and motivating activity for the client I worked with.
