Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi all, I am mum to a 13 year old boy with ASD. He would really like to have more independence in his every day life, but there are lots of everyday tasks he just never remembers unless I remind him all the time. For example, brushing teeth, showering, going to bed on time, remember a mask for school or his bus pass for the school bus, check he's done his homework, collect things from school etc. I've been searching and searching to try and find a smart watch that we can put customised text reminders/alerts on. He forgets his mobile all the time or the battery goes dead, so alerts on the mobile don't work. Does anyone know of a watch that can have reminders with text on them (I know there are some that just vibrate but without text to say what it's for). I know you can put events/reminders in a mobile phone calendar app, but is there a watch that will synch to the mobile calendar, but does not need to be near the watch to work in case he forgets it or the battery dies. He is also very thin, so the watch can't be a great big one, it needs to be pretty neat in size. Surely there must be something out there that will work for him! He gets cross with himself for forgetting these things and I'd love him to feel more in control. I'd be really grateful for any advice or recommendations. Shoskyns
Hello Shoskyns, thank you for posting on the online community. I would recommend that perhaps you go to an electrical retailer (if you feel comfortable doing so) and ask the sales assistant about different smart watches and their features.
You may also find it helpful to look at some of our organising and prioritising strategies highlighted on: https://www.autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/topics/behaviour/organising-and-prioritising/all-audiences.
Hope this helps.
Best wishes,
Anna Mod
Thank you very much for your reply. We live in a remote area and don’t have many shops near us, (100 mile drive down country roads before we get to even a dual carriage way let alone lots of shops!) so can’t visit a watch/electrical shop, hence reaching out to this community. Thank you for the link, we are using many of those strategies already, but visuals and lists just aren’t working with regard to promoting the independence he needs. The change in needs is so quick once those teenage emotions kick in... There must be a watch out there that does what we need!