Big Time Clocks
June 23, 2008 by Kristina Chew, PhD
Filed under Health
While he seems to have a strong internal sense of what time it is, it’s been more difficult for Charlie to learn to tell time looking at a clock (the occasional “12 o’clock thirty” slips out). Here’s really big clock he or anyone would have a hard time missing. (If it was analog he was learning, I’d try the teaching hands clock.)
I’m impressed that he has a sense of time. For TH, it’s like time does not exist. That dimension never changes for him. He can “read” a clock, but the message it carries is meaningless to him.
I was just looking awhile ago at autism coach and they have a teaching clock and I really liked the teaching temperature item that had icons on what type of clothing matches the weather. Nick did not really like it though.
Charlie was very glad to don his fleece vest, fleece hooded coat, and fleece gloves while sitting in an unairconditioned car this (hot) weekend—-still working on matching clothing to seasons, clearly!
His sense of time is not (yet) coordinated with the actual times on the clock. Lately, even if Charlie’s slept in on a weekend, if it’s Sunday night and 9.30pm, he’s sometimes put himself to bed—gotta get up for school Monday morning.
I can read clocks without any problems, but I have very bad sense of time.
Eleanor’s internal clock has always been pretty good. It used to blow her therapists’ minds a little that she knew, at age 4, within 5 minutes when 2 hours was up, even if they didn’t.
Teaching time has been a little more protracted, probably because I might have done something to make it confusing in the beginning. I went to a computer program combined with the real thing (we have big face analog and digital clocks in every room), some specific teaching and now she uses a wristwatch. I tried to make it kind of a game rather than a task.
And don’t ask me why, but the calendar structure clicked fast. I was just probing on something planned for later, but she was already half way there so we ran with it. The part that we still need to tackle is particular events in the past and future. Pictures help there, but I’m currently thinking about other angles.
“Charlie was very glad to don his fleece vest, fleece hooded coat, and fleece gloves while sitting in an unairconditioned car this (hot) weekend—-still working on matching clothing to seasons, clearly!
His sense of time is not (yet) coordinated with the actual times on the clock. Lately, even if Charlie’s slept in on a weekend, if it’s Sunday night and 9.30pm, he’s sometimes put himself to bed—gotta get up for school Monday morning.”
I remember when I was 13, there was this heavy silver trench coat I wore every day. Other than that I wore all black, often long sleeves or t-shirts with jeans. One day someone was complaining how hot it was in June in Southern California, and I said “it can’t be more than 80 F at the most”. Turned out it was 105. I was completely bewildered. But yeah, until very recently I’ve had trouble keeping track of what clothes match the weather. I remember staying up late nights last winter wearing shorts and a light t-shirt without a blanket or anything. Like I told my dad, at least we don’t live where it snows! Then he (half-jokingly) said, yeah, you’d probably want to go naked. Probably right, that.
Andy has a pretty good sense of time. I can tell him 5 minutes and he will come back even if he was in a room without a clock (Oh I don’t think that is possible, we have some type of clock in every room!) and be right on time. But he can’t, or at least doesn’t try to read the analog clock.
Here is an internet option that might help with learning to tell time (mostly for analog though). lots of interactive tools & a big flash learning clock:
http://www.time-for-time.com
good luck!