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This Podcast guest is Jenny Davis, who comes to us from Time Timer, a USA based company who specializes in helping children and adults understand the concept of time.  Jenny is a mom of 3, former educator/teacher, and understands the need to remove anxiety from activities and surroundings in children’s lives. Unlock the Power of Time!

Discussed in this Episode

✅ Easing stressful transitions by showing “how much longer”

✅ By pairing with a visual schedule, it can help set expectations of what comes next and how long on each activity

✅Promoting/Supporting natural strengths/skills/abilities, such as visual thinking

✅Helping visitors stick to routine

✅Increasing confidence and independence

✅Aiding in maintaining persistence by knowing how much time is left for a specific task

✅How Time Timers can take the pressure off of parents/teachers and put the stress of the “timed event” on the Timer itself.

✅Why time timers colour moves the opposite way to clocks

I often find your best strategies come when you reflect on yourself and try to put yourself in a child with an ASD’s shoes. Think how you use time, when it goes fast, when it drags, when it helps you plan, when it makes you anxious, when do you look at the time constantly. Have you ever lost your watch, how did it feel? Now let’s think of a child with an ASD and look at how they are using time.

Timers can support students who have difficulty with executive functioning by helping them with self-monitoring, time management, prioritising, organisation, planning and impulse control (waiting).

Time Timers are a MUST for all children on the autism spectrum. These are invaluable at both home and school.

Time Timers are specifically designed for use by those with an autism spectrum disorder. The notion of ‘time’ can be very difficult to understand for these children – particularly in the younger years. With a graphic visual of time passing, children can have a better understanding of time. The Time Timer is a great product which reinforces the sense of elapsed time with a graphic depiction of the time remaining.

• Ease stressful transitions by showing “how much longer” and “here is what 5 more minutes really means”
• Show when challenging activities will end: “Lets go shopping for 30 minutes” “Handwriting for 30 minutes”
• Help everyone (especially new staff or visitors) stick to the routine
• Reduce anxiety by creating predictability & consistency
• Help develop a reliable internal clock (especially for students with ADHD)
• Help with organisation & time management so don’t get ‘caught up’ in prefered activities
• See at a glance how much time is left
• Keep lessons/activities focused and on track
• Effectively manage small groups for differentiated instruction
• Provide focus for individual work (help self manage time)
• Tests/Exams (Fantastic for Time Management in Naplan)
• Know how long to speak in presentations (News, Debates, Class Presentations)
• Empower students to manage their own time in ALL activities
• Ensure equal time for taking turns
• Break Times (Help self regulate break times, know when they are going to occur and for how long so they return to work etc)
  • Use timer to have set Toilet / Drink and Snack Breaks
• Break larger challenges into smaller tasks or amounts of time
• Rotate learning stations
• Manage Screen Time or “special interests”
• Help students with autism slow down and not rush OR ‘speed up’
• Many students lose track of time when they are doing something they love. Often they do not have an end point or they want to repeat the activity. Timers create a finish point.

Although timers can provide a timeframe for the student to work within, helping them keep focused and on track, for some students, timers can be a source of stress. Worries can include; finishing too soon, not finishing within the given time and the sound of the timer going off. In order to minimise this stressor, talking about time as much as possible can be very helpful. Unlock the Power of Time!

1. Make sure the task can be done within the given timeframe so they don’t get worried, then try explaining the desired expectations and outcomes of using the timer. 

• You could even try modeling the timer on yourself showing them how it can be used (“I have 10 minutes left, I need to work a bit faster” or “Oh dear I ran out of time, that is ok”).

2. Write social stories on what to do if the timer finishes – remember that sometimes they can ask for 5 more minutes to finish, etc.

3. Use visual schedules to support the use of timers, so when the time is up the child knows what is next.

4. Explain when/why time is important in everyday life (Bus/Train timetables or length of TV episodes).

5. As many children are anxious about loud “buzzers” or sounds, the Time Timer makes a sensory friendly beep sound which can be turned off if necessary.

6. Giving 5 minute warnings before an activity needs to finish can make a huge difference to smooth transitions.

Time Timer displays the passage of time with a red disappearing disk. This is a powerful tool for visual thinkers of all ages and abilities.