Rub it in
Cold lotion on a warm arm is a strong signal, and then the hand keeps rubbing long after a child thinks it is enough. The pictures below make the waiting understandable by showing how many spots are left.
♀Rub it in
A person rubs a blob of lotion into the forearm.
About this visual support
First the lotion is cold, then it feels sticky, and only after that does the skin feel soft. For a child who notices touch strongly, those are three separate experiences in a row, and it is the middle one that makes rubbing in stop halfway. The blob on the arm is no longer visible, but the sense that something is still sitting there remains, and that is the moment an arm gets pulled away.
Pictures help because they turn the body into an order rather than a negotiation. One card per area, arms, legs, tummy, face, lets a child see how much is left and say which order it should happen in. For a child with autism, that predictability can be the difference between resistance and taking part. A tip that fits this particular step: warm the lotion between your hands for a few seconds before it meets the skin, and let your child do the last stroke on each area, so the touch ends on their terms.
The visual support is free to download and can be kept where the lotion lives. If you want the order on a screen, Routined can be tested for fourteen days at no cost, with rubbing in placed inside the evening routine.