Meet friends
Keeping up with friends rules, waiting your turn and handling suggestions you never saw coming takes constant reading that drains energy fast. The visual support below breaks the meet-up into parts you can prepare.
♂Meet friends
Three happy children play together with their arms outstretched.
About this visual support
The social side of play is full of invisible signals. Who starts, which rules apply this time, and what happens when a friend suddenly wants to switch games halfway through. For many children this decoding runs nonstop, and the energy runs out long before the play does.
Visual support makes some of the invisible visible. When the steps of a meet-up are laid out, it gets easier to see what is coming: say hi, ask what you will do, take turns, say goodbye. The child no longer has to hold everything in mind at once and can spend that energy on the company itself.
One concrete tip: walk through a couple of common turns beforehand, like what to say if you want something other than what the friend suggests. Then an answer already exists when the moment arrives. In the Routined app you can put together your own meet-up with pictures and bring it up before you get together.