Party
The music is on, a balloon pops with no warning, and twenty voices talk over each other for three hours. The pictures below break the party into parts a child can prepare for, quiet breaks included.
♂Party
A boy raises his arms and smiles among balloons, confetti, presents and a cake.
♂Celebrate
A boy with a party hat holds up a slice of cake and a party blower among balloons and confetti.
♀Dance at the party
Three children with party hats dance among balloons and confetti.
Party things
Balloons, confetti, party hats and a cake with a lit candle.
♀Celebrate together
A girl holds a balloon while two friends clap their hands next to a cake with candles.
About this visual support
A party stacks everything on top of everything else at the same time: volume, bodies moving fast, sugar, unfamiliar rooms and a clear expectation that everyone will be happy. For a child who is sensitive to input, the limit is often reached long before the cake is carried in, and what looks like sulking is really an overload nobody saw coming.
Visual support helps by making the party predictable in time. A row of pictures showing how it will go, from arriving and hanging up a coat to games, food, singing and going home, gives a child something to count through. Just as important, the break belongs in the row as its own picture: a place to go, a room, a sofa, a stretch with ear defenders on. A break that is already planned does not have to be negotiated in the middle of it all.
Point out where in the row you are about once an hour, ideally before the loud parts. Balloons and singing are far easier to sit with when a child was told they were coming. In the Routined app you can build the order of the party digitally and carry it in your phone, with fourteen days to try at no cost.