Is TEACCH only used for planning and education using the boards?

TEACCH isn’t just about planning and teaching people how to complete a given task. For example, we worked with one service user who saw himself as super hero The Incredible Hulk. In his mind, when he got angry he would turn green and sort the problem out with physically, often with violence. Using the TEACCH system we took pictures of the Hulk’s body and put the service user’s face on it. Using appropriate speech bubbles, pictures and actions, we were able to teach the service user that the Hulk could be a good hero and that he could deal with his anger in other ways.

Another service user really liked tractors. He had a special reward board and when he was well behaved he could move a tractor along the board. When it got to the end, he would get some sort of reward – typically a film of his choice.

TEACCH is also used in shopping tasks. In many of our houses the service users help with cooking, cleaning and other tasks around the house. When cooking, the service user can choose the meal they would like to cook from a selection of photos of finished meals. They start with preparing the menu and shopping list. The most effective shopping list we have found is to have laminated pictures on a key fob. The service user can walk round a shop and flip each picture over when the item is found. In fact, the pictures have been used to help service users order meals in fast food restaurants.

	What Is TEACCH?		How Does TEACCH Work?
	How Do We Use the TEACCH Principles for Planning and Education?