Dining Cup Holder



An individual I work with drops her drink bottle on the table and floor. I want her to learn to place it on the platform.

The platform helps her to sit more upright while eating. 

I cut into the white Thicket container ( I have several of these ) so that it can slide onto the edge of the platform. It was at first bit too tall for the cup and she couldn't get it out, so I cut around the top of the container to remove some of the plastic and then wedged the pieces together and taped  in place. Notice how it got shorter.....

  I think that she will learn how to place the cup in the holder if we guide her hand, praise when she succeeds and give her more food after she puts her cup in place.
 I have been playing around with figuring out which corner of the platform to position this to. It stays in place pretty well. So far the lower right corner is working best.

Fine-Motor Visual Stimulation Activity

This is a fun Visual activity that also develops eye-hand coordination. The rings are positioned at the top of a spiral shape and then rapidly spiral downward.

These are easy to make but you have to buy the helicopter toys to get the plastic piece that the rings spiral down. Wedge the spiral piece inside the top of a bottle. You may need to cut a small hole inside the bottle cap and then wedge it inside and secure with tape.

Cut lots of pretty, colorful plastic shapes from containers or lids and then cut a small notch in the center.  I designed this so that the individuals need to stabilize the bottle with one hand. However, when I found that the client shown in the photo  needed to use both hands to position and release the shapes, I  decided to stabilize the bottle inside a coffee container.

Some individuals who seek visual stimulation really like this- it meets their sensory needs....

Source: Visual Stimulation Ring Stack for Individuals with Autism by RecyclingOT