TomTag- I Know What To Expect At Appointments Kit

TomTag is a flexible visual support and communication tool that can be used to create personalised visual timetables, schedules, prompts and checklists helping children with daily routines or situations they find difficult by providing them with structure, predictability and reassurance– at home, at school and when out and about.

With the I Know What To Expect At Appointments Kit, you can create personalised visual timelines to help your child prepare for and understand visits to doctors, dentists, medical appointments and the hairdressers – common problem areas for sensory issues.

This versatile kit helps to reduce a child’s anxiety by providing a consistent and permanent reassurance about what is going to happen during medical and care appointments.

Everything’s ready to go with TomTag’s colourful, sturdy tags, click-in buttons and symbol stickers. All you need to do is personalise it – just pick, stick, click and off you go. Most children love stickers so let them join in the fun! Helping set them up will encourage them to use it too!

Key benefits

• Creating a visual timeline helps reduce your child’s anxiety about what to expect at their appointment
• Showing your child before their appointment potential sensory triggers and issues helps reduce their anxiety and meltdowns
• Communicating to your child before their go to their appointment what’s going to happen gives them time to ask any questions or share any worries they may have
• Portable and durable means you can take them with you to reassure your child what to expect whilst you’re there
• Quickly and easily adapt your timeline when something different is going to happen

Kit contents

• 3 TomTag Button Holders ( colours may vary)

• 25 blank buttons to give you the flexibility to create multiple timelines
• 1 attachment loop to fasten TomTag to a hook, belt or bag
• Easy to follow instruction sheet to assemble your TomTag
• Haircuts & Health Checks sticker pack which contains
  • 72 different symbol stickers (2 copies of each) for

• Medical: doctor, nurse, hospital, doctor’s surgery, doctor’s bed, lie down, sit on chair, check pulse, blood test, check blood pressure, take temperature, get weighed, measure height, look in ear, listen to chest, take big breath, feel unwell, hearing test
• Hair:hairdresser, barber, gown, sink, wash hair, towel, comb hair, cut hair (male/female), dry hair
• Teeth & eyes:dentist, toothache, teeth, brush teeth, dentist’s mirror, tooth decay, filling, open mouth wide, plaque, dentist’s tools, take tooth out, dentist’s chair, floss teeth, braces, gargle/rinse, optician, look, look in eyes, eye test, eye drops
• Therapy: OT (x2), therapist, therapy room, speech therapist, speech therapy, physiotherapist, physiotherapy, consultant
• General: waiting room, examination room, reception, x-ray, feel, touch, press, put cream on, take medicine, needle, injection, plaster, bandage, well done

• 12 blank round stickers for personalisation
• 8 blank rectangular stickers to label your TomTag Button Holders

Dimensions

• TomTag Button Holder:18cm x 3cm
• Buttons: 2cm diameter

The TomTag I Know What To Expect Range 

The TomTag I Know What To Expect range was originally designed by a mum to help her autistic son, Tom. With this range, it’s quick and easy to make personalised visual timelines, schedules and reminders which can be used anywhere in the home, at school, in care settings or when out and about.

TomTag visual supports can provide structure and guidance to the day or week ahead, helping to lessen anxieties and mange expectations about what is going to happen. This can lead to improvements in behaviour, communication and encourage personal responsibility and independence.

These are truly versatile visual supports.  Use the tags singly to highlight sections of the day or particular events.Work towards using just one tag to cover a whole routine or time of day.

TomTag is easy to clean and keep hygienic. TomTag’s plastic button holders and blank buttons can be washed in warm water and a little hand soap should they become dirty and dried with a soft cloth. The stickers are highly water resistant. Simply wipe over with a wet cloth or anti-bacterial wipe.

How does TomTag work?

TomTag uses symbols to show a series of separate tasks or steps involved in a task that are part of a routine, a sequence of events in a timeline or they can be used as a list to teach a new skill by breaking down a single activity into smaller steps.

Many children with autism and other additional needs have strong visual skills. They are more likely to remember and understand what they have seen rather than what they hear. Using a visual support like TomTag to present information visually and in a step-by-step manner allows visual thinkers and learners to take in information at their own pace. Visuals can also act as a reminder when children forget what’s been said or become distracted, TomTag helps to bring their attention back to the task or current situation.

Our Customers say

“Tom-tags communications I use these for routines/transitions, appointments and communicating with people when I don’t have a device or don’t have the words to say what I need/want.
They’re helpful especially for appointments as I have a visual to know what to expect and what will happen before and during the appointments.”

WARNING: Please note – TomTag is not a toy. Not suitable for children under 36 months due to small parts.