Make small laminated scales for staff or parents to carry with them to prompt the person to remember the scale lesson. You can hold up the small scale and touch the number you think the person is at, then slide your finger down the scale to the 2 or 1 level.

Kari and Mitzi

Create a schedule piece using the program Boardmaker (Mayer Johnson) indicating that it is time for the person to rate themselves on their anxiety scale. By scheduling times to "check in", you can proactively teach the use of the scale.

Lynette Schultz, White Bear Lake, MN

The following are 3 examples of how a colleague of ours, Tara Tuchel, from Hudson Wisconsin, has used the scale with her students.

The first scale includes a cartoon character next to each number with a talking bubble that the student can fill in with what he might be saying when he is "at a 2". On this scale, the student also fills in the right side by defining the level of his worries.

The next scale is a sweet example of how Tara used the worksheet idea with a young student with Asperger Syndrome.

The third example is how Tara used the anxiety curve with a student with Asperger Syndrome to illustrate his anxiety. Tara started by talking to her student about the curve and showing him how it worked. He was very interested. She explained that they could identify ways to help his body/anxiety level get from a 3 or 4 back down to a 1. He said, "yeah, it's like a road and I'm the car and you want me to go in reverse sometimes". He said, "sometimes I can just put myself in reverse and sometimes it may be icy and I could just slide back to a 1..." The roadway analogy helped to bring in the student's interests and increase his motivation to use the scale.