Autism Behavioral Tracking Tool (Birdhouse)

If your child has autism, you probably know the all too well the roller coaster ride it can feel like.  The ups and downs, good and bad days, accomplishments and disappointments.  Many parents feel a loss of control and predictability regarding their child’s mood and behaviors, never fully knowing what is influencing their “good” and “bad” moments.

Fortunately, you don’t have to feel helpless in wondering if your child will have a “good” day each morning.  There is a tool to help you gain some control and make meaning out of the daily routines that are affecting your child’s behaviors.  This tool is called the Birdhouse App and Birdhouse website.

What is Birdhouse?

Birdhouse is a tracking tool designed to help families of individuals with special needs start to make sense of their behaviors by looking at the whole picture of the person.  Getting the full picture is very important because every aspect of life can affect mood and behaviors in some way, either positively or negatively.

Birdhouse decreases the guesswork out of “good” or “bad” behaviors by keeping track of all the the important factors that cause changes in behaviors and mood.  For example, major influences like sleep, nutrition (including gluten and dairy tracking), medication,  activities, big events, mood, etc… get tracked and recorded in order for parents/teachers/caregivers to clearly see the events leading up to the behaviors.

After tracking areas (for however long of a time frame you select ), the Lite version will create a spreadsheet listing of all the information you recorded. This document will keep your data more organized and centrally located instead jotting down notes on scrap paper or  trying to remember it all.  Gone are the days of sticky notes laying all around your home and trying to remember if your child slept through the night last week.

The Premium version takes your tracking a step further by allowing you to create graphs and reports plotting information to compare trends.  For example, if you tracked your child’s gluten intake and behavioral outbursts, you could compare the two factors together to see if a pattern exists.  The conclusions that you draw from the graphs could be pieces of the puzzle that can help you identify those factors that may be heavily impacting behaviors and mood.

How much time will it take to track?

You are in control of how much time you want to invest in this program. You can fill out as much or as little information as you have the time and energy for.  However, the more you record, the greater chance you will begin to see patterns in behaviors and possible cause-effect relationships.  So think of it as an investment in your time to help your child.

What services does Birdhouse provide?

The folks at Birdhouse truly want to help the community of people who have special needs and those who care for them.  That’s why they offer a free version of the tool, plus a whole lot of extras too:

• A great informational blog with great articles and tips for helping individuals with various special needs
• Users get to submit questions here if they need technical support or are looking for resources.  The reps from Birdhouse will quickly reply directly back to you via email (I received a reply back within 5 minutes after submitting my question)
• Birdhouse also has specialized apps and website tracking for individuals with:
  • Autism
  • Special Needs
  • Epilepsy
  • Seniors
  • Families
  • Teachers and Therapists- Teachers and therapists now have the ability to track information about the child to maintain good communication between school and home

You’re not a “tech” person? No problem!

The designers at Birdhouse have made both the app and the website version very easy to understand and use.  The app and website have a simplistic feel, almost as if you are just writing the information down on paper.   At the same time however, its a smart program that prompts you to think about tracking various areas, some of which you may not have realized were important.  The app is compatible with iphones and Androids and the website is accessible to anyone on the internet.

Pricing 

Birdhouse Lite-  Absolutely FREE! Included with this version are the following:

• Free tracking capability all of the influences and events of your child’s day (i.e. sleep patterns, nutrition, behavioral meltdowns, successes, etc…)
• Free download of the app and access to the website
• Free access to all Birdhouse blog with lots of great informational articles
• Free access to customer support via email

Birdhouse Premium- $8/month (For annual registration) or  $9.99/month (For month-to-month option).  Included with the premium version, you get all of the aspects of Lite
PLUS:

• Capability to share the notes with anyone else involved with your child or family member (i.e. teachers, therapists, doctors, baby sitters, etc..)
• Chart trends and progress into graphs to help you discover relationships between influences and behaviors
• Unrestricted access to the information on the website and app
• Ability to customize Birdhouse to meet your family’s individual needs

Kids Play Smarter is proud to partner up with Birdhouse for this sponsored post.  Not only is this a great tool, but because Birdhouse is offering a free version and many extras free of cost, it shows that they care about families.  So, go try it out because gaining knowledge allows you to gain some control and peace of mind.