Marcus isn't real. Everything else here is: this is the actual shape, depth, and wording of a plan built from one intake. Nothing is held back for the paid version — the free week is the first week of the same curriculum.
Six minutes of tapping on a phone. Every line below came off the intake form — nothing was assumed, diagnosed, or filled in on his behalf.
| Student | Marcus, 8 · 3rd grade · English at home |
|---|---|
| IEP | Active IEP. Category given as autism. Mom is emailing the document. |
| In her words | "He can do the math in his head but writing anything down ends in tears. Reading, he can sound out the words fine — ask him what happened and he's got nothing." |
| Focus, with a screen | 30–45 minutes |
| Focus, without a screen | 5–10 minutes |
| Energy | High — rarely still |
| Hard no's | Being timed or rushedBeing corrected mid-taskHandwriting or long writingLoud or sudden noisePlus: "He's decided Bluey is for babies. Do not put it in front of him." |
| When it's too hard | CriesSays "I'm stupid"Leaves the room |
| What brings him back | Deep pressure — a squeeze, a heavy blanketA few minutes aloneSwitching to something easy he's good at |
| Motivators | Beating his own scoreShowing a finished thing to someoneBeing told exactly what he did wellPlus: "Sending a photo to his uncle, who's a huge Eagles fan." |
| Movement | Short breaks between activities · reinforce OT goals · calming and sensory breaks |
| OT goals (her copy) | Crossing midline · core strength · pencil grip endurance — "his hand gives out after about three words" |
| Physical | "Nothing physical. Small apartment though — no room for running." |
| Sensory | Seeks deep pressure and crashingSensitive to noiseAlways moving in the chairPlus: "He hates anything sticky on his hands." |
| Delivery | Printed hard copies and a laptop · black-and-white printer only |
| Schedule | 2–4 lessons a week · 30 minutes each |
| Subjects | Math, Reading, Writing · lead subject: "you decide" |
| Four-week goal | "I'd like him to write something down without it ending in tears. Even one sentence. And to be able to tell me what he read." |
| Interests | Football — watches games, follows stats, Philadelphia Eagles, Saquon Barkley · LEGO — City and Ninjago, builds giant towers with working elevators · Sharks and ocean animals |
| Talks about constantly | "Which Eagles player has the most rushing yards. He recites it at dinner." |
| Anything else | "He's reading at about a 2nd grade level. Math he's ahead — doing 4th grade multiplication in his head, but he can't show his work." |
This is the part worth reading closely. A generic worksheet with football clip-art on it is not what you're looking at.
| She said | So the plan does this |
|---|---|
| 5–10 minutes without a screen | Every working block is five minutes — the bottom of her range, not the middle, and never averaged with the 30–45 screen number. A 30-minute lesson is five short blocks with movement between them, not one 30-minute sit. If he's still going at five minutes, you let him finish. The ceiling protects him; it doesn't cut him off. |
| Focuses 30–45 min with a screen | Almost none of this happens on a screen. Her goal is written work and retelling — both of which live off-screen — so the laptop carries the instructions and the read-aloud button, and the work itself happens on paper. Building 40-minute screen stamina would look like progress and teach the wrong thing. |
| Writing ends in tears | Writing gets the gentlest entry on the form. Lesson 1 he writes three numbers. Not words — numbers, onto a stat card. Lesson 2, three single words. Lesson 3, four labels. He does not write a sentence he composed himself until Lesson 8, by which point he has seven sessions of finished work behind him. |
| Hand gives out after ~3 words | No writing task in the opening week exceeds four written items. This is a stamina limit, not a motivation problem, and pushing past it is what produces the tears. |
| Ahead in math, behind in reading | They move independently. Math runs at 4th grade — two-step problems, real multiplication. Reading runs at 2nd grade text with 3rd grade thinking questions. Same lesson, two different levels, and neither one waits for the other. |
| "Can't show his work" | Early math, he says the answer and you write it. Showing work is a writing task wearing a math costume, and stacking it onto the subject he's strongest in would poison the one thing that's currently going well. |
| Hates sticky hands | No shaving cream letters. No salt tray. No finger paint. No glue-line tracing. These are the standard multisensory tricks for exactly his profile, and every one of them is off the table. Letter formation happens in the air, on a window with a dry-erase marker, and in LEGO bricks. |
| Being timed is a hard no — but he loves beating his own score | These two collide, so score never means speed. He counts how many he got, never how fast. A timer appears in this plan exactly once: as a silent visual countdown on a movement break, never on a task. |
| Sensitive to noise | Any timer is set to visible-only. No buzzer, no alarm, no phone chime at the end of a block. |
| Being corrected mid-task | Every parent script says the same thing: while he is writing, you say nothing. No spelling fixes, no grip reminders, no "careful." Feedback comes after, and it names one specific thing he did well. |
| High energy, small apartment | Movement comes before the demanding block, not as a reward after it. Every break is standing, floor, or wall — nothing needs a hallway, a yard, or more than a rug's worth of space. |
| OT: midline, core, grip | Every break does double duty. Bear crawls are core. Cross-crawls and the windmill cross midline. Wall pushes and chair push-ups are the deep pressure he seeks, delivered before he needs it rather than after he's lost it. |
| Cries, says "I'm stupid," leaves the room | There is a written stop rule in every lesson, and it triggers on the first of those signs, not the third. What you do next is her own answer: squeeze, a few minutes alone, or switch to something easy. I'm not inventing a de-escalation method for a kid whose mother already told me hers. |
| Eagles, Saquon, rushing yards | The math is a stat sheet. The reading is a football passage. The writing is a scouting report. Zero generic items in the opening week. |
| LEGO towers with working elevators | Bricks are a manipulative, not a reward. Arrays get built in bricks before they're written as numbers. |
| Bluey is for babies | Nowhere in this plan. An eight-year-old who says a show is babyish is telling you where his line is, and crossing it costs you the session. |
| Photo to his uncle | The month is built to end in something worth photographing — a finished scouting report in his own handwriting. That's the motivator she named, so it's the destination. |
| Black-and-white printer | Every page prints legibly with no colour. No "shade the blue boxes." Nothing depends on a colour you don't have. |
Two minutes of setup, once, for the whole week.
Paper, a pencil, about ten index cards (or paper cut into quarters), painter's tape or masking tape, a bin or laundry basket, a soft ball or rolled-up socks, and his LEGO. That's the whole list. Nothing to buy, print in colour, laminate, or assemble.
If you don't have index cards, cut a sheet of paper into eight pieces. If you don't have a soft ball, rolled socks work better anyway — quieter, and they don't roll away.
Print page 2 three times, or copy it by hand onto three index cards. It's four lines and takes a minute. He'll use one per lesson.
Three lessons, 30 minutes each. Run them on any three days — they're built in order, so don't skip ahead, but there's no wrong day of the week to do one.
Math at 4th grade · reading at 2nd grade text · writing = three numbers, and that is all
This comes first, before anything hard. He's high energy and he seeks pressure — giving it to him up front means he isn't hunting for it in the middle of the math.
Done when: he's a little out of breath and has stopped bouncing.
He does this in his head. You write the numbers down, not him. He's ahead in math and it's the one subject that isn't costing him anything right now — adding a writing job to it is how you lose that.
Done when: he's answered four. If he wants the fifth, let him. If he's flying, keep going past five minutes — the ceiling is there to stop you pushing, not to stop him running.
Done when: twenty. Count them out loud together.
He reads this out loud to you, or you read it to him — either is fine, and neither one is cheating. If you're on the laptop, the Read this aloud button below will read it while he follows along.
It was fourth down. One yard to go.
The crowd stood up. Marcus could not hear the man next to him. The players lined up close together, like a wall.
The ball was snapped. Number 26 ran left. Then he stopped. He turned and ran right instead.
Two men grabbed his shirt. He kept his legs moving. He fell forward, over the line.
First down.
Then ask these three, in this order. He answers out loud. He writes nothing here.
Done when: he's answered all three, in any words at all.
This one is deliberately placed right before the writing block. Deep pressure through the arms and shoulders first makes the next five minutes go better.
Done when: five lifts.
Here is the entire writing task for Lesson 1: he writes three numbers. That's it. Not words. Not a sentence. Three numbers, onto the stat card.
This will look like far too little. It isn't. His hand gives out after about three words, and every session that has ended in tears has ended in a writing block. We are building a track record first.
Done when: three numbers are on the card. Even if one is backwards.
Bin or laundry basket about six feet away. Socks or a soft ball. He throws until he's made five.
Not timed. He counts makes, not seconds. Being rushed is a hard no; beating his own score is a motivator. Those two only coexist if score never means speed.
Done when: five makes. Write the number of throws it took on the tracking sheet — that's his score to beat next time.
Ends on his strongest subject, in his favourite material, with nothing to write. The last five minutes of a session are what he remembers about it.
Done when: he's built one array and checked it.
Name the writing specifically. He's expecting writing to be the bad part of the day. The fastest way to change that is to have it be over before he braced for it.
Math steps up to two-step problems · reading adds one inference · writing = three single words
Done when: ten and ten.
Math moves up today. Reading and writing hold where they are. Subjects don't move together.
Still in his head, still you writing.
Done when: three of the four. The fourth is a stretch problem and it's fine to miss.
Bear crawl to a wall, touch it, crawl back. Three round trips. In a small apartment, a doorway to a doorway is plenty.
Done when: three trips.
The team had a problem. Their best runner was hurt.
On Monday, they made a trade. They sent two players away. They got back one player named Ray.
Ray was fast, but he was new. He did not know the plays yet. In practice, he ran the wrong way twice.
On Sunday, Ray ran for 90 yards. After the game, the coach smiled and shook his hand.
Done when: three answers out loud. Same rule as Lesson 1 — if he blanks, re-read the paragraph, then ask.
He writes three letters in the air with his whole arm, big as he can — shoulder moving, not just wrist. R, A, Y. Three times each.
This is letter formation practice that costs his hand nothing, and it's the reason there's no shaving cream or salt tray anywhere in this plan.
Done when: nine big letters in the air.
Lesson 1 was numbers. Today it's three single words — three player last names on a depth chart. Short ones. Still no sentence, still nothing composed.
Done when: three names on the chart.
Five makes again. Tell him last lesson's throw count before he starts — he's beating his own number, not a clock.
Done when: five makes. Log the count.
There's more than one right answer — 6×4, 4×6, 8×3, 12×2. Let him find one, then ask if there's another way. That's factoring, and he's doing it in his hands.
Done when: one tower, built to 24, and he can tell you the two numbers.
Math holds · reading steps up to retelling · writing = four labels
Put a six-foot line of painter's tape on the floor. It stays there for the rest of the month, so this is a one-time job.
Done when: three passes.
Math holds today rather than stepping up, because reading and writing are both moving. Everything doesn't climb at once.
Done when: he's tracked four plays and can say where he is.
Twenty, slow, same as Lesson 1.
Done when: twenty.
This is the step up her goal asked for: not answering questions about the story, but telling it back.
The shark did not chase the fish. It waited.
It stayed low, near the sand, where its grey back was hard to see. A school of small fish swam over it. The shark did not move.
Then one fish dropped down, away from the others. It was alone.
The shark came up fast. It was over in a second.
The other fish swam on. They never knew.
Done when: he's moved the objects through the whole story, in order, with any words at all.
Dry-erase marker on a window or a mirror, standing up. Writing on a vertical surface puts his wrist in the right position on its own, and it wipes off with a dry cloth.
He writes: SHARK. FAST. SAND. Big.
Done when: three words on the glass.
Numbers, then names, now four labels on a drawing. Still single words. Still nothing he has to compose.
Done when: four labels on the drawing.
Five makes. His count to beat is on the tracking sheet.
Done when: five makes.
Last block of the week is his. Offer exactly these three — an open choice is harder than a closed one:
Done when: five minutes are up, on whatever he picked.
That's the motivator she named, and it's the first thing worth photographing. It won't be the last.
Every break in this plan, what it's actually for, and a seated version of each. All of it fits in an apartment.
| Break | OT goal it serves | If space or standing is a problem |
|---|---|---|
| Wall pushes | Deep pressure through shoulders; core | Press palms together hard in front of the chest, hold to five, ten times |
| Bear crawl | Core strength; shoulder stability; heavy work | Seated, hands on knees, push down hard and hold to five |
| Chair push-ups | Deep pressure; core — placed before writing | Already seated |
| Cross-crawl | Crossing midline | Seated: right hand to left knee, left hand to right knee |
| Windmill | Crossing midline; trunk rotation | Seated: reach right hand across to the left arm of the chair |
| Tape line walk | Midline; balance; core | Seated: trace a taped line on the table with alternating hands |
| Basket throws | Regulation reset; the motivator that isn't a clock | Underhand toss from the chair, bin at his feet |
| Air letters | Letter formation with no load on the hand | Already seated — use the whole arm |
| Window letters | Grip and wrist position, vertical surface | Tape paper to the wall beside the chair at eye height |
Nine boxes. Fill it in as you go, or right after — not later that night from memory.
| Lesson 1 | Lesson 2 | Lesson 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Date | |||
| Did we finish it? | |||
| Math — easy / right / hard | |||
| Reading — easy / right / hard | |||
| Writing — easy / right / hard | |||
| Throws to five makes | |||
| Did the stop rule trigger? Which block? | |||
| Anything he said about it |
Things I didn't know, what I did instead, and what your answer would change. I don't guess and then stay quiet about it.
You said you'd email it. Until it does, I have not written a single IEP goal into this plan, because I don't know what's in it and I won't invent one. Everything here is built from what you typed. When it arrives, the movement breaks get pointed at the actual OT goals as they're worded, and any reading or writing goals get folded into the ramp. Nothing in this plan is a replacement for the services or therapy he gets at school.
You said 2nd grade level, but not whether he'll pick up a page and go. I've written it so either works — every passage can be read by him or to him, and the laptop version has a read-aloud button. If he reads independently, Week 2 gets longer passages. If he doesn't, the comprehension work moves fully to listening and the decoding gets its own short block.
It changes where the ramp steepens. If it's a measured endurance limit, I hold the ceiling exactly where it is and let the sessions do the work. If it's what you notice when he's already frustrated, then it may be about the task rather than his hand — and the ceiling can come up faster than I've drawn it.
You listed it as one of the three things that bring him back. If there's a specific spot, I'll write it into the stop rule by name so it's automatic rather than something you have to decide in the moment.
You said black-and-white printer only, so every page in this plan and every page in the month ahead prints legibly with no colour. No task ever asks him to find the blue box.
The free week is the opening of a four-week arc, not a standalone sample. Here's the rest of the shape.
| Week | Math | Reading | Writing — the ramp |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 (this one) | 4th grade, in his head, you write | Answer questions out loud | Numbers → names → labels |
| 2 | He starts writing one step of his working | Retell without objects | 3-word answers → a phrase |
| 3 | Two-step problems, written | Why-questions and prediction | Lesson 8: his first full sentence, unaided |
| 4 | He explains his method out loud | Three-sentence summary of a passage | A finished scouting report, in his handwriting |
Lesson 8 is the day the ramp steepens, and it's marked in the plan so you can see it coming. By then he'll have written in seven straight sessions with nothing going wrong. The sentence isn't the hard part by then — the track record is what makes it possible, and that's the whole reason Week 1 looks as gentle as it does.
Same student, same intake. This is everything a family receives.
Your opening week is free and it's yours to keep — print it, run it, see what your kid does with it. You'll get your price when it arrives. There's no card to enter and nothing is owed.
Start with the intake form →