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ALPIMS Tools

Things that may help

Practical tools for everyday life, changing capacity, regulation, sensory needs, tasks, communication, support, sleep and more.

You don’t need to use everything. Open the section that seems most useful today and choose one place to start.

Need Something Quickly?

Start with what is happening now

If you don’t have the energy to browse through the whole toolbox, these are useful starting points.

Something feels off Use a quick check-in to look at body needs, capacity, load and what may help. Everything feels too hard Look for a small change that could reduce a disproportionate amount of load. Lots of things overlap Bring needs, capacity, pressures and supports together in one Support Map.

Browse the Toolbox

What would you like help with?

Open one section at a time. Each section brings together related ALPIMS tools.

Check-ins & Working Out What You Need

Start here when something feels wrong but you aren’t sure what is contributing.

Check-ins can help you pause before assuming the problem is motivation, behaviour or emotion. Look at physical needs, capacity, sensory load, accumulated demands and what kind of support might fit.

Daily Check-ins → A collection of quick prompts for working out what may need attention. Could Your Body Need Something? → Check basic physical needs and symptoms before looking for more complicated explanations. How Do You Feel? → Start with your current experience and find a possible next direction. ALPIMS Q & A → A useful starting point when you aren’t sure where something fits.

Energy, Capacity & Recovery

Work with what is realistically available rather than only what needs to be done.

Capacity can change from day to day and even hour to hour. These tools help with activity cost, pacing, competing demands, recovery and deciding what is realistic.

Managing Energy & Capacity → Explore changing capacity, activity cost and ways to protect what is available. Small Changes, Big Relief → Look for smaller changes that may reduce a large amount of everyday load.

Recovery Planner Coming soon

Functional Capacity Tools Coming soon

Regulation, Overload & Recovery

Reduce load, understand activation and find ways back toward a more workable state.

Regulation is not about forcing yourself to feel calm. It can include reducing demands, changing the environment, increasing safety, resting, co-regulating or giving your system time to recover.

Regulation & Recovery → Explore overload, activation, shutdown, regulation and recovery. Reduce the Load → Find practical changes that may make the situation easier before asking for more coping. Look & Unwind → Step away from problem-solving and choose something gentle and low demand.

Tasks, Planning & Executive Function

Make starting, organising, remembering and completing things easier.

A difficult task may contain too many steps, decisions, transitions or hidden demands. These tools focus on changing the task rather than simply trying harder.

Tasks, Planning & Executive Function → Break tasks down, reduce decisions and use external structure where it helps. Make It Easier → Look for unnecessary steps, friction and places where support could reduce effort.

Planning Tools Coming soon

Executive Function Quick Guides Coming soon

Sensory Needs & Environment

Reduce unnecessary sensory and environmental load.

Sometimes the environment is using capacity before the person has even begun the task. Look at noise, light, smell, touch, temperature, visual demand and accessibility.

Sensory Support → Explore ways to recognise and reduce difficult sensory input. Environment → Look at surroundings, accessibility and practical environmental changes. Devices → Explore equipment and devices that may reduce everyday demands. Small Changes, Big Relief → Find relatively simple environmental changes that may have a larger effect.

Communication & Relationships

Make needs, expectations and difficult conversations clearer and more manageable.

Communication becomes harder when people are overloaded, tired, frightened or working from different assumptions. ALPIMS tools can help make the message smaller and clearer.

Communication Tools Coming soon

Relationship Tools Coming soon

DBT Skills → Explore practical skills for emotion, communication and relationships. DBT & Neurodivergence → Adapt DBT skills for different processing, sensory and communication needs.

Support, Planning & Sharing the Load

Work out what kind of support is needed and how much help fits the situation.

Good support does not automatically mean taking everything over. It can mean reducing one difficult step, providing structure, sharing responsibility or changing what is expected.

Build Your Support Map → Bring needs, capacity, pressures, strengths and supports together in one place. Supports That Help Across Domains → Explore supports that may help across more than one area of difficulty.

Using Support Coming soon

Support Without Taking Over Coming soon

DBT Skills

Practical skills for difficult moments, emotions, communication and relationships.

DBT can be useful when a skill is actually what the situation needs. ALPIMS also encourages checking body needs, capacity, sensory load and practical problems before assuming everything needs emotional regulation.

DBT Skills Hub → Find the DBT skill area that may fit what is happening right now. DBT Tools → Practical DBT prompts, skills and everyday tools. DBT & Neurodivergence → Explore how skills may need adapting for neurodivergence and changing capacity.

Individual DBT Skill Guides Coming soon

Sleep

Tools for sleep, difficult nights and making the sleep environment more workable.

Sleep can interact with pain, sensory needs, symptoms, regulation, routines and daytime capacity. Start with the part of sleep that is actually difficult.

Sleep Tools → Explore the ALPIMS collection of practical sleep tools. Sleep Environment → Consider noise, light, temperature and other environmental contributors.

Everyday Life

Make meals, personal care, household tasks and participation more manageable.

Everyday activities can become surprisingly demanding when fatigue, symptoms, executive function and sensory needs overlap. The aim is to find a workable way of doing what matters.

Daily Living Tools Coming soon

Life Skills Coming soon

Devices → Find equipment that may reduce the physical or practical cost of everyday activities. Small Changes, Big Relief → Look for easier ways to reduce friction in everyday routines.

Downloads, Planners & Things to Keep

Printable and reusable tools you can return to.

Sometimes it is easier to use something already prepared than to remember what to do from scratch.

Downloads → Browse printable and reusable ALPIMS resources. Support Map → Create a clearer picture of needs, pressures and useful supports.

Planners Coming soon

Quick Reference Cards Coming soon

Food, Nutrition & Recipes

Make eating and meal preparation more manageable when needs and capacity vary.

Food can involve nutrition, symptoms, sensory needs, restrictions, executive function and the practical work involved in preparing something to eat.

Diet & Nutrition → Explore nutrition and dietary considerations within the wider ALPIMS picture. Recipe Hub → Browse recipes including options for lower-capacity days and different dietary needs.

Not Sure?

You don’t need to know which tool you need

When several things overlap, choosing the right category can become another task. Start with what is happening now, use a quick check-in, or build a Support Map if the picture is more complicated.

Start with ALPIMS Q & A → Try a Check-in → Build a Support Map → Explore the ALPIMS Domains →

A Small Reminder

You don’t need to use every tool

A useful tool is one that fits the person, the situation and the capacity available right now. Sometimes the most helpful step is not adding another strategy — it is reducing a demand, getting support, resting or making something easier.

Back to ALPIMS Directory →