Some students with ASD have difficulties with sequential processing (i.e., learning the order of events). These difficulties may results in students becoming anxious or overwhelmed in certain situations, which in turn may lead to behaviors issues. In contrast, individuals with ASD often have strengths in visual processing. Capitalizing on their strengths, the use of visual schedules can help the students understand expectations, learn classroom routines, and more importantly, offer predictability to their day, thus reducing the likelihood of negative behaviors.
WHAT IS A VISUAL SCHEDULE?
A visual schedule is a set of pictures that communicates a series of activities or the steps of a specific activity. It shows a student on the autism spectrum what activities will occur, and in what sequence. A schedule can be created using photographs, pictures, written words, physical objects or any combination of these items, depending on the student’s age and level of understanding. You can use pictures in combination with words. You can also include the time for each activity, so that students can get an opportunity to practice telling time and making connections between their printed schedule and the time on the clock.
Visual schedule with pictures and words supports different types of learners.
BENEFITS OF A VISUAL SCHEDULE
A visual schedule is helpful for breaking down a task that has multiple steps to ensure the teaching and compliance of those steps. It is also helpful in decreasing anxiety and rigidity surrounding transitions by communicating when certain activities will occur throughout the day or part of the day. Most visual schedules are introduced and checked with adult guidance that gradually decreases with time. Students should always be actively involved in monitoring their schedule (e.g., peel off completed activities, check off boxes for completed activities, moving the pictures around, or anything that is suitable for the type of schedule you have chosen). It helps during transition time, and it holds students accountable for their behavior, academic work, and expectations.
SPECIAL FACTORS TO CONSIDER BEFORE MAKING A VISUAL SCHEDULE
Some students with ASD are not ready to be presented with a full schedule. It may be necessary to begin small, and have the student practice sequenced activities through the use of First- Then board. Once the student understands the concept of sequenced activities, you can develop a schedule for a series of activities and organize them in the form of a visual schedule. Decide the activities that you will picture in the schedule. Choose activities that will happen in that particular order. Try to mix in preferred activities with non-preferred ones. Consider inserting at least one break in the morning schedule if you have a long stretch of instructional time before lunch or enrichment classes, and another one, in the afternoon, in the form of Sensory Lab activities or class stations. Based on your students cognitive level and reading skills, you will decide what type of visual schedule you’ll create (e.g., photos, drawings, words, actual objects, etc).
The ultimate goal of using a visual schedule is to reduce anxiety and promote independence for our students, and in order to do that, our students need consistency. Therefore, once you decided where you want the schedule to go, you should not move it around. Schedules can be put in notebooks, onto a wall or schedule board, on a lanyard, a bracelet, a computer, or pretty much anything that the student will refer to throughout the day. Based on your students’ needs, the schedule can be portable, for example, on a binder or clipboard, if your students are switching classes, or it can be fixed and set to a permanent place, like a wall, the back of the classroom door or on students’ desks, if your students spend the entire school day in the same room. Regardless of what type you opt to go with, you should keep it in the same spot for easy and quick reference for students throughout the day.
HOW TO INTRODUCE AND USE A VISUAL SCHEDULE
You will begin by (1) showing your students where the schedules are located. Then, (2) you will explain the schedule to your students by pointing out each picture/ object and word. If you have multiple grade levels, or students working on individual schedules, you will have to carve time in your day to explain the schedule to each group of students separately. Next, (3) you will teach your students the procedure for checking the schedule. You will want to be specific as to how to get to the area where the schedule is located, how to check what activity they’ve completed and what comes next. When it is time for an activity on the schedule to occur, say “Check the schedule, please.” This helps students pay attention as the next activity begins. At first, you may need to physically guide students to check the schedule (e.g., gently guide by shoulders and prompt them to point to the next activity on the schedule). You can gradually decrease physical prompts as they begin to use the schedule more independently. When a task is completed, cue the students to check the schedule again, using the procedure described above, and transition to the next activity. Direct students to the area where the next activity will take place (carpet, teacher’s table, cafeteria, etc). If students go out to lunch, recess or classes with their regular ed peers, you may want to go over all the activities that will happen while the student is not in your room. You may want to consider smaller schedules on lanyards for those students who need to be reminded of the sequence of activities/classes more often. Students should be able to check the schedule before beginning the first activity on the schedule. The schedule should continue to be visible to the students during the rest of the activities and throughout the day, and they need to be taught to go back and check often for completion of activities. Provide praise for following the schedule and for transitioning to and completing activities on the schedule. It may be helpful to use a timer that students can hear to make transition times clear to them.
INTERACTIVE VS. STATIC VISUAL SCHEDULES
A visual schedule can be both interactive and static, and here’s how. At the beginning of the year, or when you introduce the schedule to your students, they need more interaction with it in order to learn the sequence of activities. If you use a printed version, you can place it in a sheet protector and have the students check off with a dry erase marker as each activity unfolds. {I have individual schedules for all my students.} At the end of the day, you would simply erase the check marks, and get a fresh start for the next day. As students become familiar with the activities and their sequence becomes routine, you will notice that they won’t be engaging with the schedule as much, and some days will go by with just one or two activities being checked off. That’s when you know that your schedule has become static. It will still be displayed, but your students won’t engage with it anymore. It will be fading. If you use Velcro attached pictures and/or objects, you will probably have the students remove the visual once the activity is completed, and you or your paraprofessional will have to reset it at the of the day.
WHEN THE SCHEDULE CANNOT BE FOLLOWED EXACTLY
ASD students do not like changes in their routines. However, “changes should intentionally be created once in a while to teach students flexibility and increase their ability to deal with unexpected changes” (Luna, M., LASARD). Mix variability into the schedule by introducing a symbol that represents an unknown activity (e.g., “Oops” or “Surprise Activity”). Begin to teach this concept by pairing this with a positive activity or surprise. Gradually use it for unexpected changes in the schedule. By practicing unexpected changes, you will prepare your students for real life situations in which the schedule cannot be followed exactly, and thus reducing the likelihood of negative behaviors.
To help your students cope with schedule changes and to build understanding and resilience, use social stories to introduce and teach the concept of expected and unexpected changes.
