Running head: HOW VISUAL SCHEDULES HELP STUDENTS WITH AUTISM 1

How Visual Schedules Help Students with Autism

Bri Leas

Franciscan University of Steubenville

EDU 348
HOW VISUAL SCHEDULES HELP STUDENTS WITH AUTISM 2

Visual Schedules

Teachers have a lot to focus on in the classroom. In special education classrooms and

classrooms with inclusion, there are many more challenges teachers have to work around.

Transitioning can be especially difficult for students who have Autism Spectrum Disorders

(ASD). Bryan and Gast (2000) state: “Autism is a developmental disability that is characterized

by dependence on adults for staying on-task, completing activities, and transitioning between

activities.” These children can be seen as inconsistent, manipulative, oppositional, distractible,

and unfocused during classroom activities (Bryan & Gast, 2000). According to Dawson and

Guare, (2010) children with ASD also have difficulty with socialization and independent living.

This involves the uncertainties of transitioning and changes in the schedule which can be

overwhelming. Spriggs, Knight, and Sherrow (2015) state that it is necessary for students with a

disability to learn skills of independence to have full success in the classroom and community.

Visual activity schedules (VAS) are a great way to help students plan out their day and know

exactly what they are supposed to do and when. This allows the students to grow in their

independence. VAS can be used to explain a change in the schedule in advance (Dawson &

Guare, 2010). These schedules can take a lot of stress off the teacher and the students. VAS can

improve a student's transition behaviors, communication skills, daily living skills, academics,

and inappropriate behavior (Banda, Grimmett, Hart, 2009).

Definition of Activity Schedule

Visual activity schedules are a series of images, pictures, or line drawings that are used to

show a series of events. The purpose of VAS is to visually prepare a student for the next activity

or the next step in the activity (Bryan & Gast, 2000). VAS can be presented in many ways. It

can be in a three-ring binder with a picture of one activity or step on each page. It can also be
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presented in a PowerPoint or in video form. VAS are often combined with gradual guidance and

variable interval schedules of reinforcement, which involves a student being rewarded after an

average number of intervals. VAS teach a variety of skills, such as transition behaviors and on-

task behaviors. It is used commonly with students with ASD to reduce problem behaviors,

decrease latency when starting new activities, and decrease tantrums while transitioning. It can

also be used to increase, maintain, and generalize social skills. These supports can help reduce

the dependence on adults. They can also replace verbal instructions for students who have

auditory deficiencies (Banda et al, 2009). Visual supports include a visually-enhanced physical

environment, organization of materials, instructions that include images and graphic organizers,

and instructional techniques (Knight, Sartini, Spriggs, 2015).

Implementing VAS into the classroom is not a difficult process. They are simple to make.

It would be beneficial to create one for the schedule and post it in the classroom. This way, all

students benefit from it. There should also be individualized schedules for the students with a

targeted behavior. These will be kept with the student for them to use to monitor their tasks and

behaviors. It is important to teach the students how to use the schedules before implementing

them into the classroom. If the student does not understand what they are or how to use them, it

may cause more stress for that student. If there will be a change in the schedule or activity, the

teacher should review this change in advance with the student, so they know what to expect.
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Figure 2

Figure 1
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Figure 1 refers to an example of a VAS. This image has short and clear directions for

each step with an exact time. It also includes an image to represent each step, and it includes a

checklist to allow students to monitor their own schedule to promote independence. Figure 2

refers to a non-example of a VAS. This schedule would be very overwhelming for students with

autism because it does not have clear instructions and it is very cluttered. There are no images

involved to help the students understand what is expected of them. This schedule would not help

students with ASD transition or complete an activity being that the images are the most

important part of a VAS.

Transition Improvement from Visual Activity Schedules

Students with ASD tend to have auditory deficiencies. This puts these students at a

disadvantage in the classroom because most instruction and communication are done verbally.

This can cause confusion and frustration during transitions which can result in verbal and

physical aggression, and noncompliance. Visual cues can help increase activity involvement and

decrease poor behavior. VAS are a non-intrusive prompt that can help students who have ASD

with transitioning from one activity to another or show the steps within an activity. This can also

allow students to be more independent in the classroom (Knight et al, 2015). VAS provide

predictability throughout the day, which alleviates the stress on the student while transitioning. It

also allows the students to anticipate any changes to the schedule in advance, so it is not

overwhelming. As a teacher, it is important to take these changes into consideration well in

advance when possible. This will allow the student to have enough time to process the upcoming

change. The teacher should also explain in detail what the change is and when it will take place.

According to Ulke-Kurkcuoglu, Bozkurt & Cuhadar, (2015) activity schedules increase

children with ASD's leisure time skills, daily life skills, on-schedule skills, and play skills. By
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increasing these skills, VAS also increase the students' social interactions, engagement in

activities, and decrease problem behaviors. According to Knight et al (2015), VAS is an

evidence-based practice that are used to teach on-task, on-schedule, and independent

transitioning skills; improve latency, and decrease prompts needed for transitions. These

schedules promote inclusion. They can easily be implemented into a general education

classroom schedule, so the student can actively participate in the lessons (Banda et al, 2009).

Decreasing anxiety by being able to predict what will be going on throughout the day will also

increase students’ active participation in activities. The schedules can also be generalized and

incorporated into the students’ homes and the community. Using these schedules in multiple

environments will allow the students to increase their independence in the classroom and their

daily lives.

Benefits of Using Technology to Incorporate Visual Schedules

Technology has been widely incorporated into today’s classroom. This added tool can

also be used to enhance VAS. According to Ulke-Kurkcuoglu et al (2015), computer-assisted

instruction can be used for acquisition, maintenance, and generalization of skills in students with

ASD. The study done in this article involved using images in a PowerPoint to teach skills,

maintain them, and generalize them. The results showed that the Visuals presented in the form of

technology did improve the skills in all three areas. This can be applied to schedules as well.

The students can learn a schedule through the PowerPoint, they can then transfer the PowerPoint

to a handout to maintain the schedule, and the schedule can be generalized to other parts of the

school day. Learning how to use this technology can also give students additional skills that they

can apply to their education.

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Video modeling (VM) can be added to VAS to improve behavior. VAS are important

because they can help students complete activities independently in the classroom. They give

clear instructions and expectations for the student, provide structured teaching, and decrease the

need for external prompting. VM can be added on to VAS to teach functional, social, and

communication skills to students with ASD. VM teaches social skills by having the students

watch a video that models the desired behavior. The students then imitate the behavior they

observed in the video. VM can increase appropriate behavior without the teacher having to give

a prompt. This allows the students to learn beneficial skills independently. Students who use

VM show a higher rate of acquisition and generalization of skills they learn. VM can also act as

its own reinforcement for students who have ASD. Using technology in the classroom may act

as a reward or reinforcer for the students. Using portable devices such as iPads, iPods, and

tablets are beneficial because they are interesting, discrete, and can be modified for age groups.

They are also socially acceptable and readily available. Students can use these devices to

monitor a calendar, type notes for communication, make and watch videos and much more.

They can have their own daily schedules on the portable device that can easily be changed when

needed (Spriggs, Knight & Sherrow, 2015). Since most students enjoy using technology in the

classroom, they will have more motivation to stay on task, transition properly, and learn new

skills while using these devices.

Implications for Practice

Visual activity schedules prove to show great advances in the classroom. Since VAS are

an evidence-based practice, they are highly recommended to use in the classroom. They can be

used to teach, improve, maintain, and generalize many skills and behaviors. They can also be

used over a wide range of environments including the general education classroom, at home, and
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even out in the community. They can also be implemented across the full spectrum of ASD and

to all grade levels. They can also be given in many forms depending on the individual needs of

the student (Knight et al, 2015). Another reason they are a great resource is that they can be

made to meet the individual needs of each student to promote inclusion (Banda et al, 2009).

These schedules do not have to be used only for students with special needs. They can be put in

the classroom for all students which can improve classroom management as a whole.

According to Banda et al (2009), there are twelve steps to build and implement an

activity schedule. The first step is to identify and define target transitioning behaviors. This

involves collaborating with parents and other teachers to identify where the student struggles.

The second step is collecting baseline data on the targeted behavior. This allows the teacher to

know an average frequency or duration that the behavior occurs. The third step is choosing a

between-activity or within-activity schedule. A between-activity schedule shows each activity in

the day in order and may incorporate the time of the activity. A within-activity schedule shows

the steps of an individual task or activity. The fourth step is to choose a mode of presentation.

This is how the visual schedule will be presented. The schedule could be a simple drawing in a

notebook, Velcro pieces, or even in a form of technology. As students get older and more

independent, they can even create their own visual schedules. The fifth step is to choose a

medium for the activity schedule. This includes what the pictures will look like on the visual

schedule. They can be line drawings, photos, or even small objects. The type of picture used

will depend on the individual needs of each child. The sixth step is the location of the schedule.

The placement should be somewhere familiar to the child and easy to see. The seventh step is to

train the student how to use the activity schedule. This is one of the most important steps. As

the student is learning how to follow the schedule, it is helpful to give prompts to the students
HOW VISUAL SCHEDULES HELP STUDENTS WITH AUTISM 9

and reinforce when they complete a step. The eighth step is collecting intervention data. This

data will help determine if the intervention is working for the student or if it needs to be adapted.

The student should start to use the schedule more independently. The ninth step is to add new

pictures or words. Once the student understands how to use the activity schedule, the teacher can

add more images to cover a longer period of the day or a new activity. The tenth step is to fade

the prompts. As the student becomes more independent, the teacher should begin to fade the

prompts. As the prompts are gradually reduced, the student should begin to complete the activity

schedule without prompts. The eleventh step is to fade the prominence of the activity schedule.

This step allows the activity schedule to be socially and age appropriate. This can be done by

moving the schedule from the wall into the student’s folder or changing the Velcro to pictures. It

can also be beneficial as the child becomes more independent to add more emphasis on the

words in the schedule. The child will be in charge of monitoring his or her own steps as they

complete them. The schedules can be adapted to the child’s needs as he or she develop. The last

step is to promote generalization across activities and settings. The students will be able to use

the schedule for all of their transitions during the day. Some steps may have to be added for

different settings. The activity schedules should also be able to be adapted across subject areas.

Future Directions for Research

Since technology is used more prominent in today's classroom, more research needs to be

done to determine if VAS can be more beneficial presented using technology. Allowing the

students to use technology with their VAS can also teach them how to use the devices and

possibly create their own schedules. This will give them important skills they could use in the

future such as in possible fields of work or higher education. It would also be beneficial to do

more research on how to fade the visual schedules. Fading is incorporated into the steps of
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implementing visual schedules, but the process of fading can look different for each student. It

could be very difficult to remove the schedules for some students. It could cause the students to

regress. Further research on strategies for fading would give teachers strategies to try if fading

does not work as smoothly for their students. Different strategies can also be used to meet the

individual needs of students. It also needs to be taken into consideration that some students may

not be able to work at their full potential without the visual schedules. In this case, fading would

not be used. Future research may also include studying if there is a certain age group that VAS

work best with to improve behavior.

Conclusion

Based on the research, visual activity schedules show to be a great strategy to help

students who have ASD learn new skills and decrease problem behaviors, especially during

transitions. They are an evidence-based practice, so they show to be a great tool to use in the

classroom. This strategy improves transitioning skills, social skills, functional skills,

communication skills, and much more. VAS can be incorporated into technology which may act

as an additional reinforcement for students. Using VAS can allow students to become more

independent. These schedules allow students to monitor their own behavior and take control of

their learning. Since the schedules are non-intrusive, they can easily be implemented into the

general education classroom which will promote inclusion.

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Bibliography

Banda, D., Grimmett, E., & Hart, S. (2009). Activity schedules: Helping students with autism

spectrum disorders in general education classrooms manage transition issues. Teaching

Exceptional Children, 41(4).

Bryan, L., & Gast, D. (2000). Teaching on-task and on-schedule behaviors to high-functioning

children with autism via picture activity schedules. Journal of Autism and Developmental

Disorders, 30(6).

Dawson, P., & Guare, R. (2010). Executive skills in children and adolescents: A practical guide

to assessment and intervention (2nd ed.). NewYork, NY: The Guilford Press.
HOW VISUAL SCHEDULES HELP STUDENTS WITH AUTISM 12

Knight, V., Sartini, E., & Spriggs, A. (2015). Evaluating visual activity schedules as evidence-

based practice for individuals with autism spectrum disorder. J Autism Dev Disord, 45.

Spriggs, A., Knight, V., & Sherrow, L. (2015). Talking picture schedules: Embedding video

models into visual activity schedules to increase independence for students with ASD. J

Autism Dev Discord, 45.

Ulke-Kurkcuoglu, B., Bozkurt, F., & Cuhadar, S. (2015). Effectiveness of instruction performed

through computer-assisted activity schedules on on-schedule and role-play skills of

children with autism spectrum disorder. Educational Sciences: Theory & Practice, 15(3).