70% of children with autism spectrum disorder have difficulty with transitions and unexpected events. One of the most researched interventions for individuals with autism spectrum disorder is the use of visual schedules. Visual schedules have been found to be an evidence-based intervention for a number of different goals and has wide generalization of skills for use.
The Neurological Basis for Visual Support
Research shows that many children with autism process visual information better than verbal information. This is partly due to how autism affects the brain. The visual cortex is often a child’s strength when it comes to processing information, however the language processing centers in the brain can work differently for every individual with autism. In many cases the language processing centers are not as effective for processing auditory information.
Verbal instructions can require children with autism to hold information in their working memory while they attend to other things in their environment and respond to social cues from others. They can be very difficult for children with autism to follow because information that is held in working memory is subject to many kinds of failure. Visual schedules present information about the schedule to children with autism in a concrete and persistent format. They can use the schedules as much as they need to, without relying on their memory.
Building Predictability Through Structure
Children with autism are often ‘on edge’ and appear to be anxious when there is uncertainty as to what is going to happen next. They become so completely focused on dealing with the transition that their nervous system and attention are not available for learning or for social interactions.
One way to reduce the child’s uncertainty and anxiety in regard to transitions is to set up a schedule. A schedule is a framework of anticipated events that helps the child know what is going to happen next. The child can look at the schedule as often as he or she needs to. The schedule should include all of the events of the day, including the start and end time for each event, and the end of the day. A child with autism has a very often a very rigid need for sameness and can have great problems with changes to his or her routine.
Just as there are many ways that children are able to process information in order to understand abstract information and abstract concepts, there are also many different formats that can be used to create a visual schedule for children with autism. For example, a child may use photographs of real life locations and materials, line drawings or other types of pictures, or written words in order to create a schedule that helps him or her prepare for upcoming events and transitions. A guide to creating autism visual schedule approaches can help parents and other caretakers of children with autism to find the best format for the child in their care.
Implementation Strategies That Work
There are many different approaches and ways of implementation for using visual schedules with the child with autism spectrum disorder. The format of the schedule needs to match the child’s visual processing strengths and learning style. A guide to creating visual support for autism will explain in more detail the different ways of creating a schedule and how to choose the best one for your child.
Different formats of schedules can be used for different children depending on their needs. Those with strong visual systems can use photographs of places and things that will be used during activities. Line drawings of places and activities can also be used. Other children may be able to use written words to complete a schedule while some may need the support of symbols and pictures in reading and completing their own schedule. A detailed guide such as this one on creating autism visual supports for autism to support children with autism such as this one on creating autism visual schedule can provide a step by step guide for parents and teachers to use the best format for individual children.
1. Choose a time and setting to introduce the schedule and give the child time to become familiar with the format. This could take a few days. Try to introduce the schedule at a time of day when the child is calm as they will be less able to cope if they are introduced at the time of day when they are most likely to have a melt-down.
Independence and Progress
Independence- This is the ultimate goal of having children use a visual schedule. Children work towards independence of using the visual schedule by having an adult physically guide them to the schedule or to the activity that corresponds to the schedule.
As the child becomes familiar with the use of the visual schedule the amount of prompting from the adult will decrease. It is rare for children to continue to use visual schedules independently into adulthood. As the child becomes more confident using the schedule the adult will start to go with the child to check the schedule for each activity.
One must track the specific behaviors in which an individual with autism engages after he or she has completed a schedule. This could include the number of transitions that an individual with autism goes through without resisting, how often an individual with autism references a completed schedule on his or her own, and how long transitions take. Measuring these behaviors provides much more reliable information than one’s perceptions of an individual’s performance.
Common Implementation Challenges
The child may perceive the pictures to be ‘infantilizing’ as they grow older. A 6 year old may manage cartoon style pictures but by the time the child is 10 they may not wish to use pictures in a schedule. A teenager may manage to use a schedule in the form of a text based schedule on a smart phone or tablet.
Rigidity: The child is very inflexible with the details of the schedule. For example, they may be very specific about the wording of an activity or step. This can make it difficult for the child when there are changes to the schedule and they want everything to go back to the way it was before. This can be particularly challenging as some changes to schedules are unavoidable. Helping the child to be more flexible with the details of the schedule can be achieved by gradually introducing changes to the schedule that have been planned in advance and that still fit within the overall structure of the schedule.
Even within a single classroom there can be many different visual displays. These can be so complex for the children with simple needs for visual supports to learn and to use as visual schedules.
Long-term Benefits and Skill Generalization
Visual schedules also can teach children to break down tasks into single steps. Also children can learn to think about time and sequences of events and use this skill to do a variety of tasks for a variety of academic subjects. For example a child completing a math word problem may have to do something in a certain order. For example a child completing a science experiment may have to complete a series of steps in order to complete an experiment.
Students who have learned to follow a daily schedule can use that skill in another classroom or school, and can even ask for written schedules in meetings. For example, a student who is at high school and has autism and uses a daily schedule to plan his day, can request and use a similar schedule in another classroom or school. He can also ask for a written schedule when attending a meeting. This is an example of how the skill of following a visual schedule can also aid students in self-advocacy, and in determining what structure and support they need.
A child who has learned to complete daily tasks independently using a visual schedule will be able to complete more complex tasks as they mature. In addition, the child will have developed the self-advocacy skills needed to complete tasks in new environments and to request accommodations when necessary for the child. The positive effects of using visual schedules to complete daily tasks for a child and a family can be far reaching and may have many more positive effects than what is initially noticed by the family.
