The ABA & OT Podcast #12: Promoting Independence Using Visual Schedules

One of the most effective ways to teach kids with limited skills is with activity schedules. These can be checklists or simple visual stimuli that allow kids to match activities to tasks that need completing.

Recent studies reinforce its effectiveness and Mandy and Aditi's own personal experiences provide you with actionable tips that you can apply to your own clients. Activity schedules are flexible and you can program them based on the skill levels of your students with high rates of reinforcement.

HIGHLIGHTS

02:18 Shoutout to Bethan Mair Williams

04:40 Activity schedules promote independence at home

12:47 Instructional control allows effective application of activity schedules

22:11 Activity schedules: Examples that work

28:39 Reinforcement and difficulties in scheduling activities 

38:00 Programming activity schedules based on the student's skills

GLOSSARY

Instructional control - ABAs may also call this compliance, engagement, and history of pleasant experiences such that a person feels motivated to complete tasks for you.

Premack's principle - A theory of reinforcement that states that a less desired behavior can be reinforced by the opportunity to engage in a more desired behavior. 

RESOURCES

Join our The ABA and OT Podcast Facebook Group to get access to the following resources:

Facebook group link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/397478901376425

EXTERNAL RESOURCES

Aditi's Website

"Activity Schedules for Children with Autism: Teaching Independent Behavior" Book by Lynn E. McClannahan 

"A Review of McClannahan and Krantz's Activity Schedules for Children With Autism: Teaching Independent Behavior: Toward the Inclusion and Integration of Children with Disabilities" by Ruth Anne Rehfeldt

University of Kansas Princeton Child Development Institute - McClannahan and Krantz are faculty members at this institution 

QUOTES

07:03 "The activity schedule is a really good way of being directed independently, not so much by him, but for him, he was reading at this stage so a written schedule to complete activities. And he actually loved it."

10:36 "The actual skill of observing, looking at some stimuli, either a shape or picture of the item, it can be anything that matches an activity to something that has to be completed, and complete that activity and then move on."

31:30 "It doesn't stay in place very long if it's not working... that's probably the hardest part is to make sure you have enough crossover with parents or a method of them getting help if they need it."

36:54 "What often comes up is you have kids that really want to complete an activity and so you have to teach flexibility around leaving tasks not completed. For instance, do a jigsaw puzzle for 10 minutes where the puzzle's not completed."

37:39 "You can vary and build in flexibility time into it. You can get them to self-check some work that they previously did or complete a homework task or do their spell words. So yeah, you can really use them in a lot of different ways depending on the skill level."