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Tips for Creating Effective Visual Schedules

Forum References FAQ's Quiz Lecture Introduction Keep the schedule clear and concise both in terms of the symbols and the words used. It is not necessary or possible to list every activity that occurs in a day. Choose the activities that are the most important to the user. How much you include depends on what the user understands. Some activity titles are very specific. For activities that are more generic, a mini-schedule may be added to further clarify the activity for the day. For example, if the activity is for the group, a mini-schedule may be developed to identify each activity for that day in group.

Mini-schedule

It is helpful to develop a routine to indicate when an activity is finished and to facilitate transition to the next activity. For instance, the picture of the finished activity could be turned over or the picture could be removed and placed in a "finished" container. Then, the focus could be on the next activity by pointing to the next symbol and talking about what is going to happen.

Schedule with finished icons

The above picture of a binder shows that when an activity was completed, the card was turned over. The card then showed a happy face with the word "finished." Sometimes a verbal cue is helpful. For example, you could say, "Work is finished. Now it’s time for lunch" (Hodgdon, 1995).

Some individuals with ASD become rigid about what their schedule says. For example, if the visual schedue indicates that reading is to begin at 9:00, the student may shut his mathbook at 8:59 even though the teacher has not finished the math activity. If this is the case, you might not want to put time on the schedule, or you may want to indicate that the activity begins at approximately 9:00.

Approximate Schedule

In addition, you might also want to build in flexibility by using a symbol to represent "I don’t know." For example, a question mark may be used. You could then delay making a decision about an activity. For instance, if you planned to take a walk in the afternoon but thought it looked like rain, you could put the "?" on the schedule and decide later.

For greater success, the schedule should be followed consistently. "Make it an essential part of the daily routine. Continually refer back to it when communicating about its information" (Hodgdon, 1995, p. 38).

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