+Activity Schedules

Presented by: Abraham, Brenda, Ruth, & Marcia

+What is an Activity Schedule?

Activity Schedules (AS) are a visual schedule comprised of pictures and/or words that show the sequence of steps needed to complete an activity.

+Importance of an activity schedule

Children with autism usually process visual information better and therefore faster than auditory (spoken) information (reference)

Increases on-task behavior It is easy for children with autism to become interested in

something else

To decrease inappropriate behaviors Socially unacceptable behaviors occur when individuals

haven't learned to regulate their own behaviors in response to other people's actions.

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+Importance of an activity schedule

To facilitate smooth transitions from one step to the next

To increase independence Eventually, the student should be able to use the

activity schedule without adult support.

To promote self-management

building change into an activity schedule can teach children to tolerate changes in routine.

+Importance of an activity schedule

Going through a sequence of steps or activities repeatedly moves the child toward mastery, and helps children carry a sequence or process through to completion

An AS can enable children with autism a chance to make choices and participate in decisions about their own activities and daily schedules.

+When can you use an activity schedule?

School, home, fieldtrips, community It can be used at anytime for any situation

Toileting Dressing Cooking School work

Any others……

+TheoryOperant conditioning (BF skinner)

Uses the relationship between behaviors and respective consequence to influence the ocarence volunterly

Classical conditioning (Pavlo)

involves presentations of a neutral stimulus along with a stimulus of some significance

over a time to evoke voluntary behavior

Both theories use fading of reinforcement to gain independence

+What does the research say about activity schedules?

Most research supports the use of activity schedules. One study showed students ability to increase on-task

behaviour with the use of activity schedules. The students also requested use of the activity in other environments.

In Marchalicek, Shogren, Lang, et.al’s (2009) research, activity schedule intervention is used to increase play activity and decrease challenging behavior for 3, children with moderate to severe autism. The result showed that all the 3 children responded positive to the intervention

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+What does the research say about activity schedules?

Four children with autism were taught to play Guitar Hero 2 using an activity schedule, simultaneous video modeling and the training of multiple exemplars of songs. (Blum-Dimaya, Reeve, S.A., & Reeve, K.F. (2010).

+Are these schedules harmful?

We have not found evidence of AS’s being harmful but there are some concerns…. the teacher must insure that the student has the

prerequisite skills to use the schedule (McClannahan, 1999).

Children must be able to distinguish pictures from a background and match a picture to the respective objects.

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+Concerns

The child accepting manual guidance from the teacher.

A child must also be able to follow a sequence.

A child becomes dependant on the schedule

Prompting fading (McClannahan, Krantz, 1999)

http://www.asatonline.org/intervention/videos.htm A child learning to identify pictures A child completing a chore list with an AS

+Who can use AS?

Teachers

Family members

Professionals

Children, and students

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+Where are they being used?

Locally, case support workers and teachers are using activity schedules at Children’s Autism Services of Edmonton (CASE), and the Glenrose Hospital school.

St. Albert Catholic High School, Leo Nickerson Elementary School

Linda Hodgdon, Communication Specialist, CCC-SLP

Early intervention programs, autism organizations

The majority of the research found has used activity schedules with students who have a developmental disability (machalicek, Shogren, Lang , et al, 2008) but it is not limited to them.

+Demonstration

Implementation of an AS in a school setting

Primary school science project: “Dancing Raisins”

Exploring cause and effect relationships.

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+

Pour raisin

Cup Pour pop

Reward

Materials

+Conclusion

This is a useful, practical educational tool

Research shows AS are effective in moving children with ASD toward independent task completion, social interaction, and acquiring workplace, educational, and leisure skills

Because we all use them, they are inclusive.

Research shows that the skills and practice the child learns in following an activity schedule often generalizes to other settings and other activity schedules

Activity schedules can begin very simply and gradually increase in complexity; they can “grow with the child”.