A Visual Activity Schedule
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research that hits home
“Visual activity schedules (VAS) are photographs, pictures, symbols, or drawings that provide information about a sequence of activities or events”
I’ve used schedules, including visual activity schedules (VAS), for many years, as both a teacher and a physical therapist. I teach future physical therapists to use VAS to manage the sometimes disorganized and challenging behaviors of young children. I was excited, therefore, to find a recent article affirming my belief in this tool and its use for managing behavior: Using Visual Activity Schedules for Young Children With Challenging Behavior, by Kathleen N. Zimmerman, Jennifer R. Ledford, and Erin E. Barton, from Journal of Early Intervention, August, 2017.
I was interested to learn that multiple reputable teaching institutions recommend the use of visual aids to encourage prosocial behavior and enhanced learning (the National Association for the Education of Young Children [NAEYC] among them). The article also noted that there is robust evidence for the use of visual activity schedules for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and intellectual disabilities (ID).
Zimmerman et al’s findings, however, demonstrated that a VAS can be useful for children without ASD or ID, but who simply demonstrate challenging behaviors (Forgive me, but isn’t that every toddler on earth?). The study examined the use of a VAS for three preschool children with challenging behaviors (screaming, hitting, throwing, wandering off) and saw increases in engagement, correct completion of the task, and decreased challenging behaviors.
Image from pandaspeechtherapy.com
Why I Like Schedules
I like using schedules with children for several reasons. First, I think it gives kids a sense of control and predictability over their time. Most young children have very little decision-making power. Their days and experiences are shaped for them which, I imagine, is pretty frustrating. Schedules give kids information about what is happening next, and that helps them shape their expectations and behaviors.
Second, I think using a schedule can impart feelings of completion and success. Often, when I use a schedule in a therapy session, I also include the privilege of crossing off completed items. Little kids get a kick out of using a fun marker and “drawing” on the schedule, but they also recognize the sense of accomplishment that comes from planning to do a task and then doing it. Because many of the tasks that a physical therapist (or teacher, for that matter) is asking a child to perform push them to the edge of their limits, accomplishment is no easy feat. So, it’s rewarding for a child to know they’ve done it, and to be the person in charge who gets to say, with a swipe of a blue marker, “We’re done with that.”
Using pictures with small children is also a great way to work on communication skills. Because children develop receptive language (understanding) well before they develop expressive language (speech and gesture), kids often have much to communicate before they’re effectively able to do so. Not being able to communicate one’s needs is frustrating, so having an alternative way to do so can often decrease some of that frustration which, in turn, improves behavior.
In the same way that images can be used to provide visual information about an activity or routine, images can be used to offer choices. For example, if I’m working on leg and hip strength with a child, I might have a picture of a stair-climbing activity and one of a stationary activity with a child in half-kneel (the “will you marry me?” pose). Both tasks will accomplish what I need to accomplish in my therapy session, but the child will have the ability to choose his or her preference by selecting the picture of his or her preferred activity.
Image from autism.org.uk
Visual activity schedules, and images in general, can be used in many contexts: the classroom, the home, the physical therapy clinic. In addition to describing classroom routines, A VAS can explain the morning routine of putting on clothes, shoes, and coats, brushing teeth and hair, and eating breakfast. Images can be used to show where toys and clothes should be returned.
Do you use visual activity schedules with the children in your life? Share your tips in the Comments section below.
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