What are schedules?
Schedules are a series of symbols, pictures, photographs or words and are used to show the steps of a specific activity or routine. For example, preparing a meal, getting dressed or carrying out the evening bath time routine. They can also be used to show a breakdown of the day or part of a day’s activities.
Who could benefit from using a schedule?
▪️ They can be used by anyone who would benefit from having some additional structure to their day and can be tailored to suit the individual depending on the need and the person’s ability.
▪️ People who have difficulties coping with changes to their routine or transitioning between tasks or places.
▪️ People who have difficulty with reading or writing or for whom English is not their first language.
▪️ In this particular blog I am talking about using schedules with children or adults with autism or learning disabilities but they can also be helpful to those with dementia or memory difficulties or who have a short attention span.
How do schedules help?
Children and adults with autism or learning disabilities may struggle to cope with unstructured time. Visual confirmation of routine in the form of a schedule can help an individual to remain calm and therefore help reduce anxiety. They can see what they need to do or what is going to happen next. It is easy for us to assume someone knows what day of the week it is and what is happening but we must remind ourselves that this is not always the case. For some people not knowing what is happening can increase anxiety and challenging behaviours.
Some individuals with limited communication respond better to visual prompts and so symbols or pictures can help increase their understanding. They can go back and look at it as often as they need to for reassurance too.
Schedules can help to build on skills that can then be transferred to different settings. For example, if a schedule is used at school for a specific activity, it may help that child to transfer those skills to carry out the same activity at home with the support of having the schedule there too.
Providing a visual routine in the form of a schedule can help to build independence and therefore improve self-esteem. It can help the child or adult to complete a task alone without having to ask for support and this can do wonders to build their confidence.
Schedules can help when routine changes. It happens, carers go sick or school or day services close for Bank Holidays etc. Change in routine can be very distressing for some people and a visual can help to reinforce what will be happening instead and provide reassurance.
James’ use of schedules
Myself and others have made many schedules for James over the years. These have tended to be a combination of Makaton symbols, which he does know a lot of, but also photographs of James’ actual things and places he may go to or visit and would recognise.
James has very limited understanding. He had a schedule up on his wall of what happens during his week. However, as you can see, this was very busy and visually far too cluttered for James to even begin to make sense of. It was also stuck on the back of a door where he never really saw it. I decided to make James some new daily schedules.
James has a busy week attending 2 different day services, and with family visits too, so I have broken this down into a really simple day-per-page schedule with just three symbols on each day: morning, afternoon and evening. He is very familiar with his morning and evening bath routines etc, and also his mealtime and gastrostomy feed routines, so I wanted to just concentrate on the things he does in between times.
How to make a schedule
This can be a little time consuming as it requires some printing (and searching for the right photos and symbols) and lots of laminating and cutting out, but it’s not difficult to do.
For James’ new daily schedules I printed a simple framework for three good sized symbols/pictures using a A4 sheet of paper for each day. I then laminated them and stuck on some Velcro for attaching the symbols/pictures.
It’s then a case of deciding what size your symbols/pictures need to be and which ones you need. In this instance I needed to have pictures of all the places James attends during the week and people he may visit or see. Once I had those printed it’s a case of cutting them out, laminating them and cutting them out again. Once laminated I cut a diagonal across the corner so they are not sharp and then stick some Velcro to the back to attach them to the schedule sheet as required.
Other things to think about
▪️ When you have made your schedules, keep copies of everything for when they get lost or damaged. It’ll save you a lot of time if all you have to do is reprint them.
▪️ If using symbols, simple black and white is best. They are clear and it’s easiest for our brains to process black and white.
▪️ Make sure your symbols/pictures are clear and big enough.
▪️ If using photos they need to be of a specific person or place. For example, the exact hairdressers salon you go to, not just any hairdressers.
▪️ Symbols are more generalised so for example, a Makaton symbol of ‘biscuit’ refers to any biscuit. If you use a photo of a biscuit you have to be prepared to provide exactly the same biscuit.
▪️ Have at least two of each symbol/picture in case, as in James’ case, the same activity might be repeated more than once in the day.
▪️ Only provide symbols/pictures of realistic things that are on offer. You can’t ‘offer’ something that is not available. For example, don’t have a symbol ‘for going for a walk’ if it’s pouring down with rain and you can’t go outside.
▪️ Generally, it is recommended to work from left to right on a schedule as this follows the normal pattern for reading. This is my preference for James although I have seen some schedules that go vertically from top to bottom. The important thing is to be consistent so check with school etc which way they work to avoid confusion.
▪️ Think about whether your schedule needs to be portable or where you are going to put it if it is going on a wall. James’ daily schedule is on the wall right by where he sits at his table. It’s easily seen and accessible.
▪️ If you make a schedule then use it. James’ staff get his new day schedule out every morning and talk to him about his day and together they find the picture of what he is doing and attach it to his schedule.
▪️ Think outside the box, there are lots of different uses for schedules, for example: to break down activities or parts of the day; use just two symbols/pictures if necessary for a now and next board; use a schedule to count down the number of days to a particular event. There’s no real right or wrong, it’s a personal thing and if it helps then it’s right for you and your child/adult. Consistency is key.
There is a lot of information about how to use schedules online and also templates for making all sorts of schedules.
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