This one looks particularly useful and fun!
Know the Code: Social Skills Card Game
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Bestselling Special Education Supplies
Get ready for the school year with Amazon.com's best selling special education supplies. Amazon.com will donate a percentage of your purchase to Positively Autism!
This one looks particularly useful and fun!
Know the Code: Social Skills Card Game
This one looks particularly useful and fun!
Know the Code: Social Skills Card Game
Friday, July 15, 2011
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Product Review of SchKIDules
Description:
SchKIDules are personalized visual schedule systems designed to communicate a routine, sequence, activity or transition to a child. SchKIDules are magnetic and come with a magnetic schedule board. A variety of customizable packages are available. http://www.autismschedules.com/
Pros:
•Most pictures clearly depict the activities.
•A wide variety of pictures are available.
•The pictures are magnets, which makes them easy to take on and off, as well as place on a variety of surfaces (such as the schedule board or refrigerator).
•Easy to use.
•Pictures are colorful and fun. My son loves them!
•Increased my son’s compliance with activities we needed to do.
•It gives our summer days (when I’m home during the day with my son) more structure and increased the variety of activities we did in a day. There were pictures for arts and crafts, science, play-doh, and more that gave him ideas of things we could do instead of watch TV.
Cons:
•It’s a little hard to keep track of all of the magnetic schedule pictures. I keep them in a container, but sometimes one gets misplaced and is difficult to find.
•There were some activities we did that there wasn’t a picture in the collection for, but the company does offer the option of creating your own digital photo magnets.
Overall, I would recommend this product to parents or teachers of young children or children who learn best with pictures. My son is three and he loves his schedule. He gets to choose some activities to put on it, along with the things we need to do like take a bath or go to the doctor. It has helped us with both transitions between activities and compliance. As with any product, it will not meet every child’s learning needs, but it is worth a look if you are considering the use of a visual schedule.
Website:
http://www.autismschedules.com/
News video about SchKIDules:
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Visual Support Video Series: How to Use Picture and Object Schedules
A great video from Kids Included Together:
Friday, July 8, 2011
Why Use Visual Schedules?
Information compiled by Nicole Caldwell, M.Ed.
Visual schedules have been used successfully for a variety of purposes.
•Preventing challenging behaviors before they happen (called an “antecedent intervention”).
•Reducing unpredictable transitions, frequently a cause of stress for individuals with autism.
•Increasing participation in learning activities.
•Promoting maintenance and generalization of skills.
•Reference: O’Reilly, Sigafoos, Lancioni, Edrisinha, & Andrews, 2005
Visual schedules may meet the learning needs of individuals with autism.
•Individuals with autism may have difficulty with processing and understanding auditory input.
•Visual prompts may enhance communication with individuals with autism.
•Reference: Bryan & Gast, 2000.
Visual schedules do more than help the student with autism.
•Schedules keep a classroom organized and provide all students with a sense of routine and structure.
References
Bryan, L. C. and Gast, D. L. (2000). Teaching on-task and on-schedule behaviors to high-functioning children with autism via picture activity schedules. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 30(6).
O’Reilly, M., Sigafoos, J., Lancioni, G., Edrisinha, C., and Andrews, A. (2005). An examination of the effects of a classroom activity schedule on levels of self-injury and engagement for a child with severe autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 35(3).
Visual schedules have been used successfully for a variety of purposes.
•Preventing challenging behaviors before they happen (called an “antecedent intervention”).
•Reducing unpredictable transitions, frequently a cause of stress for individuals with autism.
•Increasing participation in learning activities.
•Promoting maintenance and generalization of skills.
•Reference: O’Reilly, Sigafoos, Lancioni, Edrisinha, & Andrews, 2005
Visual schedules may meet the learning needs of individuals with autism.
•Individuals with autism may have difficulty with processing and understanding auditory input.
•Visual prompts may enhance communication with individuals with autism.
•Reference: Bryan & Gast, 2000.
Visual schedules do more than help the student with autism.
•Schedules keep a classroom organized and provide all students with a sense of routine and structure.
References
Bryan, L. C. and Gast, D. L. (2000). Teaching on-task and on-schedule behaviors to high-functioning children with autism via picture activity schedules. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 30(6).
O’Reilly, M., Sigafoos, J., Lancioni, G., Edrisinha, C., and Andrews, A. (2005). An examination of the effects of a classroom activity schedule on levels of self-injury and engagement for a child with severe autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 35(3).
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
What is a Visual Schedule?
by Nicole Caldwell, M.Ed.
A visual schedule is a visual representation of tasks to be completed. A series of tasks, events, or activities can be presented in one or more of the following ways:
•Photographs
•Drawings
•Icons
•Objects
•Text
As many individuals with autism learn much better with visual than with auditory input, visual schedules may be considered an effective method for teaching and communicating with students with autism. A picture schedule may be used to communicate a series of events that must be completed (such as a math worksheet, reading a book, then outside play), a daily schedule (such as breakfast, school, homework, outside play, dinner, bath, and bed), a school schedule (math, literature, science, P.E.), a reinforcement contingency (first work, then play), etc.
You will see examples of these schedule types in this issue of Positively Autism. To get started, below is an example of part of a visual schedule I started using with my son when he was two-and-a-half years old. I searched Microsoft Word clip art for pictures representing activities that we needed to complete.
I have not included them for copyright reasons, but I also would include logos of specific stores that we needed to go to. When using the schedule, I would show him the pictures in the document on my computer screen. I would tell him, “Here are the things we need to do today.” Then I would explain each picture to him. This helped him transition between activities and increased his willingness to get in the car when we needed to go somewhere.
Example morning schedule (eat breakfast, take a bath, then read a book):
![]()
A visual schedule is a visual representation of tasks to be completed. A series of tasks, events, or activities can be presented in one or more of the following ways:
•Photographs
•Drawings
•Icons
•Objects
•Text
As many individuals with autism learn much better with visual than with auditory input, visual schedules may be considered an effective method for teaching and communicating with students with autism. A picture schedule may be used to communicate a series of events that must be completed (such as a math worksheet, reading a book, then outside play), a daily schedule (such as breakfast, school, homework, outside play, dinner, bath, and bed), a school schedule (math, literature, science, P.E.), a reinforcement contingency (first work, then play), etc.
You will see examples of these schedule types in this issue of Positively Autism. To get started, below is an example of part of a visual schedule I started using with my son when he was two-and-a-half years old. I searched Microsoft Word clip art for pictures representing activities that we needed to complete.
I have not included them for copyright reasons, but I also would include logos of specific stores that we needed to go to. When using the schedule, I would show him the pictures in the document on my computer screen. I would tell him, “Here are the things we need to do today.” Then I would explain each picture to him. This helped him transition between activities and increased his willingness to get in the car when we needed to go somewhere.
Example morning schedule (eat breakfast, take a bath, then read a book):
Friday, July 1, 2011
July Topic - Visual Schedules
Visual Schedules are one of my most frequently used tools for teaching students with Autism. This month, Positively Autism's focus will be articles, resources, and free printables related to visual schedules. Follow us on Facebook or Twitter to see when I've added new resources!
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