2. Group Members
● Rachel Dos Santos
● Ariane Pagaduan
● Tristan Quisses
● Mina Roozbahani
● Taylor Windrem
● Enli Zhang
3. Independent Activity Schedule: What it is
and How its Used.
● A visual schedule that uses symbols,
pictures, or words to show the order of
how to transition from one activity to
another. (New Brunswick Department of Education and Early Childhood Development,
2020)
● Will help to reduce inappropriate
behaviours because there is a structure
given to the learner. (Pierce et al., 2013)
● Can be helpful in providing the child to
learn verbal and visual cues. (Akers et al., 2016)
● Only use tasks that the learner already
knows how to complete independently.(New
Brunswick Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, 2020)
*Example of Independent Activity Schedule*
4. ● “First” and “Then” based concept, leading up to the learners
preferred reinforcer. (Hemmeter et al., 2008)
● Essentially a daily-planner for children.
● Can be used in schools/classrooms, homes, or for
independent play. (New Brunswick Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, 2020)
● Great tool to use for:
○ daily living skills (getting dressed to go to school)
○ day planner (from school to swim lesson)
○ independent play (encourage appropriate behaviour
during free time) (New Brunswick Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, 2020)
● Remember, always pair prefered behaviour with positive
reinforcement!
Independent Activity Schedule: What
it is and How its Used Con’t
5. Independent Activity Schedule: Used in Article
● The goal was to promote independent play on the
playground. (Akers et al., 2016)
● An independent activity schedule was used as a
picture plan, all laid out in a three ring binder. (Akers
et al., 2016)
● Participants (three boys ages 4 and 5 diagnosed
with ASD) taught with prompting:
a. to point at the picture
b. taking the picture from the board and walking
over to the play item (associating the picture
with the physical play structure)
c. the child would then play, for 2 minutes
d. after the 2 minutes the child would be
prompted by the teach to return back to their
activity picture binder (Akers et al., 2016)
6. ● The purpose of the study was to assess
the efficacy of a photographic activity
schedule for increasing the number of
appropriate plays activities independently
completed by children with ASD in a novel
environment, the playground. (Akers et al.,
2016)
The Purpose of this Study
7. It's better to know that…
● Unpleasant behaviors and
requests were ignored, and
self-injurious behavior was
manually blocked over activity
time.
● After this activity by fading
prompts step by step
participants learned new
behaviors which were the
appropriate behaviors. (Akers
et al., 2016)
8. ● We used photographic activity schedules
to increase the number of play activities
completed by children with autism during
unstructured time on the playground. All
3 participants engaged in more
playground activities during and after
training, and they continued to complete
activities when novel photographs were
introduced. (Akers et al., 2016)
It was efficient
because…
9. ● This study proved on activity schedules by
demonstrating that schedules can increase
independent and appropriate play on the
playground even when experiments prompt is
withdrawn. (Akers et al., 2016)
Was this approach
successful?
10. ● Visual learning method to children with ASD is one
of the most popular ways to teach a task or new
behaviour.
● The results showed that the schedules caused
decreases in problem behavior and increases in
proper activities. All 3 participants engaged in
more playground activities during and after
training, and they continued to do activities when
novel photographs were shown. (Akers et al., 2016)
Visual Learning Method Works!
11. ● After experimenters introduced manual
guidance along with the schedule, the
participants quickly started to go after the
activity schedule in the novel setting, and
manual guidance was quickly faded. (Akers et
al., 2016)
Participants Reaction to Experiment
12. ● Who were the participants?
The participants: Miles, Alvin and Dexter, boys with ASD, age 4-5
● Data collection
■ Dependent variable:
● The primary dependent variable :
the number of different playground activities appropriately completed
per session
● other dependent variables:
the number of different playground activities independently completed per
session
■ Independent variable:
Photographic Activity Schedules
13. ● The study was implemented in an outdoor playground setting.
● Boys were required to complete all parts of the activity schedule:
A. open the binder
B. point to the picture
C. go to the activity
D. complete the activity
E. return to the schedule
F. turn the page
G. repeat these steps until all the activities were completed
H. consume the edible item indicated on the last page
I. close the binder (AKERS et al., 2016, p. 957).
Results:
The study tests that with the activity schedules, the participants had higher
engagement and can complete more playground activities (AKERS et al., 2016).
example
14. How were the study graphed?
● Nonconcurrent multiple
baseline across subject
design.
NumberofActivitiesCompleted
PercentageofIndependentlyCompleted
ScheduleComponents
Sessions
● Low level,
● Stable
● No trend
● High Level
● Ascending
gradually
● Slightly variable
15. Baseline Probe Teaching BL Teaching Novel Activities Follow up
Sessions
● High Level
● Ascending gradually
● Slightly variable
● Low to moderate
level
● No trend
● Slightly variable
● High level
● No trend
● Slightly variable
17. Possible uses? Different populations and skills?
Which population?
● It can be used across a wide variety
of ages
● Children with ASD
● Adult who have hearing impairment
Where?
● House
● school
● playground
● church
Why it is used
● Improve self management
● doing chores
● increase independence
● appropriate behaviours
18. Personal Thoughts & Opinion
● Use of the independent activity schedule in this study was effective in help reduce
inappropriate playground behaviours from the participants, showing that even
when removed the participants were able to stay on task independently.
● This intervention is excellent for children that has autism spectrum disorder, as it
can helped them to play safely and without hurting themselves or others
● It was well coordinated and organized intervention, with proper use of colourful
pictures allowing the boys can understand what needs to be done.
● Opinion: My opinion is that parents can use the independent activity schedule at
home too, as to ensure their child can complete the steps that are presented with
easy to understand images. It helps to eliminate inappropriate behaviour while
keeping them on schedule with daily tasks.
19. Class Activity
● Which of these two charts is an example
of an Independent Activity Schedule?
(A) (B)
20. ● 8 year old Kyle is having difficulties staying on task and transitioning from one activity to
another while in school. His teacher Ms. Lauren decides to create an independent
activity schedule for him in the form of visual pictures. It includes his transitions from
recess, to math class, independent reading in class, and preparing to go home at the
end of the day. Ms. Lauren is also mindful to provide Kyle with reinforcement such as
praise, a sticker, or a new colouring book after the tasks get completed.
● However, Kyle is still having difficulties staying on task even though Ms. Lauren has
implemented an clear independent activity schedule and is using reinforcements as well.
Why might Kyle still be having difficulties staying on task.
Class Discussion
21. Start small and work your way up!
Reinforcement: look at the
magnitude, quality, and value
What Can Be Done To Help
22. ● Akers, J., Highbee, T., Pollard,J., Pellegrino, A., & Gerencser, K (2016).
Journal of Applied Behavioral Analysis, 49, 954–959 https://doi.
10.1002/jaba.327
● Brodhead, M. T., Courtney, W. T., & Thaxton, J. R.(2018). Using activity
schedules to promote varied application use in children with
autism. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 51(1), 80–86.
https://doi.org/10.1002/jaba.435
● Hemmeter, M. L., Ostrosky, M. M., Artman, K. M., Kinder, K. A. (2008)
Moving right along: planning transitions to prevent
challenging behavior. Beyond the Journal: Young Children on
the Web,
https://food.unl.edu/FitandHealthyKids/handout2BTJ_Hemme
ter_Transitions.pdf
● Pierce, J. M., Spriggs, A. D., Gast, D. l., & Luscre, D. (2013) Effects of
Visual
Activity Schedules on Independent Classroom Transitions for
Students with Autism, International Journal of Disability,
Development and Education, 60:3, 253-269, DOI:
10.1080/1034912X.2013.812191
● New Brunswick Department of Education and Early Childhood
Development. (2020). Using an activity schedule to help
your child be more independent
References
