Visual Schedules and Autism Ranking:

Risks and Safety

Hazards

There are no known hazards for visual schedules. However Lequia et al (2012) noted that, in some circumstances, the use of visual schedules could lead to challenging behaviour in some children and that appropriate strategies should be put in place.

“… the findings of several studies suggest that activity schedules, when used in specific situations, may themselves elicit challenging behavior. In a study conducted by O’Reilly et al. (2005), there was a consistent increase in challenging behaviors when transitioning from a play condition to a demand condition. Similarly, in another study (Massey and Wheeler, 2000) higher rates of challenging behavior were observed during leisure activities when an activity schedule was implemented. These findings suggest that activity schedules are often antecedents to demands, or are considered demanding themselves, and when used to prompt a student to transition from a highly desired activity (i.e., play) to a non-preferred activity (i.e., classroom instruction) may be associated with challenging behavior. During such transitions, children with ASD may engage in challenging behavior to escape non-preferred activities or to obtain a preferred activity or item. In such situations, teachers, parents, and other caregivers should be prepared to implement additional behavior intervention strategies.”

Contraindications

There are no known contraindications (something which makes a particular treatment or procedure potentially inadvisable) for visual schedules.

Updated

17 Jun 2022

Last Review

01 Nov 2017

Next Review

01 Feb 2024