I saw this a
few days ago in an inclusive classroom, and I thought I should share.
Dear
teachers in Nigeria,
A visual schedule
like this is a good way to manage the behaviour of a child with autism in your
classroom. It shows the sequence of events in the classroom, helping a child to
be organized and to know what to expect in his/her day.
A visual
schedule has many benefits for children on the autism spectrum. Let me share a
few here:
1. It
helps for easy transition from one activity to another in the class.
2. It reduces anxiety, as the child knows what to
expect.
3. It
reduces the need for adult prompts, thereby helping the child to be more
independent.
4. It
helps with literacy development, as the child gets used to the words, especially if it comes with pictures as well
5. It
helps to teach sequence, and the child can reference what he/she did during the
day.
6.
Children
can learn to plan and follow instructions. This will help them in completing
tasks, preparing for the work place as adults, and in doing activities for
daily living.
7. It
benefits the neurotypical children in your class too.
Another benefit is that a child can
also learn to be responsible. You can make it a fun experience for a child, if
you give the child or all the children an opportunity to arrange the visual schedule.
I must say
here that it is important to put in perspective the needs and the ability of
the child with autism in your class. For more functional children, your visual
schedule may have words only, while another teacher may need to have pictures
on the visual schedule.
For some
children, it will be good to arrange just a few activities at a time. For
example, for a younger child, you may just put up two activities at the same
time, saying “Now” and “Next” or “First” and “Then”. You can have three
activities, and add to it as the day progresses.
 |
| You can post your own picture on it (photo credit: Pintrest) |
A visual
schedule is a step in the right direction for an inclusive classroom, as it
shows that you are putting things in place to accommodate the needs of a child
with autism that can be in your class.
I hope you
consider putting one in your class today.
Have you
been following my #ThrowbackThursday #AutismAwareness with Adelola on Twitter? Join
@adelolaonautism on Twitter for today’s throwback
