Picture Schedules and Flexibility Many people worry that picture schedules tend to reinforce rigid, inflexible thinking of the young child. When changes occur, that disrupt the routine, then the child melts down. In actuality, visual schedules can be used to teach greater flexibility. Using visual schedules is a way of “organizing” time and activity, so the world is more predictable and understandable. Using visual schedules can be use to take away the chaos of flexibility. You can use “set schedules” (where the routine stays the same) or “variable schedules” (where the activities vary or the order for which they occur vary). With the variable schedule you sit down every day and map out what the day will be like. The schedule is used to organize the time, making it predictable and understandable. Once you establish a visual schedule, you can build in more and more flexibility. The security comes in the form of using the visual schedule to structure out your time, not necessarily keep a rigid schedule. Different types of variability 1. Change in routine: If you do use structure routines, then on the visual schedule (picture or written) you simply make these changes on the schedule and discuss it. Some people will put a different colored change card on the schedule, just above where the change will occur. This tells the child that a change in activity will occur, and what activity it will replace. Some people prefer to put the new activity on the schedule in place of the normal activity, and put the normal activity right alongside of the new added activity, as to show that this new activity will occur in place of the normal activity. 2. Plan Bs: If you are going to schedule activity that may not occur for some reason (e.g. get postponed because of rain) then have a plan B (picture of what will occur instead) placed right next to the scheduled activity. This can also be used as an “either/or” technique for the child to choose between two activities the time it will occur. 3. Move from specific to broad categories: You can build in variability by first starting with a “specific activity” (e.g. take out the trash then computer) to “general activity” (e.g. chore than free choice activity). With general activity we put up pictures of general categories of activity (chore, homework, leisure activity, etc.) and then have visual menus (pictures or written) that has choices for the child to pick from. So when it comes to do a “chore” on the schedule, the child looks at the chore menu (which has several chores to pick from) and picks out what he wants to do. Same for “free choice” menu; they can pick out if they want to do computer, legos, ride bike, etc. This way they know what general activity they will be doing on the schedule, but can pick out the specific activity to do. This gives the child a general idea of what is coming up, but also gives them choices of what to do. The parents have to make sure that if there is limited choices for that day, that the menus only include those activities. So, if riding bikes cannot occur at that time, it is not included on the menu. 4. From specific to variable schedules: As discussed above families can choose to use specific structure routines, for which the routines are consistent (set) from day to day, or to use variable schedules where the parent and child sit down each day and make out their schedule for the day (may vary from day to day). Either way you are providing the child a predictable routine that provides them predictability to their day. Often families have some “set routine” built around a more flexible schedule. Whether you use very set, structured daily routines or a more variable schedule depends upon the needs of the child and the family. Some families simply cannot hold to set routines, so they need to use more variable schedules. Often, however, we try and build in some structured routines within variable schedules, with set routines for (1) getting up in the morning, (2) first getting home from school routine, and (3) getting ready for bed routines. These are prime transition times that work out better to have set routines. Then between those times we build in more variability. In addition, the rigidity of the child will determine where to start. For younger, or more rigid children, we often need to start with very set routines and schedules, and then build in greater flexibility over time. So, as you can see, pictures or written schedules can be used to build in greater variability by moving from more “set to variable” schedules, and also from more “specific to general” schedules. By doing so, you teach the child to use schedules to organize their time, and make it more predictable, so they can handle flexibility. It provides predictability to flexibility. So, use visual schedules to build getter acceptance of flexibility.
Posted on: Sat, 07 Sep 2013 00:40:28 +0000
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