Activity Schedules for Children With Autism: Teaching Independent Behavior (Topics in Autism)

An activity schedule is a set of pictures or words that cues a child to follow a sequence of activities. When activity schedules are mastered, children are more self-directed and purposeful in their home, school, and leisure activities-doing puzzles, interacting with classmates, and preparing food with minimal assistance from adults. In Activity Schedules for Children with Autism, parents and professionals find detailed instructions and examples to help them: assess a child's readiness to use activity schedules; prepare an activity schedule; understand graduated guidance; monitor progress; expand social skills; and progress to written schedules.

Based on a decade of research conducted at the Princeton Child Development Institute, Activity Schedules for Children with Autism offers a proven teaching tool to help children with autism make effective use of unstructured time, handle changes in routine with more ease, and choose among an established set of activities independently. It can be used successfully with young children, adolescents, and adults, rewarding them with more control over their lives.

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All Customer Reviews
Average Customer Review:
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

Excellent resource, 2008-12-24
This book is an excellent resource to all who work with children with Autism. I've had experience with people with autism for many years and this book was an inspiration of ideas to help my students in my classroom.
I recommend this highly to anyone!!!


1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

Solid Help and Grounded Details, 2008-01-24
I found this book to be one of the most helpful I've ordered in the course of three years of personal research and work with my son. I knew that the school my son attends was using picture schedules, but I had not been able to fully understand the theory and practice of this.

While producing and using a picture schedule can take a great deal of time--training for independence is quite challenging--the book establishes the theory of the practice in plain language. This is definitely a must read for parents and care-givers, including volunteers in church or community child-care or respite programs.

In addition to clear explanation of the theory and use of picture schedules, the images included work to sharpen the concepts--also a plus for those of us are more visually inclined. The tips for starting small and working up, as well as tips for using picture schedules of varying levels of sophistication are also priceless.

I'm using this with some of my other (read neuro-typical) children, and it works beautifully with them, as well. Like signing with your baby, this is a great step in establishing routines and independence in little ones, and even older children.


1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

Step-by-Step Activity Schedules, 2007-11-29
This book is a must have for anyone wishing to implement an activity schedule. This book was required reading for a teaching children with autism course at UMASS. Not only is it extremely informative, guiding the reader through each detail designing the schedule and implementing the schedule, it is also an easy, quick read that I refer back to often. Additionally, the authors are well published in scientific journals. Great resource for parents, teachers, and professionals.


1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

Enlightening, 2007-01-29
A great book for teaching life skills to children with autism. Useful for the young and old child, the new and experienced teacher. Very detailed and helpful book.


9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

A Glowing Review , 2006-08-01
This book is necessary for anybody looking to implement or improve an already existing activity schedule. Although McClannahan and Krantz are experts in the field of behavior analysis, they wrote the books so that you don't have to be a near genius I.Q to understand it. The book is perfect for parents and teachers as well as students studying behavior analysis or special education teachers interested in working with autistic children. The first chapter is dedicated to discussing what an activity schedule is and how your child or student will benefit. The subsequent chapter delves into the pre-requisite skills the child will need prior to beginning. The authors explain each pre-requisite skill, why it is necessary and provide examples of each skill. The next few chapters discuss how to implement the activity schedule as well as how to measure progress. They really left nothing out. Toward the end of the book, they explained what to do when the activity schedule is mastered and provided a great deal of detail on the dos and don'ts. It is clear, that the McClannahan and Krantz really want readers to be successful at creating and teaching activity schedules. They have also co-authored Teaching Conversation to Children with Autism, which is also worth checking out. My hats off to them on such an awesome educational easy to read and understand how to book.

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