Visual timetables for autistic children

Although school days generally follow some form of curricular timetable, practitioners also tend to build in elements of variety and surprise. Whilst this is stimulating and exciting for most children, it creates uncertainty and anxiety in those with ASD. Visual timetables enable adults to break down long sessions (or large tasks) into discrete, more manageable chunks, giving children with ASD advance warning of what is going to happen (thereby alleviating anxiety and confusion).

Giving Clear Instructions to a Child with Autistic Spectrum Disorder
Instructions should be as clear and literal as possible. In its simplest form, a visual timetable may just consist of two cards with words (or symbols) for “now” and “next”, with accompanying illustrations of what will happen. For example, now – milk, next – story. This would be suitable for a very young child and could gradually be increased as the child matures and becomes able to cope with longer sequences.

The planned sequence of activities will be reassuring for a child with ASD. This in turn may improve his or her willingness to cooperate on tasks which are important, but which he or she would otherwise be reluctant to undertake (for example, getting dressed). A timetable about getting ready for school in the morning might consist of:

Picture of the toilet/bathroom
Picture of hands washing
Picture of school clothes laid out on the child’s bed
Picture of the breakfast table
Picture of a toothbrush.
Such pictures might be reinforced further by simple captions or sign language cues, if this is helpful to the child.

Giving Autistic Children Choices and Control
In addition to building reassurance and cooperation, visual timetables can also help the child with ASD begin to make simple choices. For example, the adult might offer a guided “either/or” choice or allow the child to choose the order in which activities take place. Importantly, this will give the child a feeling of control over what is going to happen and may also help build confidence and a degree of autonomy.



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Although children and young people with ASD are generally uncomfortable with unexpected events, there are times when they are unavoidable. For example, the fire brigade might be making a surprise visit to the school or the child may need to see a doctor. Such an event can be incorporated into a visual timetable by using a pre-prepared “surprise” card. It would be wise to allow opportunities to practise using this card so that the child becomes familiar with it and begins to understand that it symbolises something pleasant (and not something to be frightened of).

How to Make a Visual Timetable
"Makaton" is a signing resource which uses gestures and symbols to supplement spoken language. Symbols like these (or even just general clipart) are ideal for use with a visual timetable as they can be copied and pasted into simple grids to show planned activities. Such a timetable could then be laminated for adults to annotate or for the child to “tick off” as he or she proceeds through the day. These can subsequently be wiped clean, ready for use in the following session or the next day.

Alternatively, Velcro tabs can be stuck onto individually laminated pictures, symbols or digital photographs. These are excellent for busy practitioners as they are durable, re-usable and quick and easy to use. Furthermore, other children may also find them useful and informative.

Visual timetables provide a highly effective and versatile resource which can be adapted to suit a diverse range of activities and the needs of the individual child. They can also be used in conjunction with other strategies such as Social Stories, which help children with ASD to learn social skills and behaviour.




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