Visual schedule
A visual display, such as pictures, symbols, objects or words, showing what will happen and in what order, used to make routines predictable.
A visual schedule shows upcoming activities or steps so the client can see what comes next and when something preferred will happen. It can cover a whole day, one session, or a short sequence such as "first work, then break." The format depends on the client: real objects, photos, line drawings or written words, arranged left to right or top to bottom. Many schedules let the client remove or check off each item when it is finished.
As an antecedent intervention, a visual schedule reduces problem behavior linked to transitions and uncertainty, and it can lower the number of verbal instructions an adult needs to give. A first-then board is a simple two-item visual schedule. Schedules can also signal changes ahead of time, such as a substitute teacher or a canceled outing, so the change is less likely to set off problem behavior.
For a visual schedule to help, the client must be taught to use it; placing it on the wall is not enough. The schedule should also be accurate: if it shows an activity that then does not happen, it loses its value as a reliable signal.
The RBT reviews the schedule with the client at the times the plan says, updates it when the routine changes, points to it before transitions, and reports to the supervisor when the client has trouble using it.
Example and non-example
| Example | At the start of a clinic session, the RBT and a client look at a strip of pictures: table work, swing, snack, table work, goodbye. After each activity, the client moves the picture to the "done" pocket. |
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| Non-example | A poster of classroom rules hangs on the wall. It shows expectations, not the order of upcoming activities, so it is not a visual schedule. |
Don't confuse it with
| Activity schedule | An activity schedule is a specific teaching procedure for independently completing a series of activities, while a visual schedule is any visual display of what comes next. |
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| Visual prompt | A visual prompt is a supplemental cue for a specific response that is faded, while a visual schedule is often kept as a lasting support for the routine. |
Test yourself
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Question 1A child's plan includes a strip of pictures showing the activities of the session in order. The child checks off each one as it is finished. Which antecedent strategy is this?
Show answer
C: Visual activity schedule. A visual activity schedule shows the sequence of upcoming activities in pictures or words, which makes the session more predictable.
- A: A token economy delivers tokens for target behavior that are exchanged for backup reinforcers.
- B: Demand fading changes the number of demands over time.
- D: A high-p sequence uses easy requests before a harder one.
Task D.2 · 40-hour curriculum section E
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Question 2A teen often protests when activities change without warning. The plan uses a written schedule that the RBT reviews with the teen at the start of each session and updates before any change. What type of strategy is this?
Show answer
A: Antecedent intervention. The schedule is reviewed before activities change, so it alters conditions before the behavior. It is an antecedent intervention.
- B: A consequence-based procedure acts after a behavior occurs.
- C: Extinction withholds a reinforcer after a behavior.
- D: Punishment follows a behavior and reduces it.
Task D.2 · 40-hour curriculum section E
Answer every question to see your score.
On the RBT exam
This term belongs to task D.2 Antecedent interventions in content area D, Behavior Reduction, which is 14 of the 75 scored questions.