Routines and Visual Supports

Do you have specific routines set throughout the day that are the same each day? Our brains cannot tolerate unpredictability, and our autistic students are especially at risk for this stress due to their neurological differences. Our students find comfort in sameness, and familiarity and consistency in the same daily routines provides the sense of predictability and structure they need in order to feel safe and learn. 

This also looks like:

• Familiar routines and structure within subject areas (whole group read aloud, comprehension questions, then break off into reading stations; within reading stations, having the same familiar routine for each station)

• Visual schedules providing information about the activities and routines students will be participating in

• Routine visuals or social stories to introduce and concretely/explicitly teach new routines, activities, or situations (field trips, for example)

• Task completion schedules (to do/all done, first/next/then, 1st/2nd/3rd, checklists) to explicitly show tasks to be completed during work times

• Visuals providing information about the rules and expectations during specific times

**Important to note: this will look different for every student, and each student's individual learning style and cognitive profile must be taken into account. Some students may need real objects in order to find a schedule meaningful, for example, while others may need a written list. Some may respond well to symbolic pictures, while others may need real-life pictures of the actual objects, tasks, or activities themselves. This can take trial and error, so don't be afraid to try something and then need to switch to a different tool if it doesn't work! We are learning right along with our students. :)

**Refer to the Preventative Tools and Strategies main page for more examples in the Slideshow provided.