Acquisition and Generalization of Activity Schedules and their Effects on Task Engagement in a Young Child with Autism in an Inclusive Pre-School Classroom

Efficacy of individualized activity schedules with a 4-year old child diagnosed with autism who attended an integrated public pre-school classroom was examined. Graduated physical guidance and a system of most-to-least prompts were used during skill acquisition stages with teacher proximity and level of prompts being eventually faded. A multiple baseline across activities (work and leisure) assessed performance across baseline, treatment, and maintenance conditions with stimulus generalization being assessed during a third activity (lunch). Results support the findings from MacDuff, Krantz, and McClannahan (1993) in that a child with autism can successfully acquire the skills necessary to independently follow activity schedules and generalize these skills to other settings with minimal training. The study represents an advance in applied research in the use of visual cues with children who experience autism in school settings; most notably an integrated pre-school classroom serving children with disabilities and typical same-aged peers.