Activity schedules as antecedent-based interventions for individuals with autism spectrum disorder: A scoping review

Abstract

Children and adolescents diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often depend on adults to assist them in leading an independent life. This co-dependence tends to exist in a variety of settings such as the home, the school, and the community, often leading to problem behaviors. Extensive research has found that the use of antecedent evidence based instructional practices, such as picture prompts, reduce adult dependence and challenging behavior for children and adolescents with an autism diagnosis (Radley & Dart, 2022; Lory et al., 2020). A promising intervention, including picture prompts, used to decrease dependence on adults in various social, academic, and other contexts, is the use of activity schedules (AS). This scoping review aimed to explore the modalities and usage of activity schedules as an intervention among individuals with ASD. Twenty-three articles were selected, which (a) identified various types and formats of activity schedules (b) distinguished and categorized skills taught through the implementation of AS and (c) examined intervention methods. A reproducible search strategy methodology was used, including a screening process, data extraction, and synthesis of results to map and summarize the available evidence on activity schedules for individuals with ASD. The findings revealed that activity schedules are predominantly utilized among children and adolescents, particularly focusing on skill acquisition with limited attention on reducing challenging behaviors. There was a strong balance between the use of pictorial and digital formats of activity schedules, with a strong presence in clinical settings, suggesting the need for enhanced experimental control. Most studies employed multiple baseline experimental designs. A corpus of the reviewed studies highlighted the dominance of US based research in this field, potentially indicating disparities in the field of autism-related resources.