Effectiveness of Instruction Performed Through Activity Schedules ...

Education and Training in Autism and Developmental Disabilities, 2011, 46(3), 386–398 

© Division on Autism and Developmental Disabilities 

Effectiveness of Instruction Performed Through Activity 

Schedules on Leisure Skills of Children with Autism 

Selmin Cuhadar 

Trakya University 

Ibrahim H. Diken 

Anadolu University 

Abstract: This study investigated the influences of instruction performed through activity schedules on 

engaging-in the schedule skill and fulfilling the activity skills of pre-school children with autism; along with 

investigating the influence of schedule observation and instruction on children’s engagement in activities. 

Participants were three male pre-school children with autism aged between 4 and 6 who enrolled in a special 

education and rehabilitation center in Eskisehir in Turkey. Multiple probe design with probe conditions across 

subjects was implemented in the study. Findings revealed that instruction performed through activity schedules 

were effective in acquiring the engaging-in the schedule skill and fulfilling the activity skills of the pre-school 

children with autism. 

Autism is a complex developmental disability 

that typically appears during the first three 

years of life (Autism Society of America-ASA, 

2006). Autism is the major subgroup of the 

spectrum disorder classification and comes 

in sight through a) abnormalities of social 

interactions and communication, b) delays 

or abnormal functioning either in social interaction, 

language as used in social communication, 

or symbolic or imaginative play, 

and c) a variety of obsessions [The Diagnostic 

and Statistical Manual, Fourth Edition, 

Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR), 2000]. In parallel 

with these incompetencies, when the 

children with autism are compared with 

their peers, they might show impairments of 

social communication and frustration in interaction 

with other people, restriction in 

making eye contact, incompetency in symbolic 

or imaginative plays in addition to language 

and communication disorders (Kircaali-I˙ftar, 

2003; Libby, Powell, Messer, & 

Jordan, 1998). 

Highlighting the importance of participation 

in play and leisure time activities, several 

experts in the literature brought forward that 

Correspondence concerning this article should 

be addressed to Ibrahim H. Diken, Faculty of Education, 

Department of Special Education, Anadolu 

University, 26470, Eskis¸ehir, TURKEY, E-mail: 

ihdiken@anadolu.edu.tr 

leisure time activities make a major contribution 

to psychological, cognitive, physical, social 

and linguistic developments of children 

(Crowder, 1988; Leyser & Cole, 2004; Lovaas, 

2003; Morrison, Sainato, Benchaan, & Endo, 

2002). Despite mentioned principal factors 

above, the leisure time activities are regarded 

as vitally unimportant activities that affect an 

individual psychologically or physiologically, 

or as a tough issue to handle. Therefore, 

teaching of these skills might remain in the 

background though it should have priority 

among the goals of the programs (Brereton, 

2005; Massey & Wheeler, 2000). However, it is 

vitally important for the children with autism 

to learn age appropriate leisure time activities. 

The children with autism either look around 

or display abnormal or repetitive behaviors 

during their leisure times unless they are 

taught the leisure time skills (Scheuremann & 

Webber, 2002; Symon, 2001). Therefore, confirming 

the importance of teaching leisure 

time skills for the children with autism, the 

studies in the field highlighted the essentiality 

of teaching leisure time skills in the education 

programs that are prepared for children with 

autism, in order to raise the quality of life and 

to balance the physical and mental health of 

individuals (Anette & Mit, 1997; Dattilo & 

Hoge, 1999; Leyser & Cole, 2004; Kurt & 

Tekin-I˙ftar, 2008; Tekin et al., 2001). 

The leisure time and playing skills might be 

386 / Education and Training in Autism and Developmental Disabilities-September 2011

taught for the children with autism through 

various intervention approaches such as errorless 

teaching techniques, social stories, video 

modeling, tell and act orientations, and daily 

activity schedules. When the literature related 

to the use of activity schedules, which is one of 

the intervention approaches, is reviewed, it is 

observed that there are several studies which 

used the activity schedules with different special 

needs groups (e.g., children with autism, 

children with intellectual disabilities, etc.) to 

activate a range of skills in those groups (Anderson, 

Sherman, Sheldon, & McAdam, 1997; 

Brayn & Gast, 2000; Dauphin, Kinney, & Stromer, 

2004; Dettmer, Simpson, Myles-Smith, & 

Ganz, 2000; Dooley, Wilczenski, & Torem, 

2001; Krantz, MacDuff, & McClannahan, 

1993; MacDuff, Krantz, & McClannahan,1993; 

Massey & Wheeler, 2000; Morrison, Sainato, 

Benchaaban, & Endo, 2002; Stromer, Kimball, 

Kinney, & Taylor, 2006; Watanabe & Sturmey, 

2003). The review of literature on activity 

schedules also revealed that the use of activity 

schedules could be taught to the children with 

autism in different circumstances with different 

people; hence, such children were able to 

learn several skills as a result of this training. 

Likewise, these studies also showed that the 

children with autism are able to gain various 

skills such as indoor-life, socio-dramatic play, 

developing playing skills, leisure time skills, 

etc. when they are taught how to use these 

activity schedules. What is more, these studies 

revealed that the activity schedules play important 

role in decreasing the problems in behavioral 

problems, prompt dependency, and activity 

shifts in children with autism (Krantz, 

MacDuff, & McClannahan, 1993; Massey & 

Wheeler, 2000; Morrison, Sainato, Benchaaban, 

& Endo, 2002; Dauphin, Kinney, & Stromer, 

2004). Additionally, findings of the studies 

in the literature confirmed that activity 

schedules could be used effectively in conjunction 

with different scientific techniques 

such as making selection, tell and act orientation 

(Machalicek et al., 2009; Watanabe & 

Sturmay, 2003). 

With respect to the preliminary information 

related to the activity schedules and leisure 

time skills for the children with autism, the 

present study, which attempted to teach leisure 

time skills to the children with autism 

through using photographic activity sched- 

ules, was conducted. The purpose of the present 

study was to evaluate the effectiveness of 

the teaching process, which used photographic 

activity schedules to teach leisure time 

skills for the children with autism. 

Regarding the present study the following 

questions were addressed; (a) Is the training 

process, which used photographic activity 

schedules to teach leisure time skills for the 

children with autism, effective in acquiring 

skills on engaging-in schedules, and in attainment 

and retention of behavioral patterns to 

fulfill the activities?, (b) What are the effects 

of having acquired the skills on engaging-in 

schedules and fulfilling the activities by the 

children with autism on their behavioral patterns 

to fulfill the activities?, (c) Does the 

training process play an effective role in making 

generalizations by the children with autism 

on engaging-in schedule skills, fulfilling 

the activity skills and dealing with the activity 

skills when these activities were held with different 

people in different circumstances and 

at different times?, and (d) What are the views 

of parents and teachers related to the practiced 

training process? 

Method 

Participants 

Participants were three male students with autism 

who were 4 to 6 years old. Participants 

were selected among volunteer parents and 

their children who enroll in a private educational 

institution, which gives training to the 

children with autism and their parents. Selection 

of the participants had some prerequisites 

such as, participants should have an official 

report given by a pediatric mental health 

clinics of a University or State hospital, which 

confirms that the children have autism; and 

the participating children should not have any 

training on using photographic activity schedules 

and graduated assistance in teaching with 

photographic activity schedules before or during 

the present study. Additionally, the participants 

were required to have some other prerequisites 

and facilitative skills with reference 

to teaching with photographic activity schedules. 

These were; (a) distinguishing a picture 

of an object from a background, (b) matching/sorting, 

same/similar, objects/pictures, 

Activity Schedules and Autism / 387

(c) matching objects and pictures, and (d) 

acceptance of physical assistance (manual 

steering) (McClannahan & Krantz, 1999). Assessment 

instruments, which were adapted 

and developed by the first researcher, to assess 

the level of each prerequisite and facilitative 

skills were taken from McClananahan and 

Krantz’s (1999) book entitled “Activity Schedules 

for Children with Autism.” 

Harun is a six-year-old male student with 

autism. He is able to understand two-three 

word instructions such as “show the picture,” 

“would you like to play a game?” etc. and able 

to fulfill the requested actions, however, he is 

not able to express himself verbally. Harun 

exhibits behavioral abnormalities such as hair 

pulling and crying when he does not get to do 

what he wanted. Additionally, he utters meaningless 

sounds and depicts stereotypic (selfstimulatory) 

behaviors such as hand flapping, 

tapping objects and drumming the fingertips 

or hands on the whiteboard. 

Nedim is a five-year-old male student with 

autism. He is able to understand two-three 

word instructions such as “show the picture,” 

“would you like to play a game?” etc., and able 

to fulfill the requested actions, however, he is 

not able to express himself verbally. Nedim 

exhibits behavioral abnormalities such as 

throwing himself on the floor, clasping his 

hands (wringing or clawing), banging his 

head (through rocking his head back and 

forth) to the person in front of him, throwing 

the objects at others and crying when he 

doesn’t get to do what he wants. 

Berk is a four-year-old male student with 

autism. He shows similarities with his peers in 

performing low and high muscular skills. Berk 

is able to understand two-three word instructions 

such as “show the picture,” “would you 

like to play a game?” etc., and able to fulfill the 

requested actions, besides, he is able to produce 

limited number of one-word lexical 

items such as “pink,” “mother good,” “yes,” 

etc. functionally. He tries to repeat some oneword 

lexical items (such as, green, eye, etc.) 

subsequent to its utterance by his teacher or 

parents; however, he could not utter most of 

the words clearly. He babbles some certain 

(meaningless) sounds (e.g., “lilililili” for going 

out to park) in order to express what he 

wanted to do. He also depicts some stereotypic 

(self-stimulatory) behaviors such as looking at 

objects through raising them to eye level, rotating 

the objects and drawing circles on the 

table with his fingertips or hands. 

While selecting the participants and assessing 

their prerequisite skills for their participation 

to the present study, it was observed by 

the researcher and confirmed by their teachers 

and mothers that none of the participants 

had the ability to play with a toy properly. 

Setting 

The study was carried out in one of the particular 

training offices of the private educational 

institution in which the participants 

were enrolled. There were two desks (one big 

and one small), a cupboard, where equipment 

was deposited (there were books on its upper 

shelves) and a whiteboard in the office. The 

floor of the office was covered with a carpet. 

Materials and Equipment 

The materials and equipments that were 

used in the present study were: photographic 

activity schedules and the leisure 

time skill (activity) materials which were designed 

with reference to the age, developmental 

stage, acquired skills and needs of 

each participants, reinforcers, data gathering 

forms, and a video camera to record the 

process. 

Photographic activity schedule book. 23x20 

cm photographic activity schedules and samesized 

activity books, which were used for the 

training of each leisure time skills, were used 

in the present study. While each photographic 

activity schedule includes photographs of predetermined 

leisure time skills and social interaction 

skills for each participant, the activity 

books include photographic descriptions of 

the skills that take place in schedules and 

leisure time skills. 10 x 15 cm-sized photographs 

were used in the photographic activity 

schedules and activity books. Additionally, the 

equipment that was required to perform leisure 

time skills on the activity schedules as well 

as plastic containers to keep the equipment 

was used in the present study. 

Reinforcers. A reinforcer preference assessment 

was conducted in order to identify the 

food reinforcers that would be used in the 

present study. Those identified reinforcers 


were tested by the researcher during the assessment 

of prerequisite skills of the participants. 

Accordingly, two of the reinforcers, 

which were mostly preferred by each of the 

participants, were identified and used in the 

present study. The photograph of one of 

those identified reinforcers was placed at the 

end of the photographic activity schedules of 

the participants. The other identified reinforcer, 

on the other hand, was used during 

the training sessions. 

Experimental Design 

The present study, which intended to evaluate 

the effectiveness of the teaching process, used 

a multiple probe design with probe conditions 

across subjects. 

Dependent Variables 

The dependent variables of the related skills 

in the present study were: skills related to 

engaging-in schedules, dealing with the activities, 

and learning the behavioral patterns to 

fulfill the activities. The skills related to engaging-in 

schedules, dealing with the activities 

and learning the behavioral patterns were defined 

as follows and they were used as the 

functional definitions throughout the present 

study. While forming the functional definitions, 

related literature was reviewed first and 

the functional definitions of those skills were 

formed with reference to the definitions in 

the literature (Brayn & Gast, 2000; Dauphin, 

Kinney, & Stromer, 2004; Dettmer, Simpson, 

Myles-Smith, & Ganz, 2000; Krantz, MacDuff, 

& McClannahan, 1993; MacDuff, Krantz, & 

McClannahan, 1993; Massey & Wheeler, 2000; 

Morrison, Sainato, Benchaaban, & Endo, 

2002). 

Functional definition of the engaging-in 

schedule skills that was used in the present 

study was as follows: 

Engaging in schedules: (1) able to concentrate 

on the photographic activity schedules 

(look at the photographic activity schedule/ 

head towards activity schedule, etc.); (2) able 

to turn the first page of the photographic 

activity schedule, (3) able to point at/show/ 

take/give the picture on the first page; (4) 

able to start doing the first skill in the activity 

schedule within 5 seconds and accomplish the 

skill (take the materials and fulfill the skill); 

(5) able to make proper transition to the next 

activity in the photographic activity schedule 

(put the materials and activity book to its 

place and return to the schedule). 

Functional definition of the skills related to 

dealing with the activities and the behavioral 

patterns to fulfill the activities that were used 

in the present study were as follows. The skills 

related to dealing with the activities were defined 

separately with reference to the each 

activity in the schedule. In general, the functional 

definition of the skills related to dealing 

with the activities was as follows: 

Dealing with the activities: (1) Able to concentrate 

on the activity properly (students’ looking 

at teacher/practitioner, looking at the 

play or play materials, listen to and show expressions 

related to the activity; (e.g. put on a 

hat, point at his/her own eye, nose, etc.) as 

well as able to respond to the teacher’s questions 

or confirm the teacher via gestures, (2) 

able to use the materials properly in order to 

do the activity on the activity schedule related 

to the leisure time skills, show goal oriented 

interaction, and (3) able to perform proper 

behavior that required for the activity. 

Fulfilling the activities: Able to fulfill the (unfamiliar) 

leisure time skills that were placed in 

the photographic activity schedule through 

following the skill steps in the photographic 

activity books. 

The functional definitions of each leisure 

time skill in the students’ photographic activity 

schedules were as follows: 

1. Building blocks with Lego (train/car): 

able to build blocks properly with the 

Lego items through following the steps in 

the skill book. 

2. Potato man: able to place the items properly 

to make a potato man through following 

the steps in the skill book. 

3. Knock down the pins: able to knock down 

the big sized (bowling) pins through following 

the steps in the skill book. 

If the students displayed abnormal behaviors 

(e.g., temper tantrums, refusing the activity, 

or displaying repetitive behaviors with toys 

and play materials) while fulfilling the activities, 

these instances were not recorded as a 

skill related to the dealing with activities. 


Skills practiced through dependent variables. 

The dependent variables in the present study 

were examined through the skills related to 

engaging-in schedules and leisure time skills 

that take place in the schedules. The leisure 

time skills that were used in the study were 

building blocks with Lego, making potato 

man, and knocking down the bowling pins. 

In order to lessen the probability of the 

interaction effect of the teaching process, 

functionally similar, independent target behaviors 

were selected. In the definition of the 

skills, the coherency of them with the developmental 

phases of preschool children was 

taken into consideration. Additionally, the 

skill books, in which the photographic activity 

schedules took place, were prepared with reference 

to the individual features of each participants 

(for instance, there were fewer skill 

steps for Nedim and Berk). Additionally, besides 

the leisure time skills, two social interaction 

skills for each of the students were included 

in the photographic activity schedules. 

One of the social interaction skills in the 

schedule was defined as playing with a toy that 

was already included in leisure time skill 

schedules. The students performed this social 

interaction skill with the practitioner. 

Two criteria were taken into consideration 

while defining the other social interaction 

skill for the participants. One of them was the 

information gathered from their parents and 

their teachers, and the other criterion was the 

students’ preference of the social interaction 

skills. 

The determination of the social skills that 

were mostly preferred by the students was 

held during the evaluation of the prerequisite 

behaviors. They were selected among the transition 

skills that were used during evaluation 

of the prerequisite behaviors and they were 

photographed and placed in the photographic 

activity schedules (e.g., the photographs 

of the fingers taken during the singing 

with fingers activity) after the evaluation of 

their prerequisite behaviors. 

Independent Variable 

The independent variable of the study was the 

teaching process which was practiced through 

using photographic activity schedules. Teaching 

process with photographic activity sched- 

ules initially started with physical assistance 

and manual steering to prevent the failures, 

then, within the course of time, it was performed 

through a gradual reduction of the 

manual steering and cues (physical assistance) 

that were used in the training process (spatial 

withdrawal), shadowing and reduction of 

physical contact. 

General Procedure 

Experimental process included holistic assessment, 

training/ teaching, follow-up and generalization 

sessions. All of the phases of experimental 

process were handled by the first 

researcher. All of the sessions were handled 

through one-to-one training model at the institution 

in the appointed settings. In the holistic 

assessment sessions, students were 

trained as in the same order performed in 

teaching/ training process. The teacher was 

settled close to the subjects during the holistic 

assessment and follow-up sessions whereas 

s/he was settled behind the subjects during 

the training/ teaching session in order to establish 

the gradual assistance process appropriately. 

Prior to the sessions, the researcher arranged 

the relevant materials that would be 

used during the training or assessment sessions 

and made them available for the subjects 

where they could easily access. The training 

sessions were performed through teaching the 

focused skill and through use of photographic 

activity schedules by the subjects with gradual 

assistance process. The subjects’ use of photographic 

activity schedule and performing the 

skills in accordance with the phases in skill 

analysis were regarded as an experiment. 

Pilot Study 

A pilot study was conducted in order to predetermine 

the potential troubles that might 

be faced throughout the experiment process, 

to make the required adaptations and to enable 

the practitioner to gain experience in the 

photographic activity schedule preparation 

and using them in teaching. A five-year-old 

child with autism, who held the prerequisite 

qualification to take part in the present study, 

was occupied in the pilot study. The partici- 


pant who took part in the pilot study was not 

included in the present study. 

Procedure for Assessment of Generalization 

The data were gathered by means of pre and 

post test model in order to examine whether 

the skills such as (following the schedules) 

engaging in the activity, dealing with the activity 

and fulfilling the activity were generalized 

or not with reference to different teacher, 

different context and time. That is, pre and 

post test model generalization assessment procedure 

was conducted in order to examine 

whether the dependent variables such as engaging 

in the activity, dealing with the activity 

and fulfilling the activity show difference with 

reference to independent variables such as 

different teacher, different context and time. 

During the pre-test phase of the generalization 

behaviors, the data related to participants’ 

prior behaviors such as dealing with the 

activity and fulfilling the activity were not gathered 

through conducting separate sessions 

with their teachers, however, the practitioner’s 

field notes taken during the initial levels 

of the study were regarded as pre-test data for 

the generalization sessions. 

Baseline 

Prior to the training sessions in the study, the 

data on the initial levels of the subjects were 

gathered through the first holistic assessment. 

The data related to engaging-in the activity 

schedules, the level of performing the leisure 

time skills in the photographic activity schedules 

(fulfilling the activity) and the level of 

dealing with the activity skills were gathered 

during the assessment sessions. Additionally, 

during the assessment sessions the subjects 

were presented with some specific attentiongrabbing 

cues, such as; . . . would you like to 

play? . . . make a potato man, in order to draw 

their attention. When the subject expressed 

verbally or nonverbally that s/he was ready, or 

when s/he did not show any negative reaction, 

the teacher reinforced him/her and gave the 

instruction of the skill (such as, “Well done 

Harun. Now it is play time”). In the next 

phase, teacher waited for 5 seconds to provide 

a responding time for the subject. The behavior 

was reinforced verbally (e.g. “you are 

great”) only when the subject started performing 

the required steps in the engaging-in the 

activity skills, and/or s/he fulfilled at least one 

of the steps in this process accurately. In order 

to define the levels of dealing with the activity 

skills of subjects, the videos of the subjects that 

were recorded during the engaging-in activities 

and fulfilling the activities were used in 

holistic assessments. Additionally, functional 

definitions of the skills related to engaging-in 

activities and the definitions of steps that were 

categorized in detail in leisure time skills related 

to engaging-in activities were considered 

while watching the videos. Along watching the 

videos, the researcher took field notes 

through momentary time sampling technique. 

The observations were coded on the 

momentary time sample recording form in 

every ten-second time intervals that was organized 

by a beeper produced by the computer. 

Procedure for Schedule Instruction 

The training of engaging-in the activity schedule 

included the warm-up and lead-in phases 

of training. In the warm-up phase, the teaching/training 

materials were prepared first and 

the photographic activity schedule placed on 

the leftmost side of the workspace. The other 

materials, which were required for each activity, 

were placed in a preset place from left to 

right in relation to the order of their use in 

the activities. The table, which was used in the 

training process, placed close to the training 

materials. Meanwhile, the food reinforcers 

were also placed in an easily accessible place 

or box (such as, bead box, pocket of the researcher, 

or on a plate) and kept available for 

the researcher. During the training sessions, 

each subject was reinforced by his/her own 

choice of food reinforcer. As the first step in 

the lead-in phase, the practitioner drew the 

subject’s attention through using attention 

grabbing clues (e.g. “Harun, would you like to 

play a game?”). The subjects were reinforced 

verbally as soon as getting his/her attention 

(e.g. “Yes! Attaboy!”), and the researcher gave 

instructions for the lead-in of the skill (e.g., 

“Harun, it is playtime now”). In this phase, the 

instruction for the lead-in of the skill was given 

only once and then teacher waited for 5 seconds 

to provide a responding time for the 

subject. If the subject did not respond or re- 


sponded improperly, the subject was steered 

manually from his/her back. The manual 

steering and physical assistance in this phase 

was performed in (a) opening the photographic 

activity schedule and turning the 

page, (b) pointing at the first picture, (c) 

bringing the materials, (d) fulfilling the activities, 

(e) picking off the materials, and (f) 

returning back to the activity chart in order to 

replicate the process. Later on, through utilizing 

spatial withdrawal (which indicates the 

changes in the location of the cue), shadowing 

and reduction of physical contact procedures, 

the cues, which were used in all of the 

training phases, became imperceptible. The 

researcher made instant decisions on the issues 

such as when the cues should become 

imperceptible and at which level the cues 

should be utilized. 

The phases that were utilized during the 

activity schedule training sessions were also 

followed during the training of the social interaction 

skills. In this phase, the subjects were 

taught primarily to pick up the picture that 

indicates the social interaction skill (e.g., a 

picture that indicates singing with fingers) 

from the activity schedule and give it to the 

practitioner. Since subjects have inadequate 

language skills, the next phase in social interaction 

skill training was performed as acting 

out the singing with fingers song as soon as 

subjects brought/gave the picture to the practitioner, 

who prompted them by using a simple 

language such as “let’s sing with fingers” 

or “singing with fingers is joyful.” 

All of the proper behaviors of the subjects 

were reinforced with food reinforcers through 

continual reinforcement procedures. The 

training sessions (in engaging-in the activity 

and fulfilling the activity behaviors) continued 

until the subjects achieved an 80% of accomplishment 

in three successive sessions or until 

the subject naturalized the 2.5 m distance of 

the practitioner. Throughout the training sessions, 

the subjects were also reinforced 

through verbal reinforcers such as “well done, 

you made a wonderful car with Lego blocks,” 

“You played very well with potato man” etc. 

when they have accomplished the phases accurately 

as in the skill analysis phases of the 

leisure time skills that take place in the schedule. 

The subjects’ collaborative participation 

and their attentiveness to the task were rein- 

forced through food reinforcers that were preferred 

by the subjects and took place in the 

schedules. Error correction techniques were 

performed for the false reactions that might 

come to the scene during the training sessions. 

Two types of error correction techniques 

were used in the present study, the first 

of them was restarting the training session 

through moving back to the previous phase 

and retreating the physical contact phase 

again, and the second of them was restarting 

the training session through closing the 

schedule book. The training sessions related 

to teaching of the photographic activity schedules 

were held in a particular office within the 

same institution, where the subjects enrolled 

in, through one to one teaching approach as 

single sessions in four-week days. 

Data Collection 

During the data gathering process of the efficiency 

dimension, the subjects’ false and correct 

reactions to the schedule were recorded 

and the frequencies of the subjects’ correct 

reactions were calculated. Similarly, as in the 

engaging-in the schedule skill, while gathering 

the data concerning fulfilling the activity 

phase, each of the leisure time skills of the 

subjects were analyzed and their false and correct 

reactions were recorded with reference to 

the leisure time skills analysis and finally, the 

ratio of the correct reactions were calculated. 

The time intervals of reactions were determined 

as five seconds in data gathering process 

for the engaging-in the schedule skill and 

fulfilling the activity skill. The data related to 

the activity were gathered by means of using 

momentary time sample recording form. As in 

the baseline level, the observations were recorded 

(coded) on the momentary time sample 

recording form in ten-second time intervals 

that was organized by a beeper produced 

by a computer. 

Interobserver Agreement 

Throughout the research process, at least 30% 

of all sessions focused on the data on effectiveness 

and it was gathered with reference to 

the reliability of the data and reliability of the 

practices. Prior to the study, the coders, who 

gathered the reliability data of the present 


study, were informed about the research process, 

dependent variables and data gathering 

forms, and a sample training session was held 

with their participation. The data on effectiveness 

were gathered by the (first) researcher 

and by another coder who has a M.A. degree 

in Special Education. The data on the reliability 

of the practices, on the other hand, were 

gathered by the same coder who coded the 

effectiveness data and by another experienced 

coder who has a M.A. degree in another field. 

The intercoder reliability of the effectiveness 

data was calculated through “agreement/ (disagreement 

agreement) x 100” formula, and 

the reliability of practice was calculated 

through “observed behavior of practitioner/ 

intended behavior of practitioner x 100” formula. 

While the calculated reliability scores for 

the effectiveness data were ranged between 

94% and 100% with a mean of 97%, the calculated 

reliability scores for the reliability of 

practices were ranged between 96% and 100% 

with mean of 98%. 

Social Validity 

Semi-structured interviews with mothers and 

teachers were held in order to obtain social 

validity data of the present study. The interviews 

were also audio-recorded using different 

question forms for each type of interviewees in 

the interviews. At the end of the research 

process, mothers and teachers of the subjects 

watched the video recordings of the initial 

and final training sessions of the subjects independently 

and their opinions related to the 

findings of the study were gathered. 

Results 

Results on Schedule Instruction 

It is expected that subjects should fulfill the 

predetermined criteria (the subjects’ displaying 

80% of accomplishment in their performances 

in the case of 2.5 -3mdistance from 

the practitioner) in order to make a decision 

that subjects have gained the engaging-in the 

activity skill during the training of the schedule 

instruction. 

The findings of the present study revealed 

that the teaching process, which used photo- 

graphic activity schedules, was effective on the 

acquisition of engaging-in the activity skills of 

the children with autism and it was observed 

that engaging-in the activity skills were retained 

after the instruction and they were generalized 

substantially with reference to the 

variables such as different person (practitioner) 

and different place. As can be seen in 

Figure 1, the accomplishment levels for the 

subjects were defined as 0% at the beginning 

of the study, however, following the training 

(instruction) the ratio of the accomplishment 

levels for the subjects were calculated as 94% 

for Harun, 85% for Nedim, and 94% for Berk. 

Results on Dealing with the Activity Skills 

Another finding of the present study was that, 

the ratio of the increase in dealing with the 

activity skill during the training of ‘engaging-in 

the activity’ and ‘fulfilling the activity’ 

skills of the subjects were also retained in the 

holistic assessment and in the follow-up sessions 

that were held after the study was ended. 

What is more, the rise in the dealing with the 

activity skill was also observed in the generalization 

sessions, which performed with different 

people, place and time. As can be seen in 

Figure1, the accomplishment levels for the 

subjects in the dealing with the activity skills in 

the initial and in the generalization sessions 

were defined as 33% and 87% for Harun, 25% 

and 85% for Nedim, and 32% and 87% for 

Berk respectively. 

Results on Fulfilling the Activity Skills 

It was observed in the present study that the 

training of (fulfilling the activity) engaging in 

the activity skill had a valuable contribution to 

the subjects’ learning of the leisure time skills 

which they did not possess before and which 

took place in their photographic activity 

schedules for the first time. As can be seen in 

Figure 1, the accomplishment level for fulfilling 

the activity skills for Harun at the initial 

and at the final sessions of training were calculated 

respectively as 0% and 86% for making 

a car by Lego blocks; 6% and 87% for 

joining the parts of potato man; and 0% and 

90% for knocking down the pins. Similarly, 

the accomplishment level for fulfilling the activity 

skills for Nedim at the initial and at the 


final sessions of training were calculated respectively 

as 0% and 90% for making a car by 

Lego blocks; 3% and 86% for joining the parts 

of potato man; and 0% and 80% for knocking 

down the pins. Likewise, the accomplishment 

level for fulfilling the activity skills for Berk at 

the initial and at the final sessions of training 

were calculated respectively as 0% and 86% 

for making a train by Lego blocks; 3% and 

83% for joining the parts of potato man; and 

0% and 83% for knocking down the pins. 

What is more, it is observed that the rises in 

the ratio of the accomplishment level for fulfilling 

the activity skills were also continued 

after the end of the training sessions. 

Results on Generalization 

As can be seen in Figure 1, the ratios of correct 

behavior display of the subjects in engaging-in 

the activity skills during the generalization 

sessions were calculated as 75% for 

Harun, 76% for Nedim, and 93% for Berk. 

The data on the fulfilling the activity skill 

revealed that Harun has 88% accomplishment 

level for making a car by Lego blocks; 90% for 

joining the parts of potato man; and 80% for 

knocking down the pins. The data on the 

fulfilling the activity skill in the generalization 

sessions revealed that Nedim had 100% accomplishment 

level in all skills. Similarly, the 

data on the fulfilling the activity skill revealed 

that Berk had 94% accomplishment level for 

making a car by Lego blocks; 100% for joining 

the parts of potato man; and 90% for knocking 

down the pins. The generalization session 

that were held for post-test purposes revealed 

that the accomplishment levels in the dealing 

with the activity skill for the subjects were 

calculated as 87% for Harun, 85% for Nedim, 

and 96% for Berk. 

Results on Social Validity 

The findings of the analysis of interviews held 

with mothers and teachers of the subjects with 

reference to the social validity aspect of the 

present study revealed that both mothers and 

teachers have positive views related to the 

training process, which used photographic activity 

schedules. They stated that the use of 

photographic activity schedules in the training 

of the children with autism enable the 

children to become more autonomous, and 

enable them to pay more attention to the 

activity and materials. Similarly, the analysis of 

the interviews revealed that mothers and 

teachers believed that the use of photographic 

activity schedules is effective in decreasing the 

number of self-stimulating behaviors and 

problem behaviors. Additionally, the teachers 

expressed that they need support for training 

on how to practice the activity schedules, 

which were easy to prepare and did not require 

extra effort and time, in their classes. 

Discussion 

The findings of the present study revealed 

that the training with photographic activity 

schedules was effective in teaching the engaging-in 

the activity skills and fulfilling the activity 

skills of the children with autism in the 

pre-schooling period. What is more, the findings 

showed that these skills were also retained 

after the end of the training sessions. Additionally, 

the findings revealed that the training 

of the subjects on the engaging-in the 

activity skills and fulfilling the activity skills 

through photographic activity schedules increased 

the dealing with the activity skills of 

the children with autism. The analysis of the 

interviews with mothers and teachers of the 

subjects revealed that they have positive perceptions 

towards the use of photographic activity 

schedules in such training procedures. 

The findings of the present study also 

showed similarities and dissimilarities with 

other studies, which utilized photographic activity 

schedules, in the literature. The first similarity 

of the present study with other studies 

in the literature was that the findings of the 

present showed consistency with reference to 

the learning process of the engaging-in the 

activity skill. All of the subjects met the criteria 

through performing above the predetermined 

criteria in engaging-in the activity. At 

the end of the engaging-in the activity skill 

training, it is observed that Harun met 94%, 

Nedim met 85%, and Berk met 94% of the 

predetermined criteria. In the literature related 

to the use of photographic activity schedules 

(Brayn & Gast, 2000; MacDuff, Krantz, & 

McClannahan, 1993; Spriggs, Gast, & Ayres, 

2007), it was expressed that the subjects were 

able to learn the engaging-in the activity skill 


Figure 1. Results of dependent variables for all participants. 

and its taxonomy very quickly and easily. In 

this respect, the findings of the present study 

concerning the learning the engaging-in the 

activity skills showed consistency with the find- 


ings of other studies in the literature. Another 

similarity with the previous studies in the field 

(e.g., Bryan & Gast, 2000; Morrison, Sainato, 

Benchaaban, & Endo, 2002) in terms of learning 

the engaging-in the activity skills was that 

the identification of the fact that acquiring the 

engaging-in the activity skills have positive 

contributions to a raise in independent performances 

(fulfilling the activity and dealing 

with the activity skills) of the subjects. When 

the rise in the accomplishments during the 

fulfilling the activity and engaging-in the activity 

trainings in the present study were taken 

into consideration, it could be claimed that 

the present study has also contributed to a 

raise in independent performances of subjects 

while teaching the leisure time skills for the 

children with autism. This finding was also 

triangulated (supported) by the findings of 

the social validity analysis of the present study. 

One of the dissimilarities of the present 

study with other studies which utilized photographic 

activity schedules was that previous 

studies in the field suggested that the first 

photographic activity schedule which intended 

to teach the target skills should include 

the skills that the subject was familiar 

with or that they were able to do, hence, it 

would facilitate the training process (Brayn & 

Gast, 2000; Hall, McClannahan, & Krantz, 

1995; McClannahan & Krantz 1999; Watanabe 

& Saturmay, 2000). For instance, the skills that 

took place in the schedules of the subjects in 

Brayn and Gast’s (2000), Hall, McClannahan, 

and Krantz (1995) and Watanabe and Saturmay’s 

(2000) studies, were selected among the 

skills that the subjects were familiar with and 

that they could capable of performing them. 

Unlike the previous studies, the target skills 

that took place in the schedules in the present 

study were selected among the skills which the 

subjects were unfamiliar and which they did 

not possess previously. However, the subjects 

performed above the predetermined criteria 

both in engaging-in the activity skill training 

sessions and in the training sessions of the 

leisure time skills through the use of photographic 

activity schedules. What is more, the 

subjects acquired almost all of the skills in 

these training sessions. 

Another dissimilarity of the present study 

with the other studies which utilized photographic 

activity schedules was that the present 

study also gathered data related to the learning 

process (fulfilling the activity) of the skills. 

When the studies which utilized photographic 

activity schedules were reviewed, it is observed 

that most of those studies gathered data related 

to the dealing with the activity (on- task) 

skills besides the data related to the engaging-in 

the activity. However, very limited number 

of those studies (e.g., Dauphin, Kinney, & 

Stromer, 2004; Krantz, MacDuff, & McClannahan, 

1993; MacDuff, Krantz, & McClannahan, 

1993; Massey & Wheeler, 2000) presented 

their data on the learning of the skills in the 

schedules (fulfilling the activity skills). 

It is supposed that the findings of the present 

study, which investigated the influence of 

the teaching process that used photographic 

activity schedules to teach leisure time skills 

on the learning process of leisure time skills 

by the children with autism, have an important 

role in terms of its contribution to the 

related literature. 

It is clear that training of the leisure time 

skills of the children with autism has a vital 

role in the developmental process of those 

children, however, due to various reasons 

training the children with autism on their leisure 

time skills was a rather neglected issue in 

the field. (Several studies such as Brereton, 

2005; Kurt & Tekin-I˙ftar, 2008; Massey & 

Wheeler, 2000 regarded it as a difficult aspect 

of the training process of the children with 

autism.) Hence, it is hoped that the present 

study, which attempted to train the children 

with autism on the leisure time skills through 

using photographic activity schedules, might 

have valuable contributions to the field. 

One of the significant finding of the present 

study was that, consistent with the studies in 

the literature (e.g., Brayn & Gast, 2000; 

MacDuff et al., 1993; Spriggs, Gast, & Ayres, 

2007), although the subjects were introduced 

more than one learning circumstance (engaging 

in the activity, three new leisure time skills, 

and various social interaction skills) throughout 

the study, all of the subjects learnt the 

activity schedules very quickly and easily (the 

numbers of the training sessions for engaging 

in the activity skills for Harun and Nedim were 

12, whereas it was 11 for Berk). 

Another significant importance of this study 

was in the data gathering process of the social 

validity aspect of the research. When the stud- 


ies which used photographic activity schedules 

to teach leisure time skills to the children with 

autism were examined, it was found that almost 

all of those studies used Likert type surveys 

or control lists while gathering data on 

their social validity aspects. Only one study 

(Massey & Wheeler, 2000) acknowledged that 

social validity aspect of such studies included 

qualitative aspects, which made the research 

more important. Similarly, the present study 

gathered data in relation to the social validity 

aspect of the research through semi-structured 

interviews and interpreted the findings 

of the interviews through descriptive analysis. 

It could be considered that this aspect was one 

of the strengths of the present study, which 

distinguished it from other studies in the field. 

With reference to the research process and its 

findings, it could be claimed that, further 

studies might use photographic activity schedules, 

which include unfamiliar or new skills for 

the children with autism. 

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Received: 3 June 2010 

Initial Acceptance: 25 July 2010 

Final Acceptance: 28 September 2010

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