School bus visual schedule: free printable with bus rules

Who it’s for

Children starting to ride the school bus, or moving to a new bus or a new driver, and children who find the bus hard: the noise, the waiting, a long ride, and not knowing when the stop is coming. That includes many autistic children, and children who don’t speak or don’t speak much and can’t tell the driver what they need. Parents, teachers and transportation staff can all use it.

How to use it

1. Go through the steps a few days before the first ride. If you can, visit the bus stop together and watch a bus come and go.
2. Practice the parts you can: climbing steps, finding a seat, holding the bag on your lap, pointing to is this my stop?
3. Fill in the note on page 3 together, and give one to the driver and one to the bus aide, if there is one.
4. Show page 1 at the bus stop and point to each step as it happens. On the way home, the last step is home: glue a photo of your front door over it, or cross it out and write it in.
5. Keep page 2 in the backpack, where your child can reach it on the bus, with the talker if they have one.

Talking with the driver

A bus driver has a lot to watch and little time at each stop. The note on page 3 tells them, in one look, how your child talks, what helps, and who meets them. Ask the school who to send it to; many districts have a transportation office that can pass it on, and some buses have an aide. If your child has an IEP, bus transportation and the supports on the bus can be part of it: read AAC and the IEP.

Bus rules, in pictures

The six rules on page 2 are the ones most school buses ask for: stay in your seat, use a quiet voice, buckle up if the bus has seat belts, keep your bag on your lap, listen to the driver, and keep hands inside. Every bus is different, so ask the school or the driver for theirs, and change the board in the board maker if yours differ. Teach the rules at home with a chair for a seat, and practice too loud and headphones for the noisy days.

The same steps in the schedule maker

The bus ride is also a routine in the free visual schedule maker. Open “School bus” in the schedule maker to make a going-home version, or to put in photos of your own bus stop, bus and school.

What’s on the PDF

Bus steps

• wait for the bus
• the bus comes
• say hi to the driver
• climb the steps
• sit in my seat
• ride to school
• wait for my stop
• get off at school

Bus rules

• stay in my seat
• quiet voice
• seat belt on
• bag on my lap
• listen to the driver
• hands inside

Talk

• hi
• bye
• help
• stop
• is this my stop?
• where are we?
• sit with my friend
• too loud
• I feel sick
• bathroom
• headphones
• I’m okay

I feel

• happy
• excited
• scared
• worried
• tired
• mad

A note for the bus driver

• say hi, and use my name
• give me time to answer
• let me keep my talker or board with me
• tell me when my stop is next
• let me sit near the front

Printing tips

• Laminate page 2 and clip it to the backpack strap with a key ring, so it’s easy to reach in a seat.
• Print the note on card stock so it survives a clipboard or a sun visor.
• For new people along the way, the “I use AAC” cards; for the school day, the classroom visual schedule; for getting home, the after school routine chart.
• The bus is part of the school day too: keep AAC with the student all day, and home and school, working together.