Work visual schedule and talk board for teens and adults

Who uses a work schedule

Teens in job training or work experience, students in a school-to-work program, adults in supported employment, at a day program or volunteering, and anyone who works better with the shift laid out in pictures. Job coaches, teachers and supervisors can set it up with the worker. The pictures are of tools and places, so it looks right on a staff room wall.

Setting up the shift

1. Walk through a real shift with the worker and the supervisor, and change any step that’s different at this job: a uniform instead of an apron, a badge to scan.
2. Choose today’s tasks from the cards on page 3, and put them in order over step 5, or on a list beside the schedule.
3. Put the schedule where the work starts: inside a locker door, on a clipboard, or in a badge holder.
4. Tick or move each step as it’s done. When the last task card is gone, it’s time for clean up my area.
5. Fade the help: as the shift becomes routine, the job coach steps back and the schedule does the reminding.

Talking with a supervisor

The twelve phrases on page 2 are the ones a new worker needs most and finds hardest to say: I’m finished and What’s next?, so they’re not left standing; Can you show me? and I don’t understand, so a task gets done right; I made a mistake, so it gets fixed early. Show the supervisor the board on day one and practice the phrases together, so they know to look for it and wait for the answer. Can I take my break? and a quiet place are there because a break at the right time keeps the whole shift going.

Coworkers and small talk

Good morning, how are you? and thanks for your help matter more than they look: they’re how coworkers get to know someone. There are six on page 2, and a coworker who sees them used every day often starts to wait for them. For longer chats on a break, the greetings and conversation board has questions and answers.

School-to-work and the IEP

In the US, a student’s IEP must include transition planning for life after school, including work, from age 16 at the latest. How the student will communicate on a job, and with which board or device, can be part of that plan: read AAC and the IEP. For adults, setting it up, in our guide to AAC for autistic adults, covers choosing words for your own life.

Make it match the job

Open “Work shift” in the schedule maker to put in the real tasks, a photo of the time clock or the staff entrance, and the right number of breaks.

Every word on the sheets

My work shift

• get to work
• clock in
• apron or uniform on
• check my list
• work on my tasks
• break time
• clean up my area
• clock out

Quick words

• yes
• no
• not sure
• one moment
• okay
• thank you

I need

• help
• a break
• the bathroom
• a drink
• more time
• a quiet place

Tell my supervisor

• I’m finished
• What’s next?
• Can you show me?
• I don’t understand
• Can you say it again?
• I made a mistake
• Where does this go?
• I need more supplies
• Is this right?
• Can I take my break?
• I don’t feel well
• I’ll be late

With coworkers

• good morning
• hi
• how are you?
• thanks for your help
• see you tomorrow
• have a good day

Task cards

• mop the floor
• sweep
• empty the trash
• stock the shelves
• unpack boxes
• fold towels
• hang clothes
• load the dishwasher
• wash dishes
• wipe the tables
• bring in the carts
• bag groceries
• clean the windows
• water the plants
• make copies
• computer work
• answer the phone
• help in the kitchen

Printing tips

• Print the task cards on card stock. They’re 1.6 inches (4 cm) square, like the cards on our other boards, so cards from the visual schedule for adults fit the same holders.
• Keep page 2 in a clear sleeve on a lanyard or a clipboard, so it goes wherever the work goes.
• For the trip to work, the city bus visual schedule; for laundry jobs, the folding steps on the laundry visual schedule.