Apparent differences in executive function can lead to challenges for students on the autism spectrum in mainstream settings. Difficulties with staying on-task and transitioning between tasks or task elements can interfere with students’ participation in educational activities and lead to stress and anxiety. While the use of visual supports, such as visual schedules and work systems, has been shown to be effective in supporting students to stay on-task in special education and autism-specific settings, there is little research to support the use of these strategies by teachers in mainstream classrooms. This study evaluated the use of visual schedules and work systems in supporting four students on the autism spectrum to stay on-task and work independently in a mainstream setting. These strategies were implemented by teachers as inclusive practices, and evaluated using observations within the natural classroom environment to examine their feasibility in mainstream settings. All participants demonstrated improvements in on-task behaviours. Results for other, secondary, dependent variables were mixed, with some students showing reduced off-task behaviours and increased productivity. The implications for clinical practice and future research directions are discussed.

中文翻译：

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使用视觉时间表和工作系统来增加主流教室中自闭症谱系学生的任务行为

执行功能的明显差异可能会给主流环境中的自闭症学生带来挑战。坚持完成任务以及在任务或任务元素之间转换的困难会干扰学生对教育活动的参与，并导致压力和焦虑。虽然视觉支持的使用，如视觉时间表和工作系统，已被证明可以有效地支持学生在特殊教育和自闭症特定环境中完成任务，但很少有研究支持通过以下方式使用这些策略主流课堂的教师。这项研究评估了视觉时间表和工作系统在支持四名自闭症学生在主流环境中完成任务和独立工作方面的使用。这些策略由教师作为包容性实践来实施，并使用自然课堂环境中的观察进行评估，以检查它们在主流环境中的可行性。所有参与者都表现出在执行任务行为方面的改进。其他次要因变量的结果喜忧参半，一些学生表现出减少的任务外行为和提高的生产力。讨论了对临床实践和未来研究方向的影响。