Can activity schedules–which provide step-by-step directions–help students quickly learn a new skill?
Is there a clear winner between low-tech and high-tech supports?
For example, printed images with written instructions placed in a binder, or the same images displayed on a tablet with instructions that can be read aloud through recorded audio.
What do students have to say about all this?
These were just some of the questions looked at by the Autism Model School and researchers at the University of Texas at Austin and Bowling Green State University.
Participants in this study were asked to make an unfamiliar food recipe using printed instructions in a binder and another recipe using directions displayed on a tablet.
For a third recipe participants chose between the binder and tablet.
Afterwards, they shared their opinions in a structured interview.
Findings from this collaborative project were published in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders on November 1st, 2025.1
Here are two important considerations highlighted in this work.
First, activity schedules can be exceptionally valuable tools to help students reach higher levels of autonomy.
Second, educators can, and should, include the voices of those they serve when selecting from various evidence-based interventions.
This project also marks the first published study featuring the school’s very own patent-pending software platform called IDAPT.2
Just like the participants in this study, our students are using IDAPT to learn how to independently complete a variety of skills for daily living, job training, and leisure time.
- McGuire, S. N., Vostal, B., Anderson, E. J., Vidovic, J., Thomas, A., & Reed, L. (2025). Low vs. high tech tools to teach activity schedules: An examination of effectiveness and preference. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-25-07110-5 (Online First Publication) ↩︎
- IDAPT stands for Individualized Digital Assistant and Performance Tracker ↩︎