Teaching Planning and Organizational Skills to Autistic Individuals

Autistic individuals may have difficulty with planning and organizational skills because of challenges with executive functions. Planning skills involve the ability to think ahead, set goals, and create a strategy to accomplish tasks or activities. Organizational skills involve managing time, materials, and information in a structured manner. Both of these skills are essential for autistic individuals to navigate daily activities and achieve independence.

In order to develop effective supports for planning and organizational skills, we first have to understand the challenges that autistic individuals face to develop these skills.

Difficulties That Impact Planning and Organizational Skills

There are several difficulties that autistic individuals have that can impact planning and organizational skills. Here are some of the challenges:

1. Autistic Inertia – Autistic inertia is the tendency that autistic people have to want to remain in a constant state. Some of the common traits are difficulty resuming tasks after an interruption, not being aware of time, difficulty with transitions because of not being able to start/stop tasks, and feeling “stuck” – can’t move on to the next thing.
2. Movement Differences – Movement differences can cause difficulties for autistic people in a number of ways such as starting or initiating a task, continuation of a task, execution which encompasses rhythm, timing, speed, and accuracy, and combining functions such as watching and listening, looking and doing, and listening and speaking.
3. Time Management – Autistic individuals often struggle to understand and manage time effectively. Not understanding time and how it works can make a person late, rushed, not able to finish a task, miss out on an event, take too long to do something, lose a job, or ruin an otherwise potentially good day.
4. Flexibility and Adaptability – Changes in routines or unexpected events can be upsetting for autistic people because it makes things feel new and unpredictable. Cognitive flexibility, also called flexible thinking, is an executive function. It is the ability to adapt behaviors in response to changes in the environment, switch tasks, and adapt when things are changing in the environment. Rigidity can be a defense mechanism to prevent stress and anxiety. Our goal should never be to force change, but rather to help a person learn flexible thinking strategies and healthy ways to manage anxiety.
5. Sensory Sensitivities –  Sensory sensitivities, such as sensitivity to noise, lights, or textures, can affect a person’s ability to concentrate and focus on planning and organizational tasks. If sensory needs are not accommodated, a person may experience sensory overload, meaning there is an overwhelmed response to various sensory stimuli.

Strategies to Help with Planning Skills

Here are three strategies that can help in the development of planning skills for autistic individuals:

Visual Supports and Schedules

Visual supports and schedules provide structure, routine, consistency and predictability which lessens anxiety. When a person understands the expectations and knows what to do, they are more independent and confident.

Visual information is fixed and permanent. Visuals can be used in any environment such as at home, school, in the community, and at work. While the types of visual supports  may change as a person matures, the need for them will always be there. The adults who are providing support also communicate more clearly when using visuals.

Visual supports can take many forms. You may have to try several different types to figure out which ones a person prefers and understands best. Different types of visual supports may be used in different situations.

A visual schedule gives a clear representation of daily routines and activities.  Daily schedules can be broken down into morning, afternoon and evening. You can also use weekly or monthly schedules or combinations of all of these. Schedules support predictability and let a person know what to expect, reducing anxiety.

Task Analysis and Breaking Down Tasks

Breaking down a skill into smaller, much more manageable tasks/steps is called task analysis. This allows for practice of a smaller step, and then over time chaining together multiple steps together until the person can complete the task successfully. Autistic people often need direct instruction on how to do tasks and may not learn them by watching other people do them. In addition to direct instruction, there needs to be multiple times to practice in order to gain critical mass. Critical mass, true mastery of a skill, is the point where an individual has gained enough information to be successful in situations, activities, or skills for which instruction has not been provided. When there has been enough instruction and multiple experiences, a tipping point can occur and the person can apply the skill in many new ways. This is called generalization, and it doesn’t happen right away.

Making Time Concrete

Time itself is an abstract idea. To understand it better, you have to find ways to make it more concrete, tangible and visual. Deficits in short term or working memory can affect the ability to recall recent events. Individuals with a poor working memory are less able to consistently recreate time intervals. Timing relies on working memory, multitasking and planning, all of which are often impaired in autistic individuals. Attention deficit may also affect the perception of time.

There are a number of visual timer products available. The most popular one is the Time Timer. You don’t need to focus on or understand a traditional clock face to successfully use a Time Timer. This innovative tool constantly reinforces the sense of elapsed time in order to promote better time management. You see and “feel” time elapse as the Time Timer’s red dial graphically shows you how much time is left.

Other visual timer options are sand timers, visual apps, “all done” baskets, calendars, and visual schedules. All of these can show the passage of time in a concrete manner.

Music can provide an auditory structure around how long it takes to complete a task. For example, there are a number of two minute songs for tooth brushing. Organized Chaos blog has songs for brushing hair, getting dressed and packing a backpack.

Ideas for Building Organizational Skills

By using strategies that promote organization, autistic individuals can effectively manage their time, tasks, and responsibilities. Here are some ideas for building organizational skills:

Create a Structured Environment

A structured environment is comprised of the physical set up of a room/space, schedules, work systems, routines and visual strategies, and the visual structure of materials. All of this can help a person sort out what information is relevant vs. nonrelevant, provide predictability, give visual cues as to what comes next or what to do, support transitions, and reduce stress and anxiety. Having a structured environment at home, school, or in the workplace increases the likelihood of success.

Autistic people benefit from regulated and predictable schedules, and may need help to overcome anxiety around any transitions and change by finding and highlighting areas of predictability within them. While communication can be an issue for autistic people, creating predictability and lowering anxiety can go a long way towards creating an environment that supports the most communication possible.

Color coding can be used to indicate the importance or significance of tasks. Pictures, written lists, calendars and real objects can all be good ways of helping autistic people to understand what is going to happen and when. Label bins and containers and organize by categories – ex. art supplies, book topics, types of clothing, types of toys.

Use Visual Supports

Using calendars, checklists, and task lists help autistic people understand and manage their daily activities. These visuals serve as constant, fixed reminders, aiding in memory retention and task completion. Materials can also be visually structured, showing what they look like and how they will be used. There are many ideas and ways to use materials to support comprehension. You may find the Structured Tasks videos and suggestions from the Indiana Resource Center for Autism helpful.

Technology Aids and Apps

In today’s digital age, numerous apps and technological tools have been developed specifically to support autistic individuals with organization. Some ideas are:

• Task management apps with visual interfaces and customizable features Ex. Brain in Hand
• Digital calendars with reminders and syncing capabilities across devices
• Time-tracking apps to improve time awareness and management
• Organizational apps designed for autistic individuals, such as Choiceworks or First Then Visual Schedule

Developing strong planning and organizational skills is an ongoing process that may require continuous adaptation as a person grows, matures, and changes. Practicing and encouraging a growth mindset by trying new organizational strategies can help autistic individuals continue to improve their skills over time.

References

Golden Steps ABA (July 3, 2024). Autism Develop Planning and Organizational Skills

Mastermind Behavior (February 23, 2025). How to Teach Organizational Skills to Children with ASD

National Autistic Society (August 14, 2020). Organising and prioritising – a guide for all audiences

Neurolaunch (August 11, 2024). Autism Organization Skills: Mastering Strategies for Daily Life