Scheduling activities to meet the needs of students with intellectual disabilities can be a challenge. The school team and teachers will need to collaboratively develop a schedule for the student's day.

Some very specialized goals can be easily incorporated into the activities of all the children; for example, the goal of sustaining interactions with others could be reinforced in any activity where children are working together or in any opportunities for informal conversation with adults in the school.

Other goals will need to be met through more formally scheduled activities. For example, the activities planned to meet the goal of learning to count money may need to be scheduled during math period.

Some goals will require plans for the student to work outside the regular class. For example, practice managing public transportation will need to be done in the community. Work experience will take place in out of school settings. Self-care goals may need to be worked on in a private location such as the washroom or nurse's office. These out of class activities will need to be considered in the schedule for the student. For students who leave class for specialized services such as medical procedures or speech and language therapy, the schedule should reflect these interruptions in regular class attendance.

Schedules can be organized in various ways. Teachers will want to choose the method which they find most helpful. An example of one method is included as Appendix 8 in this document. The Regular Class Activities chart illustrates a student's schedule organized around the long-term goals set out in the IEP.