Visual supports are actually a part of all our everyday lives.
The phone
The clock
The fitbit
The road sign
The time on the washing machine to tell you how long til the end of the cycle
The diary ….
When you consider it, the list is endless. Visual supports are a reminder of what we need to do, when we need to do it, why we need to do it; we can refer back to the visual so we don’t have to hold all this information in our busy minds. Spoken information is said and the words are gone but the visual, it’s there – the permanent reminder. They help us to be organised, independent, have time to process, help ourselves.
If we need this as adults, then it is logical to ensure children have the same opportunity to being organised, independent, have time to process, help themselves. Why we make them rely on needing us to tell them everything just makes no sense. We expect them to have independence while still spoon feeding information and not providing the one simple tool that promotes independence.
Visuals can support all the key areas of autistic difference:
Social understanding
Visuals in this key area can support
- Understanding others
- Understanding social context and situations
- Provide a social structure for break and lunch times
- Understanding emotional regulation and expressing feelings
Communication
Visuals in this key area can support
- Understanding of receptive language
- Child making own wants and needs known
- Use of expressive language
- Understanding non-verbal communication
Information processing
Visuals in this key area can support
- Routine of the day
- Structure within each part of the day
- Making a transition from one activity to the next
- Processing auditory information
- Making a choice
Sensory processing
Visuals in this key area can support
- When it’s time to take a sensory break
- What type of sensory break to take
- Independence with sensory provision
- Following a sensory circuit or sensory trail
And visuals can also support self help and independence
Visuals in this area can support
- Everyday life self help skills – toileting, sleeping, eating, dressing
- Self regulation – emotional and sensory
- Independent working
A good visual support should meet the needs of the individual as well as supporting their developmental level. They may not be ready for symbols yet but need the real object of reference or a photo of the real object. Or they may be ready for written visual information and find the use of symbols or photos too young and not want to engage. Visuals should be clear and precise with the key message represented. Always consider the size, colour, picture or symbol on it. Is the background too busy and distracts from the message? Best to choose a blank background, with a good size picture or symbol that clearly represents what the activity is. There should always be time to re-evaluate and the review the impact of the visual; if it is not working, does it meet the individual need or developmental level, are they being used consistently by all those supporting the child? Changed to represent the day – it’s no good if it is Wednesday afternoon and the visual timetable hasn’t be changed since Tuesday morning!
If a child is doing really well and you take the visuals away, you may have taken away the one tool that is helping them to do so well!
Never under estimate the power of good visual supports.