I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.
- Chinese Proverb

We rely on visual supports everyday.  Visual supports help us locate the restroom in a public setting.  They tell us where we can and can’t park our cars.  They give us direction when we need to assemble a new piece of furniture.  Even Post-it notes, to-do lists and day planners could be considered visual support strategies.  Visual supports are those things we can see that can improve communication, interaction and understanding.  For many individuals with special needs, visual information may be easier to process than auditory information because visual information is not transient and can be referred to as long as it is needed in order to make sense.  To help you understand the impact that visual supports can have on the lives of individuals with complex communication needs (and the people who support them), let me tell you a little story. 

I was visiting a high school classroom one morning and observed an instructional assistant (IA) helping a student with his daily hygiene routine.  The student was standing in front of the sink holding his toothbrush and waiting for instruction.  The IA proceeded to verbally give each and every step for brushing teeth (ex., pick up the toothpaste, take off the top, etc.).  She looked at me with an exasperated expression on her face and told me that she had been helping this same student brush is teeth every morning for the past 3 years.  I could tell that the student probably thought the verbal prompts were just a part of the tooth brushing process (you might call this prompt dependency).  Long story short, we implemented a picture schedule (a to-do list, if you will) for the steps for brushing teeth and posted it on the mirror in front of the sink.  Within one week, the student was independently brushing his teeth.  A simple solution like this was able to increase the student’s independence, reduce some of the frustration that was felt by the IA and open the eyes of the school team to consider other ways in which they could use visual supports during other classroom activities.  I find it very interesting that we often forget that our students can benefit some of the same strategies that we depend on ourselves.

Listed below are some ways that visual supports can be used in everyday environments. 

• Organizational tools can be used to manage one’s environment and increase understanding. Many individuals with special needs perform better when their environment is predictable.  By providing tools to organize their world, individuals can increase comfort level in new situations, support comprehension and promote more relaxed performance, thus helping them become more efficient in daily tasks (Hodgdon, 1995). Examples of organizational tools might include calendars, schedules (e.g., brushing teeth) and labeling of the environment. 
• Communication tools can address both the receptive and expressive requirements of individuals with complex communication needs.  Receptively, these tools can increase vocabulary understanding and provide higher level language and literacy skills.  Expressively, these same tools provide individuals with complex communication needs with the means to make choices, comment and control their own destiny.  These tools can range from low-tech picture communication books all the way to a speech generating devices (SGD).
  
• Instructional tools can be used to clarify new concepts, especially when there are difficulties with auditory comprehension. These supports can provide structure for activities, provide information about time, people, and environments. Examples might include flashcards, word walls, vocabulary bingo, and symbol supported worksheets.
  
• Tools for managing challenging behaviors can play a key role when developing a plan for intervention (Mirenda, 2006).  Some individuals have no other way to communicate and will use whatever means necessary (ex., hitting, screaming, etc.) to express themselves. Some examples might include classroom rule charts, schedules (to help with transition), token reward systems and contingency maps.

 Resources:

Hodgden, L. (2002). Visual Strategies for Improving Communication: Practical Supports for School and Home. Quark Roberts Publishing. 

Mirenda, P. (2008). Paper presented at AAC and all that Jazz. New Orleans, LA 

Schedule It! Sequence It! Mayer-Johnson. www.mayer-johnson.com 

AdaptedLearning.com – www.adaptedlearning.com