In this episode of Illinois STAR NET Regions I&III's (http://starnet.org/home/) podcast, Early Childhood Resource Specialist Bridget Meis (b-meis@wiu.edu) discusses Visual Supports. She relates how adults use visual supports to the importance of implementing visual supports for all children. Overall, this podcast explains the benefits for using visual supports in the classroom and provides a variety of examples that can be used to support all children.
Transcript
Using visual supports in the classroom has many benefits for all children. Visuals can support children by helping them to predict what is happening next in their day; helping children make connections with what they are told verbally; helping remind children of the steps to directions – such as washing hands, and overall, can help to reduce challenging behavior by helping children to know what to expect in different situations.
As adults, we use visual supports every day. Think about going into a new building for the first time. You look for visuals to tell you where to go – a sign that tells you which direction to go with a specific room name or number on it. Signs to tell you where to go for the bathroom, vending machines, stairs, or elevator. When you are driving, there are visuals that tell you what to expect along the road – such as a stop sign coming up, or that there is a curve in the road ahead. Visuals are all around us in our daily lives, and they help us to prepare for what to expect.
Visuals can be used the same way with young children in the classroom. Some children struggle with behavior when they do not know what to expect. They may become frustrated and act out during transitions. We can set up a visual schedule that tells children what will be happening during the day to help reduce this anxiety. When we set the visual schedule up, we can be mindful of creating it so that when an activity is over, children can help remove the item or turn the item over on the schedule to show that it is done – this can help children to visually see what is left to do for the day. It is not enough to just have the schedule posted, we want to refer to it throughout the day and talk about what has already happened and what will happen next.
When you think about your life as an adult, you may create lists of things to do, or things to get from the store. You use that list as a reminder of what you still need to do, and you cross things off when you have accomplished the task or picked up the item. Then you can easily see what you still have left to do. This is what the visual schedule can do for children – help them to see what they still need to do during the day.
With some children a daily schedule posted in the classroom is enough to help guide them when it is referred to throughout the day. Some children may benefit from using an individual schedule that breaks down different parts of the day. You may create an individual schedule for a child that has all the activities of large group pictured. The child can then move the pictures to a folder that says done, move it to a list that says done, or even put a check mark next to the item that indicates that the activity is finished. Not all children will need this much support for an activity, but it is a strategy that can really benefit the children who do need the additional support.
Visuals can also be used to help children throughout other times of the day. We know that giving children choices can help to reduce power struggles in the classroom. Especially when we give two options to the child and we are okay with either choice. This gives the child some control over what is happening. For example, when we ask a child, “do you wa