Why Visuals Deserve a Place in Your Room

Walk into any special education classroom and you will likely see a bunch of visual supports plastered all over the walls. The term 'visual support' is thrown around often, but what exactly does it mean?

What are visual supports?

Visuals are a pictorial representations of a person, place, thing, or specific action. Visual supports are all around us: On bathroom doors, street signs, company logos, TV, book covers, they truly are everywhere we look. Many educators think they are an extra thing we place in classrooms to just help students with autism, but the fact is, EVERYONE uses visuals to help them navigate the world we live in! Visual supports are NOT just for students with disabilities. 

A well thought-out classroom that supports students with behavioral needs utilizes visuals in a meaningful way. 

How they help build student independence:

1. They help students navigate their environment. Have you ever been to a country where you didn't speak the language? Think about how you got around - you used visuals! When you utilize visuals within your classroom space, students are better able to visually see where they are, where they need to go, how to get there, what to do, and when to do it (think about the who, what, when, where, and why of everything with do within the context of the school day). 

2. They help students comprehend information. Think about the students who just stare at you as you give your three-step directions. Why aren't they budging? Some students engage in other behaviors or don't initiate tasks because they don't understand something. If a student has limited receptive language skills (meaning they struggle processing verbal information) or if they have slower processing speed, visuals will help convey our message or direction. So, stop repeating directions and use some visuals! 

3. They aid in predictability and help decrease anxiety. Social stories are typically filled with visuals that describe an event or situation that the student is learning how to work through. With visuals there to assist the student in understanding more about a specific topic, we can help decrease their anxiety around it when used proactively. Visual schedules also show the student what is coming up in the day so they can prepare for it. This allows them to see when they will get access to preferred activities, breaks and more, therefore, decreasing the need to use those disruptive behaviors to get access to said things. 

4. Visuals assist students in appropriately communicating their wants and needs. Visuals aren't just for students that struggle with expressive language! We work with plenty of sixth graders with average intelligence who when stressed, appropriately communicate with visuals much better than with their words (and we are trying to have them avoid using their body right?!). 

"He knows how to ask for a break." Great! But is he consistently using his words to ask for one? When we are stressed or in a heightened state, our ability to think flexibly, problem solve, accurately process information, and effectively communicate drops significantly. So when you start teaching that replacement behavior, let them use a visual for a bit! The goal is to first get the challenging behavior to decrease and if it takes allowing the student to hand you a visual for a few weeks, do it. Again, you can fade this over time when they are ready. 

5. It is easier to fade a visual prompt than a verbal prompt. Do you ever catch yourself saying the same thing over and over again to your student? Do you feel like you always have to verbally remind them to do something? Well, in that moment, you may feel like they will only engage in a behavior if you verbally remind them - but, if you are like us, you didn't sign up to stand over their shoulder for the rest of their life telling them what to do. 

Visuals are much easier to fade away. You can fade their size, color, shape, and more. Verbal prompts however, you cannot. You either give it or you don't; it is almost impossible to go from verbally reminding a student to do something to having them do it independently every single time thereafter. You also don't need to be there for them to be used! That's right - students can use visuals on their own without your help. 

How to do you go about using visuals within your school or room? 

Great question! Let's talk about that. 

Use visuals...

• that are necessary. Don't flood your space with every visual in the world just because you think they look nice. Make sure they are actually necessary. Here are a few questions you and your team can ask yourselves to make sure you are using visuals for the right things:

1. Can my student communicate effectively about this topic?
2. Does this student struggle with this skill?
3. Does this student struggle when in this area or during this subject?
4. Does this student often need help in this area?
5. Do I usually have to give reminders or frequent prompts during this time?

• to show the order of events. Remember that statement above about decreasing anxiety and increasing predictability? Yep. Some students benefit from pictures within their schedule. Other students benefit from visuals depicting the sequence in which they need to problem solve a peer conflict or how to wait their turn. Not every student can process and remember the entire day's events or the sequence of more complex skills. 
• to label objects and spaces. Put labels above the math table and the reading table. Label where the crayons go. Label objects or spaces that help students differentiate between the important things within their environment.
• to help establish routines. Where do I put the dull pencils? Where do I hand in my work? Where do I line up? What should my voice and body be like in the hallway? What are the lunch room expectations? You can tell your students once, but we bet you there will still be some students who forget time and time again. Heck, give us a visual to complete a long division problem any day and we will thank you for it. 
• that are age appropriate. We never want to walk into a classroom and see an eighth grader with average cognitive abilities using a break card with the bald-headed Boardmaker cartoon on it. On the flip side, it wouldn't be appropriate to use a real photo of a cup of coffee on a kindergartener's break card (but please use it on mine because who doesn't need a coffee break every now and then?)
• that are functional. Think about whether or not the visual will help the student communicate or engage in an appropriate behavior or skill that will increase his or her independence. If you just have visuals hanging around the room because you think they are pretty, remove them and reconsider their use. Put them where the students will actually need to use them - you don't want to be running to the closet to get a coping skills visual in the middle of a crisis, you want that right next to that student's desk for easy access!
• Teach, Model, and Reinforce! Think that just posting visuals around your room will instantly get your students to engage in perfect behavior? Think again. Like anything else, visuals need to be explicitly taught. Build in times during the day where they student would need to use the visual. While holding up or pointing to the visual, tell the student what to do (i.e. what the visual is referring to). Model it for them and go through the physical motions together. Repeat, repeat, repeat. Practice with them until they are able to follow the steps(s) of the visual when they see it WITHOUT you saying anything or making any additional gestures. Praise, provide feedback and provide reinforcement for referring to the visual; remember, we want to see them use it again without us.