Visual Strategiesfor

ImprovingCommunication

Chinese Proverb

I hear and I forget.

I see and I remember.

I do and I understand.

Students come to us with a variety of learning styles and diverse needs.

It is our job to provide supports within the classroom to allow each student to reach their utmost potential.

Comprehension is key.

Where did the idea of using Visual Strategies come from?

Originally, research in the area of Autism found that individuals with autism learn best when information is spatially organized and non transient.

They exhibit wholistic, gestalt processing.Information presented auditorily is transient

and more difficult to process.

Who else can benefit?

A component of many disabilities is a deficit in receptive and expressive communication skills.

Research has found that visual strategies are beneficial for individuals with:

Learning Disabilities Mental ImpairmentsCommunication Disorders Hearing ImpairmentAttention Deficit Disorder Bilingual …..and many

more

Inclusion is here.

The focus is now on doing whatever is possible to support a student’s needs within the regular classroom rather than removing them and sending them to a separate ESE classroom.

We need tools to help all students succeed.

Communication Components:

Receptive: Understanding what is being said and presented

Expressive: sending information back out in an effective manner

REMEMBER:

Communication is NOT

Communication involves:establishing or shifting attentionfollowing rapidly changing stimulitaking in informationProcessing/understanding informationstoring informationretrieving informationsending information in a clear and

appropriate manner

The Communication Partner

The student is only 1/2 of the communication interaction.

How effective is the communication partner?

Receptive Communication

Frequently forgottenoften misjudgedusually severely

deficientcommonly not

programmed for adequately

“He understands everything I say”

Routine languagegestures learned routinesenvironmental

supportsCommunication

supports

IT DOES NOT MATTER IF STUDENTS ARE

VERBAL OR NONVERBAL

the majority of students are

Visual Learners

IF I CAN SEE IT

then I understand

What are visual supports?

Body languageNatural environmental cuesTraditional tools for organization and

giving informationSpecially designed tools to meet specific

needs

VISUAL TOOLSWe all use these techniques

Visual tools give information and help understanding.

what is going to happenwhen something is going to happenwhat are the choiceswhat is changingwho is comingwhat are you suppose to do

Schedules

what is happeningwhat is happening that is new or differentwhat is the sequence of events

Tools to give directions

get student’s attentionuse simple and to the point wording

Visual tools to establish rules

tell what to dotell what not to dodefine rewardsdefine consequences

Visual tools to teach social skills

Creating Visual ToolsDO:

use what the student understands quickly and easily

create tools that are universally understood

observe how the students respond to what you create

teach what you create place visual tools in all

settings

DON’T Make tools that are to

complicated or too difficult for students to understand

create arbitrary rules about how visual tools must look

Visual Strategies Now I

Our goal is to discover how using visual strategies to support communication will make a difference in each student’s life.

Polk County Visual Strategy ResourcesFDLRS website page: www.polk-fl.netIn keyword box: Type BoardmakerIt will open up to the ESE and FDLRS

Boardmaker Resources pageScroll down for all of the resources

available for visual strategiesYou can print any pages with this

symbol without needing the software