V is for Visuals: Building Skills

 As a CDA (lol, and as a person) I like to support children who need extra help with processing.  Maybe they need more sensory experiences or reduced auditory stimulation or added visual supports. Today's topic is about using visuals.

From infancy on through to adulthood visual input is a means of using sensory input to help process information and use it. Some children are visual learners and build their skills optimally when the learning process is supported by visual cues.  From early on supporting learning with visuals is meaningful.  Showing them a picture of a dog and labelling it is more useful than describing what a dog is.  Showing the bottle of milk is more impactful than asking if they are thirsty.  Picking up their shoes and pointing to the door is a clear symbol to demonstrate what the next plan is even without opening your mouth to tell them.   Here are some ways to use visuals to build skills and support the development of the child(ren) in your life.

Requesting:  Having pictures for those with few words to help them communicate is beneficial.  Choosing their favourite snack from a page of nine options will help them reduce melt downs for not being able to make you understand what they want.  But maybe nine options is too many.  Maybe start with one visual sign for eat and one visual sign for drink. They could point to the picture or bring it to you to ask for something even before they have words for it or if they are not in a good place to use their words effectively. You can use visuals to build their communication.  To request markers they could have a page of colours in front of them and they can 'tell' you which colour they want next. They could just point or say the colour or you could teach them a carrier phrase such as "I want the ___ one."  

Labelling:  Having individual pictures on toy bins or drawers to label what belongs inside will help them know where to put things to keep their belongings organized and their space tidy.

Following Instructions:  One way of using visuals is to provide the child with step by step instructions on how to do something such as get dressed, tie shoes or make a sandwich.  When in doubt, they can refer to the pictures to discover what to do next.  Another option is to have a visual picture to help them obey an instruction.  A picture of the bathroom to show them it is time for a bath or to use the potty.  You can show them a picture of a clock or the number five and show them the picture to supplement the verbal communication that there will be a transition in activities in five minutes.  For some children, the picture is processed with much greater simplicity than a verbal request would be and helps them to successfully follow the instruction with reduced stress. 

Following a Schedule/Routine: Another example of pictures supporting children involves the use of a visual schedule.  Take real life photos of the child getting out of bed, brushing their teeth, finishing getting dressed, eating breakfast, putting shoes on, picking up their backpack and heading out the door.  Place these pictures in order to help the child know what will come next. Use it each morning to help them learn to follow a schedule and learn the routine.  It can be in a row of images, a book whose pages can be turned as they complete each task or a velcro tab board from which they remove the task once it is completed.

First/Then:  For those who cannot yet manage a series of events on a schedule, you can begin with a two step board/page. Box one can be a Velcro tabbed picture of what you want them to do and Velcro tabbed picture two can be a picture of what they want to do.  For example, first broccoli, then chocolate milk; first homework, then TV; first diaper change, then toys or first cleanup, then outside.  When they try not to obey, you just have a picture to point to.  You can say yes to them but help them see there is a step before they get what they want.  YES you CAN have the train set but First you have to clean up the Lego.  

There are a few suggestions to which I would add one more suggestion.  Keep photos of you with your children engaged in happy events and look over them every so often with the children. Use visuals in their life for positive interactions such as sharing memories of good days.  Use visuals to build skills and good memories too!