Why do Visual Supports Help Individuals with Autism?
Visual supports are things you can see. They include body language, natural environmental cues, schedules and calendars as well as things that are specifically designed to meet an individuals specific needs. Visual supports allow individuals with communicative disorders such as autism, organic brain syndrome and developmental disabilities enhance their ability to communicate and understand what is expected of them. Through the use of communicative aids individuals with autism can enhance their ability to communicate with people in their circle, improve effective receiving of information as well as processing information. Visual cues are also important aides to promote independence and provide a means to allow individuals to express themselves in more appropriate ways.
- Body Language includes: Communicative messages are affected by the use of natural body language and help clarify messages. The ability to understand the body’s natural signals can significantly affect an individual’s ability to understand others communicative message.
- Facial expressions.
- Where the body is in location and orientation to the environment.
- The way a person stands.
- The movement a person makes in relation to their body.
- It includes reaching, touching and pointing at things.
- The way you look at someone, eye contact, the shift in eye gaze.
- Natural Environmental Cues: There are many natural cues around us. It is important to be able to interpret their meanings in relation to the environment to help us function more effectively as well as more independently in the world around us.
- The way we arrange our environment such as furniture.
- The way people or objects move throughout the environment.
- Signs, signals and other printed items that direct, or provide information.
- Written or visual messages that provide instructions, choices or even menus at restaurants.
- Organizational materials that provide information: people have many ways of organizing their lives through the use of visual or supportive aides. Teaching an individual with special needs strategies for organizing and communicating more effectively give them more independence in life.
- Calendars and daily planners.
- Guides for television or movie theaters.
- Shopping list.
- Maps to negotiate through their environment.
- Items like telephone books and other aids to find things.
- How to do instructions like cooking receipts and working a DVD player.
Specially Designed Tools to Meet Specific Needs: Many people use tools such as these in their daily life to help keep them organized and prepared for each day. Individuals with autism need the same thing but changed to meet their specific needs. It may mean changing the visual support to pictures, breaking down the task to smaller steps or providing communication aides to help them express their needs. Through the use of visual supports, individuals with autism as well as other communicative disorders can learn, grow and move through their world more independently.
Join us through Communication A to Z as we continue to cover many topics such as visual supports, communication, positive behavior supports, education as well as parent advocacy just to name a few. Let us know if you are interested in a specific area as well. We are here to help.
Explore posts in the same categories: CommunicationThis entry was posted on February 8, 2013 at 10:00 am and is filed under Communication. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments.
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