5. Using Visual Supports

Have you ever labeled your food in a communal fridge to make sure your delicious lunch wasn’t eaten by a coworker? Or, have you left a sticky note on your front door to remind you to bring something specific to work? Maybe you’ve taken a photo of your parking space at the airport or in a parking garage to remind yourself where you left your car. These are all examples of visual supports!

These tools really help us remain on task, remember important things, and communicate our wants and needs. Visual supports are helpful for all of us, and especially useful when supporting children with disabilities and children who are multilingual. In this video, we’ll talk about how to use these in your program!

We’ll see an example of how teachers in a preschool classroom use visual supports to help everyone understand the expectations and manage their belongings. We’ll also see how teachers use visuals to provide individualized support for two students that need a little more help. Let’s dive in!

As we mentioned, many of us use visual information to make sense of the world around us. Visual supports are specific images, schedules, line drawings, photographs, to-do lists, infographics, and more that give us additional information. When supporting young children, visual supports enable us to provide information in a variety of ways.

Let’s consider how one neighborhood preschool program uses visual supports to help everyone. Some children in the program have identified disabilities, such as Khalid, and are multilingual, like Isabella, Zach, and Dae.

The class spends a lot of time in the community, playing at parks, riding the bus to new places, and going on walks. While these activities are fun and engaging for all the children, the teachers spend a lot of time making sure everyone is safe, staying with the group, and following directions. It can feel stressful getting all the children ready to go, making sure they have what they need, and are staying with the group as they embark on these fun adventures.

To help things run more smoothly and make sure all the children have a clear understanding of the expectations and what materials they need, teachers think about using visual supports. They wonder if providing a visual schedule with pictures of the parts of each activity will help all the children be more independent with these transitions and let them know what to expect throughout the day.

They begin to brainstorm some ideas for visuals that would help transitions—things like photos of each activity, such as holding hands with a buddy, walking to the bus stop, waiting for the bus, finding a seat, and sitting down. The process of getting everything they need, including children’s coats, rainboots when necessary, and backpacks with snacks and water bottles has been a tricky process too. They think that having photos of the things everyone needs will help.

Next, they work to teach all the children what the visuals mean. It’s not always clear what visuals mean, especially if we aren’t able to read the text! For example, take this image of “waiting patiently for a turn” and this image of asking to trade—from the Head Start Center for Inclusion website—without the accompanying text, these visuals could mean a number of different things! It’s important to explain and demonstrate in a developmentally appropriate way the meaning of each visual, show children exactly what this means, and celebrate when they use the visual independently.

The teachers did this by showing children the visual supports during circle time and talking through each one. Then, they checked to see if each child could tell them what it meant.

Keep in mind that the best time to teach children about specific visuals is before the activity, event, or time they may need to use them. The third step involves giving children lots of opportunities throughout the day to use their visual support and embedding this visual into the routine. The more chances a child has to practice using a visual support in a variety of activities, the faster they will be able to use it across settings!

So, we want to ensure that children can practice using their visuals throughout the day in all activities. The teachers did this by consistently showing children these visuals before leaving, so children always had extra information about what they needed and what to expect. They always brought visuals with them on field trips to provide additional help to anyone who might need it and to review what would happen next.

After a few weeks, teachers realized that field trips were running much more smoothly! Children were staying with the group, getting their coats and backpacks, and generally participating much more independently! But there were two children who seemed like they needed a bit more support—Khalid and Isabella. So, the teachers took a more individualized approach.

For Khalid, they made an individual picture schedule with photos of each step in different field trip routines. A teacher went through this schedule with him individually before each activity and reviewed each step. Then, Khalid got to hold this visual and take it with him—something he really loved!

The plan for Isabella was a little different. While she consistently stayed with the group and got her materials, she struggled to communicate her wants and needs with teachers. She often wanted more time to play at a playground, or more time to eat her snack, and would become very frustrated when it was time to be finished.

Isabella had a hard time using her words in these situations, so teachers made her some visuals that said “I need more time” and “I am not ready yet.” They showed Isabella how to use these symbols to communicate what she needed, and she immediately started using them independently! Teachers put these visuals on a key ring and attached this to a bracelet that Isabella could wear. This way, they were always close by and easy for her to access.

As we saw in this example and in the individual supports for Khalid and Isabella, visuals enable us to provide information in multiple ways and help children communicate their wants and needs. Of course, visuals are helpful for ALL children but especially useful for children with disabilities and children who are multiple language learners!

Things like a visual schedule of activities, a visual checklist of things needed for a certain activity, or individual visuals to help specific children with a certain routine are simple and easy ways to promote participation and create inclusive environments where everyone gets the support they need.

How might you use visuals in your program?