Let’s talk visual’s
Visual aid are extremely beneficial to children with additional needs and create opportunities for children to effectively communicates there needs and feelings. Visual aids support areas of children’s language and communication development.
Visual aids support in various ways:
Provides structure and routine
Improves understanding
Improves communication and helps communicating effetely with others
Supports children to communicate feelings and emotions
Positive behavior’s
Time management
Helps make sense of the world around them
Social skills
Types of visual support you could use at home or in education
Visual timetable – A lot of children with additional needs benefit from a well structed routine, sometimes children find it hard to process changes and new experiences. This allows children to establish a clear structure to what will be happening throughout the day in a school setting or at home.
Choice board – Allowing children to feel in control by allowing them to pick their choices. Could be used as a reward system in an educational setting for when they have completed a task, they can pick a choice as a reward. This gives the children a focus and something to work for.
Now and next – Prepare children for what is happening now and what is coming next Beneficial for children who need to be prepared in small chunks.
Pictures/symbols – Visually showing the children pictures and symbols of what you are talking about. In a school setting these could be put onto a lanyard to help aid communication.
Makaton – Makaton symbols can really support children.
Checklists – I find these are extremely beneficial for older children allowing them to tick of events as the day progresses.
Real objects
Emotional check in – how do you feel today? – Supports children with emotional regulation allowing children to stick onto a board how they feel via smiley face / sad face ect.
Social stories – These are helpful to inform children of what they can expect and what is expected of them.
Sand timer – Helps children to have a clear start and finish time. These are great for both an education setting or a home setting. Sand timers can be set to show how long they have left of a lesson, a task, until breaktime, providing clear time management.
