1. Visual Strategies for Improving Communication

2. Chinese Proverb I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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 DisabilitiesMental Impairments Communication DisordersHearing Impairment Attention Deficit DisorderBilingual …..and many more

6. 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.

7. Communication Components: §Receptive: Understanding what is being said and presented §Expressive: sending information back out in an effective manner

8. REMEMBER: Communication is NOT

9. Communication involves: §establishing or shifting attention §following rapidly changing stimuli §taking in information §Processing/understanding information §storing information §retrieving information §sending information in a clear and appropriate manner

10. The Communication Partner §The student is only 1/2 of the communication interaction. §How effective is the communication partner?

11. Receptive Communication §Frequently forgotten §often misjudged §usually severely deficient §commonly not programmed for adequately

12. “He understands everything I say” §Routine language §gestures §learned routines §environmental supports §Communication supports

13. IT DOES NOT MATTER IF STUDENTS ARE VERBAL OR NONVERBAL

14. the majority of students are Visual Learners

15. IF I CAN SEE IT then I understand

16. What are visual supports? §Body language §Natural environmental cues §Traditional tools for organization and giving information §Specially designed tools to meet specific needs

17. VISUAL TOOLS We all use these techniques

18. Visual tools give information and help understanding. §what is going to happen §when something is going to happen §what are the choices §what is changing §who is coming §what are you suppose to do

19. Schedules §what is happening §what is happening that is new or different §what is the sequence of events

20. Tools to give directions §get student’s attention §use simple and to the point wording

21. Visual tools to establish rules §tell what to do §tell what not to do §define rewards §define consequences

22. Visual tools to teach social skills

23. Creating Visual Tools §DO: l use what the student understands quickly and easily l create tools that are universally understood l observe how the students respond to what you create l teach what you create l place visual tools in all settings §DON’T l Make tools that are to complicated or too difficult for students to understand l create arbitrary rules about how visual tools must look

24. 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.

25. Polk County Visual Strategy Resources §FDLRS website page: www.polk-fl.net §In keyword box: Type Boardmaker §It will open up to the ESE and FDLRS Boardmaker Resources page §Scroll down for all of the resources available for visual strategies §You can print any pages with this symbol without needing the software