Visual Supports

First-Then boards help children understand the order of activities. They also help motivate children to complete a less motivating activity when they can see that it will be following by a more motivating activity. E.g. "First clean up, then playground."

For non-verbal or minimally verbal children, communicating wants and needs can be difficult. It can be helpful to have icons for critical communication skills on hand (yes, no, bathroom, break, wait, and help) as well as icons for other basic needs (e.g., eat, drink). You can print the icons and cut them out, or use each page as a pointing board.

An emotions thermometer can help teach children how they are feeling and when they are about to reach a meltdown stage. Once children understand and recognize these feelings, they can learn to request help or use a replacement behavior before they reach the red zone.

This is a visual support/task analysis strip showing the basic steps of eating. Some children exhibit unsafe behaviors while eating such as overstuffing or not chewing food completely. Having a visual support present while eating can be a helpful reminder of safe eating habits.

This social visual support can be helpful for students who have difficulty asking questions to friends.

This is a visual for describing words. Use this to help expand your child's vocabulary when talking about various items and places.

Many children have difficulty with prepositions or position words. This visual can help your child understand what you mean by the words "in", "on", and "under".

For many children, following directions that contain the terms, "before" and "after" can be very confusing, especially because we can give directions with these words in different ways! Use this visual to help your child understand the order in which to complete a 2-step direction containing "before" or "after".

Children with language disorders often have a difficult time telling stories or retelling personal events. This image, in addition to your or your child's hand, can serve as a visual support to remind your child of the important parts of a story.

This is a different version of the "Personal Story Telling Hand Held Organizer". Use the images to prompt your child to include each important component of their story. Print and use in one of two ways: point to each image on the sheet or cut out each square and secure the images with a binder ring.

Many children have difficulty understanding what a "wh" question is asking. For example, you may ask your child, "Who did you eat lunch with?" and they respond, "a sandwich". In this instance, the child did not understand that "who" was asking about a person. These four variations of a "wh" question support can help your child understand what you are asking them.