1. How to create visuals for students with Autism,
ADHD and other health impairments
Angela Janick
Camelot Therapeutic Day School
2. A little information about me:
I have been teaching since 2002
I worked with mostly high school students during my first four
years of teaching
When I got laid off, I had a long term sub assignment in a middle
school classroom with kids who have BD.
I started to create some visuals to try to help them learn on a daily
basis. I used a lot of Google images!
After that assignment, I applied for an Art Teacher position at
Camelot Therapeutic Day School
I have always had a special place in my heart for students with
special needs
I believe everyone can learn at their own level and ability
3. Therapeutic Day School
I did not have any training working with kids with Autism nor had I
worked at a therapeutic day school.
I had some experience from my other jobs working with kids with
special needs and two special ed classes in college
My school did not have an art teacher before me who worked with
the students with Autism
I had to start from scratch, but I shared an office with the Autism
coordinator
She told me about PECS
Picture Exchange Communication System
4. At that time, I started making books with pictures
and using the sentence strips to help my students
who were familiar or not with PECS to aide them
when doing art projects.
Five years later, I still have some of the same kids, of
course they are older, but they know exactly what to
do when they are given a project strip.
Sometimes, I don’t even have to say anything and
they get right to work.
5. I also work with students who have social emotional
disorders and other health impairments.
I find that the visuals help these students as well.
I may not use PECS with them, but I will show you
some other examples that I have used later in the
presentation.
6. The information that I am going to share with you is
a compiling of things that I have learned over the
last five years.
I find the information useful on a daily basis
I know that you probably have a student with
Autism or other special needs in your classroom
I hope the information I present will help you help
all of your students succeed
7. Defining visual supports
Have you ever made a list for the grocery store?
Have you ever pointed to a picture in
an advertisement or a menu to show someone what
you want?
Do you ever read a sign to tell you what line to
stand in or what door to exit from?
Do you ever write notes to your family members
reminding them to do things?
8. The terms visual supports, visual strategies, or
visual cues are used synonymously.
Basically, visual supports enable a learner to keep
track of daily activities and to develop an
understanding of time and sequences (Koyama &
Wang, 2011; Twachtman-Cullen, 1995).
9. For individuals with ASD, using visual supports can
help them be more successful in what is often a
confusing world.
The individual with ASD does not necessarily
internally recognize and understand how to use the
information provided by visual supports. Many
individuals will need to be specifically taught how to
use existing visual supports in their environment.
10. Points to remember:
Using the supports will give meaning to the pictures
To help individuals attach meaning to the visual support,
pair its use with spoken language. Match key words and
phrases to the object, picture, or action.
Stick with it! Sometimes you will see immediate results
but other times it may take weeks or months
Think about modifying the visuals: small changes can
make a big difference
Keep the visuals age appropriate
Use cartoons for small children
Use real pictures for older children
11. Make sure the room is visually consistent and that it
is free from clutter
Being organized in an art room can be challenging, but
organization will help all of the students!
Label areas for turning in work, accessing materials,
etc.
12. You should have something consistent that the
student can look for when they come to art.
14. I have two binders full of
pecs that I have made
over the last 5 years.
To make a binder:
1. Three hole punch and
laminate cardstock
pages
2. Get soft Velcro and put
5 pieces on a page
3. Create pecs or picture
pages in 1.5 inch
squares
4. Cut them out
5. Laminate the squares,
cut them out and put
prickly Velcro on the
back.
15. Some students
need to be
reminded of what
is next!
I would put Art in
the first box and
after that will
depend on the
students schedule.
16. Steps for a
project
In Boardmaker, the
template is called a
sentence strip. I don’t
have enough spaces for
each and every step so I
simplify the steps. I put in
order the steps/materials
the students should be
looking to use. Once they
have completed a step, the
students will remove the
picture and put it into the
“all done” pocket at the
end of the strip.
25. Technology Supports
Mayer-Johnson Boardmaker
classroom materials such as schedules, worksheets, reading
and writing activities, game and song boards,
communication boards, books and more. Boardmaker is a
software program that uses clip art consisting of picture
communication symbols (http://www.mayer-
johnson.com/).
Slater Publications Picture-It
Picture-It is software designed for use by both adults and
individual with ASD to adapt the written environment.
This product allows the user to visually represent words
for ease of reading and increasing comprehension
(http://www.slatersoftware.com/pit.html).
