In this session we will attempt to demonstrate or describe many of the visual supports found to be helpful for teaching and supporting people with autism in residential programs, guide learners to related resources and alert them to common errors and misconceptions regarding those supports. We will endeavor to lend the insight of many agencies (nationwide) that routinely confront all these issues.

We will begin with an overview of learning characteristics of people with autism. Emphasis will be given to the idea that most people with autism are “concrete,” “visual” learners. Common notions regarding the prevalence of auditory processing difficulties will be discussed to further lay groundwork for the need to provide visual supports.

The content of the presentation will be broken into two parts: narrative and instructive.

In the narrative portion, presenters will discuss some of the principles they follow when developing visual supports. Ecological, logistical and practical guidelines will be presented clearly but with a flexible adherence to the earlier discussed principles. The instructive portion will consist of case studies and demonstrations to illustrate some of the challenges and solutions experienced by the presenters. During the instructive portion, questions from conference attendees will be addressed by the presenters. During both portions, graphic references will be provided by PowerPoint slides, videos and actual sample supports.

A substantial portion of this presentation will serve to influence attendees to consider a few guidelines for the development and implementation of visual supports that should serve to foster success with clients. Principal among these are:

Supports should be

• logically derived,

• functional in their nature,

• easy to follow,

• linear in presentation, and

• represent a natural progression.

People with autism may need supports which

• vary in levels of complexity/simplicity,

• are durable,

• are portable,

• are flexible (easily adjusted),

• and which may be long-term.

Visual Supports may be used to address many needs including:

• increasing independent living skills (to replace endless “prompting” by care-givers),

• aiding expressive communication skills (to promote choice, socialization and recreation),

• supplementing receptive communication (when planned and implemented as such),

• motivating behaviors (by predicting and tracking upcoming rewards),

• reducing anxiety (by providing assurance and predictability),

• decreasing aberrant behavior (by the nature of the above skills), and

• increasing the satisfaction level of staff members.

Common mistakes to avoid include:

• prematurely implementing supports,

• inconsistent use of supports,

• developing supports which are too difficult for the client to use (or that take too much time),

• using supports for incorrect purposes (such as care-givers using expressive communication systems to give commands to the client),

• removing visual supports as punishment,

• deciding that Supports are no longer needed,

• failing to provide “back up” copies of visual supports or failing to repair damaged systems, and

• creating systems that are too difficult for care-givers to understand and implement or failing to adequately train care-givers in the use of the system.

The presentation will include video content in which adults and children with autism and living in residential programs are shown using various systems of visual support. Session hand-outs will include lists directing participants to resources to aid in the development of types of visual support systems and residential programs utilizing unique and innovative technologies. Some resources listed will be “mainstream” providers of materials and other resources will be of the “d-i-y” (do it yourself) nature.

Attendees will be encouraged to participate in demonstrations of types of supports and to add their perspectives and experiences.