Autism Society records most keynote and concurrent sessions at their annual conferences. You can see and hear those recordings by purchasing full online access, or individual recordings.
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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
People with autism may need supports which
Visual Supports may be used to address many needs including:
Common mistakes to avoid include:
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.
Content Area: Transition Planning and Options for Adulthood
Lottie Koster
Director of Behavioral Supports
Carolina Autism Supportive Living Services (CASLS)
Kendra Chaplin
Director of Training and Programs
Carolina Autism Supportive Living Services (CASLS)
Phil Blevins
Executive Director
Carolina Autism Supportive Living Services (CASLS)