The Autism Society Event and Education Recordings Archive

Even though it is popular to use visuals with individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders, not all visuals are the same. Not all pictures work the same way. The purpose of this workshop is to explain, and to show, how and when pictures work to provide the meaning of language for learners to develop cognitively and socially. The content of this workshop is based on a 2009 publication, The Language of Pictures, written by the presenters and published by AAPC. Today, visual graphics and materials, once difficult to find, are commonplace. Educators, support specialists, and parents say they use ‘visuals’ or ‘graphics’ to help children and adults learn especially those diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorders who think with a visual learning system. The most common thinking is that all pictures are ‘visuals’, and there are many different disciplines and subsequently many different perspectives on what the word ‘visual’ means. Not all people find they are successful in using visuals to help individuals with ASD, so a common response if a parent or educator does not feel that the visuals they are using are successful, is often to increase the time working with the visuals or to drop the use of visuals. However, it is important to consider that not all visuals are alike and therefore the problem with intervention may not be with the visuals themselves but with the type of visuals used, because all visuals have a developmental level of language.

For visuals to be effective, the language level of the pictures or graphics must match with the language level of the child or adult who is interpreting the visuals. The presenters will explain how the complexity of pictures, or ‘visuals’, is influenced by language, the language level of the child, as well as the language used by the educator or parent working with the child. Through numerous case studies and visual examples, the presenters will give participants information about how to understand the meaning of ‘visuals’ and then how to use the visual graphics, illustrations, photographs, cartoons, and flowcharts currently available in the field to make the visuals more effective through the use of Viconic Language. This workshop will also help participants see how to make visuals fit to a learner’s developmental needs in terms of language, social, and cognitive development by providing them with knowledge about how to determine the language level of pictures and how to create strategies that support using visuals at the appropriate level of the learner. Participants will then be able to determine what the developmental language level is for visual materials, including pictures, and will better understand why the development levels of visuals, as well as the developmental level of the learner are so important in intervention.

By understanding the language levels of pictures and graphics as presented in this workshop; educators, parents, and support specialists can begin to be more intentional in the type of visual graphics and pictures they use to help learners achieve and how to better meet the learning needs of individuals such as those with Autism Spectrum Disorders who think with visual meta-cognition.

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