Frequently Needed Answers

Generally children with autism are visual thinkers; which means they think in pictures. Therefore, the most successful ways to help children with autism learn and understand the information they are given is through visual supports and aids.

Many teachers and parents of children with ASD report negative behaviours and frustrations felt and displayed by children with autism when information is difficult to understand, such as written or oral instruction etc, rather than visual.

For many children with autism spoken words are not easy to comprehend, much like listening to a foreign language, which can be frustrating and stressful this can lead to meltdowns and the child generally just “switching off”

Consequently, it has been found that when attempting to teach or convey information to a child with ASD, using visual supports for children with autism is beneficial. Avoiding long spoken sentences or pieces of text with no illustration is advisable for most children with ASD.

Visual supports for children with autism are generally used to help support oral commands and information, for example visual support cards can be used to help show a child with autism the toilet, coat peg, library and so on..

The most significant visual supports for children with autism spectrum disorder and related conditions are visual support cards or (PECS) as well as other support aids such as social stories.

By using visual support cards it allows the child with ASD to focus on the message being taught or the information being presented.

In the classroom teachers of students with autism use visual supports cards to help the student with ASD organize their day for example on a visual timetable. The student with ASD will like repetition and sameness, a visual timetable can help achieve this, the student can easily identify what lesson is coming up next, what they need to do, where they need to be etc.

Also in the classroom teachers of students with autism use visual supports cards to show direction and information. For example many teachers of students with autism place visual support aids on the pencil draw, the bathroom, sink and so on to help the student with ASD identify easily where things are, this can save a lot of confusion and stress not only for the teacher but also the student themselves.

In the home parents of children with ASD and related conditions use visual supports aids around the home again on a visual timetable, helping the child identify mealtimes, bath time, time for school and so on.

In the home parents of children with ASD and related conditions use visual aids to help the child identify certain areas, things, objects etc, for example the toilet, sink, where the cups are stored and so on.

Visual supports for children with autism spectrum disorder are also used to help the child with ASD learn social and communication skills, for example brushing your teeth, hair and so on. Used as a strategy visual supports can be used with social stories affectively to teach skills, communication and behaviours. Many parents of ASD children find used as a strategy visual supports and social stories are beneficial and both are recommended to help all children with ASD learn appropriate social and communication skills and behaviours.

To learn more and see examples of visual supports for children with ASD and related conditions visit:

http://www.autismsocialstories.com/visual_aids

Social stories that help can be instantly downloaded from:

http://www.autismsocialstories.com

http://www.autismsocialstories.com/school_resources

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A diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder can be a tremendous shock for some parents all of a sudden your world is upside down. However a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder need not be met with fear. Autism spectrum disorder is more common than you probably thought with 1 in every 150 babies born being given a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder.

As with typically developing children, those children with ASD will also develop at different rates, and with varying degree of autism symptoms. Some children with Low functioning autism may have other problems such as little or no speech, seizures and will normally have educational difficulties.

Those children with autism symptoms such as high functioning autism and asperger syndrome will have average or above intelligence, however their speech may still develop slowly but will develop. This set of individuals are often referred to as the little professor or geeks!

The common thread in all children with ASD is social skills deficits.

No matter where on the autism symptoms scale your child is placed they will have a degree of social skills deficits.

These social skills deficits will mean your child will have deficits in

Social skills

Communication skills both verbal and non-verbal

Imagination and interaction skills

However the degree of deficit will vary, some children with ASD may display severe social deficits that leave parents feeling stressed and desperate at times.

Research into ASD shows us there is no known cure for autism, but there are effective treatments for autism. That can help those individuals with autism spectrum disorder and their families find coping methods and strategies that will help the individual with autism spectrum disorder reach their full potential in life.

Some of the major effective treatments for autism are visual supports such as social skills stories, PECS, and visual support cards

For many parents of children with ASD one of their major areas of concern is their child’s difficulty with social development. For example many parents of children with ASD worry their child will struggle to make and maintain friendships and generally “fit in”.

For a child with autism social, communication, imagination and interaction skills, are not learnt naturally as they are with their typically developing peers. For a child with autism these skills need to be taught directly. Therefore, autism and social skills teaching is most effective if the parent uses visual supports like social skills stories and visual support cards.

For parents of children with ASD, caregivers, autistic educators and other professionals using visual supports for autism can prove to be very beneficial, with reports suggesting positive results from parents, care givers and teachers that use visual supports for autism and teaching social skills.

Using social skills stories as a strategy that will help teach social and communication skills was first introduced almost twenty years ago and has since proven to be one of the major jumps forward in the treatment of autism.

Autism social skills stories are short, descriptive visually rich pieces of text which follow a set formula, using appropriate language autism social skills stories are used affectively as a tool for teaching and re-enforcing important social skills and behaviors to those individuals with autism spectrum disorder.

Giving key focus to the vital points the social cues autism social skills stories are much like a comic strip, showing a detailed visual step by step plan of the skill or behavior being taught or re-enforced.

For immediate download of autism and social skills teaching stories that will help you teach and re-enforce social, communication, imagination and interaction skills to your youngster visit one of the following sites where you will find autism social skills stories and visual support cards for children and young people with ASD written by experts in autism ready to be downloaded and used:

www.autismsocialstories.com

www.autismsocialstories.com/visual_aids

www.autismsocialstories.com/social_skills