Frequently Needed Answers

For many families with children on the spectrum using visual supports WILL give their child relief from many of the social awareness and communication skills that they struggle to understand and cope with.

However for some families finding appropriate visual supports for autism can be an issue.  There are many different visual supports for autism available, choosing the right support for your child on the spectrum can be challenging!

Looking at How to Download Visual Supports for your Child on the Spectrum

1.       Autism Social Skills Stories

Autism Social Skills Stories are short descriptive stories that can help explain visually how and why something happens. For example some children with autism may struggle to make friends or ask other children to play. A social story can help the child on the spectrum learn how to approach other children, what they may expect and in turn what the child on the spectrum should expect.

The social story uses visual images and first person text in an almost comic like fashion answering the “wh” questions – who, what, why, when and where as well as “HOW” and will offer an insight into the thoughts, feelings and emotions of others which is an area of marked weakness in most children with autism.

To learn more about Autism Social Skills Stories visit: http://www.autismsocialstories.com

2.       Visual Social Story Cards

Just like a social story the visual social story cards are short specifically written cards that offer a child on the spectrum ways of coping with skills and behaviours that they are struggling to master.

The visual social story card is a small laminated card generally 8 x 11, each card has an appropriate image and short sentence to describe what is happening from the autistic child’s point of view.

To learn more about Visual Social Story Cards visit: http://www.autismsocialstories.com

3.       Visual Flash Cards

Visual Flash Cards and used as a means of communication. The cards are generally 9 x 13 in size and will display a printed picture on the front with a short written description. The visual flash cards can be used in many different ways as an exchange, on a visual timetable and as communication aids.

Visual flash cards are very handy to re-enforce skills for example snack time at school a card can be exchanged in return for the appropriate treat or snack and so on…

To learn more about Visual Flash Cards visit: http://www.autismsocialstories.com/visual_aids

There are many other visual supports for autism available, but these are our top tips and will generally be sufficient for the majority of children with autism.

http://www.autismsocialstories.com

http://www.autismsocialstories.com/visual_aids

Auditory autistic processing issues ARE generally associated with several autistic characteristics. Typically for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder social awareness and communication problems ARE common autistic characteristics.

For individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder communication skills both verbal and non-verbal pose problems.

Auditory autistic processing issues CAN also lead to anxiety or confusion in social situations, inattentiveness, and poor speech comprehension.

However there are methods parents and teachers can adopt which WILL HELP children with autism understand and learn social awareness and communication skills.

The vast majority of children with autism ARE VISUAL thinkers and learners which means that they use visual images as their first language and speech/words (auditory) as a second language.

Therefore many parents and teachers USE VISUAL strategies – such as visual flash cards, PECS, visual support cards and autism social skills stories.

Visual flash cards ARE used as a means of communication; they work particularly well with children on the spectrum with poor or no speech. The visual flash cards are used as communication prompts as well as social cues and communication cards.

Visual support cards ARE also a very good means of communication they are used to help the child on the spectrum understand and learn social and communication skills.

Autism social skills stories ARE probably one of the most significant resources used with children on the spectrum. They answer the ever important “wh” questions – who, where, why, when and what as well as “HOW” and WILL generally give the child on the spectrum an insight into the thoughts, feelings and emotions of others, which is an area of marked weakness in most children on the spectrum.

The social skills story acts like a visual framework or plan of the skill or communication difficulty and will give the child on the spectrum an idea of what is expected of them and in return what they should expect from others.

For many parents and teachers their child’s Auditory autistic processing issues CAN be greatly improved when visual strategies are adopted.

To learn more about any of the above visual strategies please visit any of the following sites:

http://www.autismsocialstories.com/sensory

http://www.autismsocialstories.com

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Common to autism are deficits with: Social skills, communication (verbal and non-verbal) skills and imagination skills, this is known as the triad of autistic impairments or social skills deficits, and WILL affect all children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder.

Using Autism Visual Supports CAN HELP those on the spectrum overcome Social skills deficits.

The majority of children and young people with Autistic Spectrum Disorder ARE visual thinkers and learners, this means they think in pictures (pictures being the first language and speech/words the second language).

Using visual tools for Autistic Spectrum Disorder as a strategy in the home, in school, at work and while out CAN help children with autism better understand social interactions, communication both verbal and non-verbal, use appropriate behaviours and better understand social settings, skills and behaviours.

Autism Visual Supports such as: Visual Flash Cards, PECS, Visual Social Story Cards and Printable Autism Social Skill Stories can be easily implemented and USED to overcome many difficulties.

What are Visual Flash Cards?

Visual Flash Cards are communication tools which are small laminated pieces of card. These cards can be used on their own or with other visual tools for Autistic Spectrum Disorder.

Visual Flash Cards use an image with accompanying text, many children with autism struggle with instructions, for example a visual flash card may display an image of a washing your hands with the words I wash my hands under it.

What are Visual Social Story Cards?

Visual Social Story Cards work in the same manner as Printable Autism Social Skills Stories, giving children with autism answers and solutions to the problems they have with social, communication and imagination skills and behaviours.

Visual Social Story Cards are simpler forms of regular social stories, the social skills story is broken into smaller sections, with a single image and text on each
page generally A6 size.

What are Printable Autism Social Skills Stories?

Parents, caregivers and teachers USE Social Stories, as treatments for autism which WILL help prepare children with ASD for various situations, behaviours and skills; for example:

Transitions

New beginnings

Making choices

Changes to routines  

Understanding behaviours

Re-enforcing already learnt skills

Learning new skills and behaviours

Unexpected/surprise events, happenings

Dealing with Frustration, Anger and Stress

Giving an insight into the thoughts and feelings of others

In-fact anything your child on the autism spectrum needs help to understand and learn.

The social skills story acts like a visual framework or plan, should be colourful and use appropriate images/pictures to VISUALLY show the child with ASD what is happening and WHY

Printable Autism Social Skills Stories answers the “wh” questions: who, where, why, when and what as well as “HOW” and MUST provide children with autism spectrum disorder an insight into the thoughts, feelings and emotions of others, which is an area of marked weakness for children on the autism spectrum scale.

Autism social skills stories are generally written in WORD FORMAT as no two children with an ASD are ever going to be the same. AND WE ALL USE DIFFERENT TERMINOLOGY, making autism social skills stories easy to tweak and EDIT as well as add personal information too, is very important

To learn more about Using Autism Visual Supports and get downloads visit:

http://www.autismsocialstories.com

http://www.autismsocialstories.com/visual_aids

Generally children with autism are visual thinkers this means that they think in pictures (pictures being the first language and speech/words the second language).

Consequently, for the majority of children with autism using visual information and teaching is far easier for them to understand.

Avoid long strings of verbal instructions. People with autism have problems with remembering the sequence. Instead use smaller sentences and visual prompts, like visual flash cards and visual social story cards.

Nonverbal autistic children and adults will find it easier to associate words with pictures if they see the printed word and a picture like for example on the visual flash cards.

Therefore, when looking at ways to teach children with autism social behaviours it is probably a good idea to consider visual strategies.

There are many forms of visual strategies available to teach social behaviours: visual social story cards, visual flash cards, PECS and social skills stories are a few on offer to parents, caregivers and teachers of autistic children and adults.

Visual strategies like social stories use visual images and short pieces of text in a manner that people with autism find easy to understand. The social story and visual social story cards use appropriate first person text and are always from the autistic individual’s point of view.

Many autistic individual’s use social stories to help with social awareness skills and behaviours as well as an aid for communication difficulties which are also a common issue for many people with autism.

Commonly autistic children and adults have communication difficulties, therefore social skills stories are implemented to help them overcome many of the difficulties that face.

A social story answers the “wh” questions – who, where, why, when and what as well as HOW and will give an insight into the thoughts, feelings and emotions of others which is an area of marked weakness for most autistic individuals.

The social story and visual socials story cards follow a set pattern of sentence type and are generally written in word format making editing easy. No two individuals are ever the same and we all use different terminology with our youngster, therefore editing is on essential.

To learn more about visual flash cards, visual social story cards and social stories visit any of the following sites:

http://www.autismsocialstories.com

http://www.autismsocialstories.com/visual_aids

Children with autism spectrum disorder are generally visual thinkers and learners, which means that they think in pictures, making visual information far easier to understand.

Visual supports ARE an essential element when teaching or supporting a child on the autism spectrum. There ARE many forms of visual supports available to children with autism such as PECS visual flash cards, visual social story support cards, social stories and so on, all equally as good and all with their own purpose and use.

Typically children with autism struggle with social awareness skills and communication both verbal (spoken language) and non-verbal (gestures), which can make even simple activities or skills difficult to master or understand.

Visual social story support cards ARE used in much the same way as regular social stories. However with a regular social skills story the story is generally all presented in one go on a sheet of paper or card like a script.

With visual social story support cards the social skills story is broken into sections and each individual section is then written or printed on to a card with appropriate picture/image and presented individually.

Social story cards can be presented in either a folder or on a ring or key ring, making them very portable and convenient.

Social stories were developed originally to aid communication, but have since grown into one of the most significant tools used in the treatment of autism.

Social stories aim to answer the ever important “wh” questions who, where, why, when and what as well HOW and give an insight into the thoughts, feelings and emotions of others, which is an area of marked weakness in children with autism.

Using visual support cards for autism needs NO formal training. To learn more about visual support cards for autism and how they WILL benefit your child on the autism spectrum visit: http://www.autismsocialstories.com

This resource is featured along with regular social stories and other visual supports for autism like visual flash cards.

For the majority of children with autism direct teaching of social skills is necessary. Unlike their typically developing peers children with autism do not naturally acquire social skills from people watching or the environment. For many autistic children the ability to understand and read subtle cues, facial expressions, verbal and nonverbal communication and people’s body language is missing, which makes interpreting meaning challenging.

Teaching social skills to children with autism can take many forms from PECS and visual flash cards to ABA and social skills stories.

For many parents of autistic children choosing a school is difficult. To attend mainstream education children with autism or asperger syndrome will need a certain amount of social skills. Inclusion in a mainstream school is often not dependent solely on the child’s IQ or intelligence. Many children with autism or asperger syndrome are capable of working at the required level, but are not being accepted into mainstream education due to behavioral issues or poorly developed social skills.

Teaching social skills to children with autism is not easy, for many autistic children understanding instruction is difficult. However there are certain treatments of autism which can help overcome this hurdle.

Generally children on the spectrum are visual thinkers and learners, meaning they will comprehend information or instruction easier if it is given visually, for example images or pictures etc. rather than written or spoken instruction.

Therefore teaching social skills to children on the spectrum can be achieved far easier using visual tools and methods such as visual flash cards and social skills stories, both of which are visual and are proven successful methods.

A good social story will focus on a particular social situation or interaction. Some examples of social stories would be assembly, sharing, taking turns, not shouting out, recess etc. These are all good examples of social stories. The social story serves a number of purposes. The most important aspect being that the social story provides the child on the spectrum with a role model, something to follow visually.

Social stories address the “wh” question (who, where, why, when and what) as well as give an insight into the thinking, emotions and actions of others. It will also explain the actions and reactions expected of the child on the spectrum. Social stories are generally written following a specific pattern and normally by experts although some parents have learnt how to write social stories themselves.

Not all social skills stories are perfect. It may well be that a particular social story does not have exactly the desired effect or address all the necessary elements of a situation. Be prepared to occasionally rewrite a social story to make it more effective.

To find out more about social stories and how they can be implemented for teaching social skills to children with autism visit any of the following sites:

http://www.autismsocialstories.com

http://www.autismsocialstories.com/school