Autism teaching aids and visual strategies
Thursday, July 29th, 2010For children on the spectrum a lack of social and communication skills is common. Due to social skills deficits many children on the spectrum find the world confusing and stressful a lack of appropriate communication skills can mean a lack of friendships and in some cases bullying and isolation.
And for many parents teaching social and communication skills to their autistic child can become a primary focus.
Children with autism like structure and routines and can become frustrated and anxious when routines change, they dislike surprises and may display obsessive behaviours which can make the child appear odd or weird.
Consequently, because of these social skills deficits many parents and teachers struggle to find appropriate techniques and autism teaching aids that are easy to implement and suitable.
It is a fact that the majority of children on the spectrum are visual thinkers and learners and will therefore respond better to visual strategies; such as a visual schedule, social skills stories, flash cards,
A visual strategy can be implemented to suit the individual needs of the autistic child. Many parents and teachers use a combination of visual strategies, all of which compliment each other.
No two autistic children will ever be the same and what works for one autistic child may not be suitable for another.
That said, the vast majority of autistic children use social skills stories as primary autism teaching aids to help them better cope with daily tasks and activities as well as the not so common activities and tasks.
Parents do not need any formal training or previous knowledge to use Autism teaching aids and visual strategies.
A visual strategy such as social skills stories can be used to help the autistic child learn social and communication skills that they may be struggling to master, like for example making friends, asking questions, respecting personal space, or less common activities such as going for a dental visit, visiting grand parents, a birthday party and so on.
For children with autism understanding our world is difficult, therefore addressing any anxieties they may have can help cut down on anxiety attacks, melt downs and negative behaviours.
Introducing a visual schedule will benefit your child, a visual schedule gives the child on the spectrum a step by step framework of the day’s activities using simple pictures or images, reducing surprises and giving routine to the day.
Social skills stories break down the activity or skill into small easier to understand pieces. Using visual images and pictures the social skills stories are visual strategies that show the child on the spectrum by answering the “wh” question – who, where, why, when and what, it will also give the child on the spectrum an insight into the thoughts and feelings of others why and how we undertake certain activities for example brushing our teeth, washing our hands, raising our hand to speak, recess and so on.
Flash cards and
Flash cards are small laminated pieces of card showing an image or picture some flash cards will also have a small piece of text saying what the picture is of for example, coat, toilet, pencil etc. The idea being the
For more information on autism teaching aids and visual strategies visit:
For social skills stories which can be downloaded immediately go to:
http://www.autismsocialstories.com
http://www.autismsocialstories.co.uk
http://www.insideautisticminds.com
For flash cards and communication symbols which can be used in a variety of ways such as on visual schedules or on their own as a means of communication visit: