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Bee Visual, LLC™ was founded to help improve the communication between children and caregivers. The Choiceworks and Choiceworks Calendar apps incorporate the use of picture and choice in a practical and easy-to-use format to help children learn social skills, develop self control, and complete daily routines.

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The most complete and current symbol set gives teachers special education resources to easily create quick, interactive communication.

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Resources for you Boardmaker needs: Free online sources for pictures: ConnectABILITY Visuals Engine - online Boardmaker alternative (free) SymbolWorld - symbol sets, current events...

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As teachers or parents working with children with disabilities, we often assume that the child "knows" the daily schedule. Do they really know? Think how lost you would be if someone took away your calendar, smart phone or schedule book.

Definition: A daily visual schedule is a critical component in a structured environment. A visual schedule will tell the student what activities will occur and in what sequence.

PrACCtical has a blog posting called

What is the purpose of this particular visual schedule?
Visual Schedules 411 which discusses and shows various types of schedules and a process for walking through to decide which one might fit your student best.
Visual schedule systems are an easy way to provide students with consistent cues about their daily activities. They provide a structure that allows a student to anticipate what will happen next, reduce anxiety by providing the student with a vision of his/her day and promote calmness between transitions. They are especially important for students who have a profile that includes difficulties with the understanding of oral language and directions. The consistency provided by a visual schedule is crucial in establishing an atmosphere of trust and security. Visual supports can also provide motivation to work through a less favored activity knowing a favored activity is to follow.

Visual supports are commonly used to communicate choices, organize daily schedules, give directions, explain rules or expectations, aide in transition, or provide appropriate actions.

Pati King-DeBaun is a speech-language pathologist who has specialized in communication for children with severe physical and cognitive disabilities and the author of many articles and books. She explains, What does it mean to use visual supports: "The idea behind making language and literacy visible is to provide an environment that is both language- and print-rich for children. It's about making routine activities visible for students. Such activities might include morning meeting or circle time, snack time, song activities, book activities, various play activities or job tasks, toileting, washing hands, the lunch routine, and closing routine. This language- and print-rich environment stimulate and enhances the emergent literacy experience for individuals at risk for language and literacy failure. The teacher utilizes pictures, or whatever system complements the students' understanding of language and the printed word along with spoken language to talk about and emphasize learning throughout the day. The main emphasis is placed on the individual's receptive language learning or input, with the understanding that over time students will better comprehend events and activities in their surroundings, make more sense of the world, and ease their anxieties and thus begin to use expressive language." (Read more in The Power of Vision.)

Simply put, visual supports help by:

Allowing students to focus

Making abstract concepts more visually concrete

Allowing students to express their thoughts

Providing structure and predictability

Serving as a tool to assist with transitions

Can be used as a task analysis schedule to teach new skills

Her site provides a very clear description of each area. It is worth exploring.

Visual Supports are things we see that help us understand our environment. Visual strategies are specifically designed to supplement verbal, social and other environmental cues which are difficult for students to understand. They enable students to get the information they need to understand other people, function independently and behave appropriately. Because every student's needs are different, every student's visual supports will be different, based on their specific needs.

1. Decide what the supports will be used for.
Example: provide the choice of a desired food or activity.

2. Choose the type of supports that best meet the needs of the individual.
Example: color, size, solo or page, etc.

3. Gather the necessary pictures, icons, objects, etc.
Example: picture of swing or a book, logo of McDonald's or Taco Bell, bags of chips or apple, drink choices, etc.

4. Make the supports durable.
Example: laminate, attach Velcro, and make multiple copies.

5. Choose where and when the support will be used.
Example: schedule on student's desk or on the wall.

How to Use a Visual Schedule:

1. Give a standard phrase (e.g., "Check schedule")

2. Prompt the individual (from behind) to go to the schedule

3. Prompt the individual to look at or point to the first activity

4. Prompt the individual to go to the location of the first activity

5. When the activity is over, give the standard phrase again and prompt the individual back to the schedule

If you cannot fit the individual's entire day on the schedule (or if the individual does better with less information at a time), it is fine to simply put up part of the day. While s/he is engaged in one of the last activities on the schedule, you can arrange the schedule to include the next part of the day or have it ready on another board for putting up once the first section is complete.

Visual Supports may include:
Visual Schedules may be in a folder, taped to a desk, posted on the walls. .. depending on the level of support needed by each student. For great specific information on types of visual schedules, take a look at " How-to Templates".

Visual Schedules are a critical component in a structured environment. A visual schedule will tell the student what activities will occur and in what sequence. (For more information on Visual Schedules visit Scholastic Intervention Solutions for a great explanation.) Visual schedules can be broken down into mini schedules (relating to one specific task, i.e. hand washing) all the way to a daily schedule. First...Then... Is another form of a visual schedule. It is a visual structure that teaches just that: First you do this (picture) then you can do this (picture of preferred activity.)For example, using the First This...Then... strategy in
visual form can provide high motivation for the student to work through one activity to get to a preferred activity. When dealing with students with behavioral difficulties, this can be a powerful strategy in maintaining appropriate classroom behavior. There are a lot of options. Schedules and calendars are the most common visual tools used to give students information. Step-by-step directions, choice boards, and classroom rules provide structure in classrooms also. They help students by creating an environment that is more predictable and understandable.

Through the consistent use of the schedule, the student can begin to pair the symbols presented with the activities that are occurring. A sure sign that this association is developing is seeing the student begin to rearrange their schedule to include all of their favorite activities. Establishing a visual schedule can also provide a structure for the student to begin to do some choice making as they are encouraged to provide some input as to the order of some of the day's events. The student may also be introduced to choosing a specific activity from a teacher-selected group of activities.
The ultimate goal for all of our students is the development of independence and the enhancement of self-esteem. This can be an automatic result of allowing students to participate in the design of their day. The ability to look at a schedule, find the materials for the next activity and get started with that activity without adult support is a big step toward a student's independence. Visual supports can be a way to work toward this goal.

Below is a listing of resources for learning more about how to/why to use a schedule along with finding visual supports that you can pull from:

The Autism Tank provides great visuals of binder visual schedules worth strolling through.

Do2Learn has provided visuals for both the home and schools. This is a great site to share with parents. Among other great offerings, they have a yearly subscription for their Make-A-Schedule program. Not cheap but for some parents this just might be what they are looking for.

eLearning has premade visuals for various things, visual schedules being the best. Take a look.

Indiana University has provided

visual supports for families and caregivers to use in the home environment. - See more at: http://www.iidc.indiana.edu/index.php?pageId=3613&mode=mod_resources&action=display_category&resource_cat=16&r=1359405059#sthash.YtvHUmWS.dpuf

a wonderful page packed full of Visual Supports to be used in the home setting.

Practical Autism Resources has information, description and a gallery with tips worth spending some time exploring. There is a lot of very useful information and resources on this site.

Visual Schedule Round-up by PrAACtical AAC. Check their site for many postings on Visual Schedules.

Schedules, Behavior Charts & Task Checklists

Schedules, Behavior Charts & Task Checklists

Using Schedule Cues - The "Check Your Schedule" Cue

The key with visual supports is pre-teaching. Students are not going to automatically know how to respond to visual supports without some effective teaching and reinforcement. Visual supports are just that supports which assist us in teaching skills and helping individuals generalize those skills. A few thoughts about pre-teaching:

The child uses a picture or object that indicates "check your schedule." The child carries this cue to his schedule and matches it to a pocket to the left of the schedule.

Suggested check schedule cues: Poker chips, metal lids from frozen juice containers, brightly colored laminate square paper.

A verbal cue "check your schedule" is appropriate for some children, particularly if they are using written schedules or checklists.

by Gail Van Tatehove shares 3 examples of how visual schedules can e xpose the person to and reinforce the use of core vocabulary.

Do you have students who have difficulty transitioning from one activity to another? Maybe they have a hard time transitioning from the classroom to the therapy room. This site provides 10 Tips for Transitions.

Visual schedules are not meant for only school use! Visual schedules have many advantages both to the individual and to their families. Faherty (2000) has suggested that visual schedules may be more important to use at home than at school. This is due to the routinized nature of the school day and the fact that many children are unable to maintain the intense effort they need to function successfully at school when they return home. Time spent making visual schedules now will not only save time in the future but can increase skills and independent functioning while decreasing anxiety and difficult behaviors.Parents may want to explore this at greater length. Indiana Resource Center for Autism provides a very in-depth look at visual schedules for parents to use in the home.

If you are interested in Visual Schedule apps, visit PrAACtical's

I have a Pinterest site with visuals of various visual schedules and other visual strategies. Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words.

V isual supports are tools that are used to increase the understanding of language, environmental expectations, and to provide structure and support. They should be re-evaluated on a regular basis to see if the student is ready for a new type of schedule.

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As teachers or parents working with children with disabilities, we often assume that the child "knows" the daily schedule. Do they really know? Think how lost you would be if someone took away your calendar, smart phone or schedule book. Definition: A daily visual schedule is a critical component in a structured environment.

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Journal on Visual Supports

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Uploaded by DamarProductions on 2010-07-13.

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Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies

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Visual Supports Learning Links and Templates
These resources are intended as a starting point to learn more about visual supports and to offer templates and suggestions to begin creating your own visual support materials. You will need a PDF viewer for some of the resources - download Adobe Reader here.
Visual Supports Checklist

The Visual Supports Checklist (PDF) is based on a review of current literature, practical knowledge, and reported experiences from early childhood educators on the topic of visual supports. Developed by Susan Bennett-Armistead, Ph.D., University of Maine College of Education and Human Development; Bonnie Blagojevic, M.Ed., C.A.S., University of Maine Center for Community Inclusion and Disabilities Studies; Erika Neal, M.Ed., University of Maine Farmington; and Billie Taylor, MSW, LCSW, University of Maine Center for Community Inclusion and Disabilities Studies (June 2011, February 2016).

Take a Look! Visual Supports for Learning

In the June/July 2011 NAEYC Teaching Young Children photo essay, "Take a Look! Visual Supports for Learning," authors Blagojevic, Logue, Bennett-Armistead, Taylor and Neal define visual supports and show how they help all children to understand rules and expectations, engage in daily routine, navigate transitions, communicate thoughts, feelings and needs, and increase independence in child care routines and activities. NAEYC is the largest professional membership association for early childhood educators.

Learning Links Sampler

ConnectABILITY - (Scroll down and click on Supported Inclusion and click "Launch", then click on Communications, and select Visual Supports). Supported inclusion is a learning module for professionals. After launching the module, Visual Supports is a subtopic under Communications. Listen and watch workshops such as Visual Communications, access Tip Sheets, Communication Posters, and other tools.

Creating and Using Social Stories - This Head Start Center for Inclusion web page provides general information about the purpose of social stories, when to use them, how to create and use social stories and offers a variety of ready-made social stories to download and use in the classroom.

Social Stories - This article discusses how to create and use social stories to help individuals on the autism spectrum to 'read' and understand social situations.

Tips and Ideas for Making Visuals to Support Young Children with Challenging Behavior (PDF) - This handout is from The Center on Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning, Vanderbilt University.

Using Social Stories to Ease Children's Transitions (PDF) - This article shares information about what social stories are, how to create them and gives examples such as how they can be used to help toddlers during transition times.

Use Visual Strategies - Provides information regarding what visual strategies are, who benefits from them, and why they help. Explains the research behind why students with Autism Spectrum Disorder, behavior, and communication challenges benefit from visual strategies.

Using Multimedia to Promote Vocabulary Learning: Supporting English Language Learners in Inclusive Classrooms - A recent research study shows that using multimedia video in conjunction with traditional read aloud methods may improve the vocabulary growth of English language learners. An example of how to implement multimedia during classroom read-alouds is described.

Using Visual Supports with Infants and Toddlers (PDF) - Visual supports are a form of adaptation that rely on visual cues to allow infants and toddlers, and older child, to participate in activities and routines. This newsletter will take visual supports that have been used successfully in childcare centers and preschools and show how they can be used in the home with younger children.

Visual Supports - This collection of visual supports and other resources from the Indiana Resource Center for Autism, provides examples of various strategies that can be used to support students on the autism spectrum, as well as others with and without disabilities.

Create Visual Supports

Classroom Visuals and Supports - This Head Start Center for Inclusion webpage supports teachers in the classroom by creating an ever-growing library of commonly used pictures and visual supports to help teach and support all of your students. From toys and art materials to daily schedule pictures, to even problem solving pictures and classroom certificates. The visual supports are downloadable and available to use immediately in your classroom.

ConnectABILITY Visuals Engine - ConnectABILITY visuals engine helps to build custom visual supports and sequences for your child. Templates are available along with images to insert (and/or you can upload and insert your own) and a place to type in a title for the image. You can print the completed sequence from the web site. It provides a list of recommended sizes and different ways visuals can be used.

Early Learning Activities & Visual Supports - The Frank Porter Graham Family Implemented TEACCH for T oddlers (FITT) project provides early learning activities and visual supports to teach toddlers with autism new skills and routines. These are highly visual activities that teach the toddler how to engage with toys (e.g., blocks, farm animals) and how to participate in play routines. The photo library provides examples of activities and visuals that FITT interventionists and parents created for their toddlers.

Executive Functioning Module 4: Schedules and Time Management - Scripts with 8 x 10 Pictures - These schedules and time management scripts are downloadable visual supports that can be used by students for understanding and communication in the classroom, at home, and in the community. These scripts support a wide range of useful activities and events.

Hands in Autism - The Practical Tools section of the HANDS in Autism site offers information on how to create visual supports and examples on topics such as Communication Supports, Social Skills Supports, Teaching Academic Skills, Transition Supports, and Self Monitoring.

How to Use Classroom Visuals & Supports - The Head Start Center for Inclusion offers a library of visual supports for teachers to use with children in the classroom. Look for illustrations of toys, art materials, daily schedule pictures, problem solving cue cards, and classroom certificates, to name just a few. Each one can be downloaded and printed out for immediate use.

How to Use a First/Then Schedule - Mrs. Tabatha explains in a 4-minute YouTube video how to use a First/Then schedule with your child.

Making a Scripted Story for Early childhood Education and Care Environments (PDF) - Scripted stories are a great tool to support a child who has difficulty in a routine or activity. Scripted stories can help a child understand what to expect during the activity or routine, understand the expectations and perspectives of others, and provide instructions about what to do. From the National Center for Pyramid Model Innovations.

Picto-Selector - This is a free tool for creating visual schedules which you download to either a Windows or Mac computer. It is used by many teachers and parents. There are also reports of people using it in daycare of elderly people. Picto-Selector makes creating visual schedules easier by: 1) Fast search options to find the needed pictures; 2) Automatic sizes, depending on the number of rows and columns; and 3) Reuse of earlier created schedules.

Picture Supports for Emergency Drills - Success Box - Picture card sets for five main emergency drills: Fire Drill, Bus Evacuation Drill, Tornado Drill, Lockdown Drill and School Evacuation Walk to Another School. These sets can be directly downloaded for printing or they can serve as examples from which you can create your own personalized sets with Boardmaker.

Social Stories - The Head Start Center for Inclusion (HSCI) offers a library of one-page Social Stories™ that can be downloaded, printed out, and customized for immediate use. Teachers and parents may also use these as a template to write their own stories that meet a child's individual needs.

Social stories and comic strip conversations - Social stories™ and comic strip conversations are ways to help people with autism develop greater social understanding. Here, you will learn a bit more about these two techniques and how you can produce your own.

Teacher Tools: Classroom Visuals and Support - This Head Start Center for Inclusion web page supports teachers to include children with disabilities more naturally in the classroom. These tools are designed to be able to print and go with quick and easy explanations. The ever-growing library of commonly used pictures and visual supports include templates that can be downloaded to use immediately to support children to learn how to problem solve, follow the daily schedule and make friends.

Teaching Strategies: Using a Visual Schedule [Video] - Preschool teacher Patricia Lee describes how she uses a visual schedule to help children know what to expect throughout the day. Created by The Center for Early Childhood Education, Eastern Connecticut State University.

Visual Schedules - Nearly everyone utilizes some form of visual schedule to stay organized. Create visual schedules using the do2Learn™ website. Requires paid subscription after a free trial.

Suggest a resource and/or provide feedback or comments on your use of these resources to Marnie Morneault at marnie.morneault@maine.edu Please use "Visual Supports Resources" as your email subject line.

Updated: 11/19/2023

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Visual Supports Learning Links and Templates - Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies - University of Maine

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These resources are intended as a starting point to learn more about visual supports and to offer templates and suggestions to begin creating your own visual support materials.