Visual Supports

Visual supports help students communicate wants, needs, reduce anxiety, and promote independence. Visuals help students with structure and routines and reduce frustrations of misunderstandings. They are used in most situations (National Autistic Society, 2025).

Communication boards help students who have deficts in verbal communication. It allows a student an alternate way to communicate by using pictures or symbols to communicate for them (Morrison, 2025).

Sign language helps with cognitive development because it engages multiple senses for more understanding of concepts (Moller, 2024). 

Sensory Integration helps a student communicate by improving their ability to process and regulate sensory input like sound, textures, light, and smells. It helps the student to regulate sensory input so they are able to focus and engage in functional communication (Riggs, 2025).

Interactive play encourages enjoyable and fun social interactions like singing, playing a game together, and saying nursery rhymes. Make sure you are postioned in front of the child during the play time so they are at eye level (Dawson & Elder, 2025).

When a student cannot remember what they are to do next when they finish an activity the visual support helps them to see what comes next when they finish like the next activity or reward.

The communication board is appropriate to use when a child needs to express a need like a picture of a toilet and they cannot verbalize the words. The student can touch or pull the picture of the toilet when they need to go to the bathroom.  

Using sign language to communicate a student uses their hands and facial expressions to communicate words. If the student wanted to go to the bathroom they would make the letter “T” with their hand and shake like a fist to say they need to go to the bathroom. 

Sensory integration helps the student communicate by allowing the student to feel safe in the environment allowing the student to focus and process information. 

Interactive play can be used during a group activity like playing bingo or taking turns rolling a ball back and forth one on one or in a group setting. 

A visual picture or an object is placed in front of the student or on the wall beside them to look at for a visual to show or remind them when they finish the activity they get to make a choice eg. snack, trampoline, or ipad. 

The communication board can be as simple as a few pictures on a laminated piece of paper and the pictures are velcroed to it. The teacher will introduce the picture to the student and reinforce the use of the picture until the student learns to point or pull the picture to indicate the want or need. 

Sign language is to be taught by starting with the most relevant words the child knows like their favorite food, toy, or activity. The sign makes the connection to the object they are wanting. 

Sensory integration is reducing or adding sensory input to the student to help them process and focus based on their need of sensory like noise reduction headphones that cancels out noise or playing music for the student that needs to hear noise both to help them focus or self regulate their emotions. 

Interactive play can first be modeled to the student like the game of taking turns rolling a ball back and forth with “first and then” me first and then the student. 

To evaluate the effectiveness of the visual support, the staff is to document how the student uses the visual, responds to the visual and if it needs to be changed or if it helps the student. 

To evaluate the effectiveness of the communication board, the staff is to document how the student uses the communication board, responds to the board and if it needs to be changed or if it helps the student. 

To evaluate the effectiveness of sign language, the staff is to document how the student uses the sign language, responds to others using sign language and if it is beneficial to the student or if it helps the student. 

To evaluate the effectiveness of sensory integration, the staff is to document how the student uses the sensory integration, responds to the sensory items and if it needs to be changed or if it helps the student. 

To evaluate the effectiveness of interactive play, the staff is to document how the student reacts to the interactions, responds to others and if it needs to be changed or if it is helping the student. 

Picture Exchange Communication System-Alternative Means of Communication

Speech-Generated Devices-

Mid-Tech AAC-Go Talk Device

Table-Based AAC Apps-Proloquo2Go, TouchChat, LAMP Words for Life

Dedicated AAC Devices-Tobii Dynavox, Lingraphica, AbleNet QuickTalker Freestyle

PECS are low and high tech.

Speech-Generated Devices (SGD) are high tech. 

Mid-Tech AAC Devices are high tech.

Table Based AAC Apps are high tech.

Dedicated AAC Devices are high tech. 

PECS

PECS is a picture or symbol exchange system for students who have deficits or challenges with spoken language. It is a system that is used to teach students an intentional functional way of communication (Integrated Treatment Services, 2025).

SGD produces spoken words and provides an unlimited range of language content and supports complex language to meet academic needs of students with different levels of cognitive levels (Pak, 2022). 

Mid-Tech Devices like GoTalk or Big/little Mac switches are good and easy for early/beginner communicators to help them make a simple choice between 2 things like a snack or toy (Andresen, 2022). They can even have short phrases on them like “I am hungry” or “I need help.” 

Tablet Based Apps help provide visual support, speech output, social interaction, foster independence, customized for the student, and help with language development. It will enhance their communication skills, reduce frustration and behavioral challenges, and promote language development (Moller, 2024b). 

Dedicated AAC devices are dedicated to specific software and features. They are downloaded with different features that will assist the student with communication by increasing their expressive language and social communication, they can be customized to meet the needs of each student (Yuan, & et al., 2024). Some can be activated by head or face movements, head tracking, facial recognition as well as have built in switch scanning.   

PECS is used for a student to pull a picture or symbol to use as their voice or language to express a need or want, visual teaching strategies help reduce frustrations and support learning styles and communication (Fittipaldi-Wert, & Mowling. (2009). The student wants to jump on the trampoline and they pull the card that has the trampoline on it and puts it on a sentence strip that reads. “I want the trampoline.” Or they hand the picture to the teacher and the teacher says, “I want the trampoline.”

SGD is used for a student to choose from different pictures or symbols and put them together by touching them and it will speak the word or words for the student. A student will go to a home folder and choose the bathroom picture and either touch that picture and it will say, “bathroom” or type in the words to say, “I want to go to the bathroom.” 

Mid-Tech Devices can be used when a student is making a choice between two different things. The switch is programmed for identification of sight words, letter sounds, or to say one word at a time like “Yes”,“No”, “Cheetos”, or “Goldfish” (Ahlgrim-Delzell, et al., 2014). You ask a student what snack they want and they push the switch that says the name of the snack. 

Tablet -Based Apps can be customized for each student like teaching a student their parent’s names, how to spell their own name, learning their siblings names, and their pet’s names. 

Dedicated AAC devices like the Tobii Dynavox i-110 can be activated by touch or by eye gazing. When a student is working on specific vocabulary on the word list page to help them communicate like the words, “chair”, “desk”, “mom”, or “help”. The student works on the vocabulary by touching the word when asked, “Touch the word chair?” When the student knows the words, they are asked to find the word “chair” and they find the folder with the word list, finds the word, and then reads the word “chair”.

The PECS system is a 6 phase system to teach and train a student to use the system. It is a gradual progression to teach a student how to use cards and symbols to communicate using single cards and then learn to make complex sentences using those cards.

SGD will need to be taught to the student.  The device will need to be set up with the pictures that are familiar to the student. More will be added in time as the student learns more words. The student will need to be taught multi steps and how to access the different pictures to request something or say something (Genc-Tosun, & Kurt. (2017).

Mid-tech devices like the little/Big Mac switch will have a picture of the item the student will be choosing on it. The teacher will show the student the picture of the 2 preferred items on the 2 switches and model the behavior of touching the switch to activate the voice on the switch. The switch will activate the word that is programmed and it will say the word.

Tablet-Based Apps are first downloaded onto a tablet and then they are customized to the needs of the student. When everything is downloaded and added to the tablet for the student then the student is taught how to use the tablet. The teacher or speech therapist works with the student modeling how to use the tablet.

Dedicated AAC devices are first downloaded with a specific software like PRC-Saltillo Accent 800 that has LAMP vocabulary already in it for increasing receptive language. The student is taught how to use the device. The teacher or speech therapist works with the student modeling how to use the device.

To evaluate the effectiveness of the PECS, the staff is to document how the student uses the PECS cards, uses the system and if it needs to be changed or if it helps the student. 

To evaluate the effectiveness of the SGD, the staff is to document how the student uses the devices, responds, and if it needs to be changed or if it helps the student.

To evaluate the effectiveness of the Mid-tech devices, the staff is to document how the student uses the devices, and if it needs to be changed or if it helps the student.

To evaluate the effectiveness of the Tablet-Based App, the staff is to document how the student uses the tablet, and if it needs to be changed or if it helps the student.

To evaluate the effectiveness of the Dedicated AAC device, the staff is to document how the student uses the device, if it is effective, if it needs to be changed, or if it helps the student.