The importance of visuals in early development – Workshop with speech therapist Ms. Tabitha Wolfe

This article is based on the workshop that Nayi Disha conducted with speech therapist Ms. Tabitha. Here, she explains with examples why using visuals is crucial to enhance communication and speech in children with delay in language development.

Visuals clarify the material being taught

• When a child finds it difficult to understand verbal directions, it is wise to teach through visuals. 
• She further adds that since a vast majority of adults learn through visual stimuli, It is only natural that children will benefit from teaching through visual stimuli. 

Visual stimulus ensures a more permanent understanding

• Teaching through visual aids ensures a greater retention compared to just verbal instructions. 
• Parents have often observed that when a child was instructed verbally, they often forgot the next day, needing repeated instructions. However, Ms. Tabitha notes that children who carried out tasks based on visual instructions, remembered better, requiring fewer prompts and gradually performed tasks independently. 
• This is also because most children with autism have a very strong visual memory.
• Several research studies support the fact that using visuals helped in following instructions better, reduced anxiety due to transition ultimately fostering independence.      

Visual schedules

• Visual schedules are pictorial representations of activities, routines or a timetable. These use pictures, symbols, images and text that guides the child through the different activities of the child’s routine.
• It lets them know what to expect, ensuring predictability and sets in a structure to their day to day activities. This motivates the child to participate in different activities independently. 
• Providing a particular sequence to an activity, helps children expect what’s next. This helps in transitions and reduces anxiety associated with the task.

Using a Visual schedule

• A visual schedule can continuously be used throughout the day. This helps the child to anticipate the day’s tasks and also see what they have completed.
• A visual schedule should be portable. Having a visual schedule handy will help in the child transition from one activity to the other, without resistance. For instance, a visual schedule that shows the sequence of the child’s routine of school, then a particular therapy, then free time will help the child prepare for what comes next.
• Customise the visual schedule based on the child’s specific routine which might include self-grooming activities, school, therapies, play time etc. It is best to use real time images from the child’s day to day activities and places.
• Prepare for unknown situations. There may be situations when the parents might need to do something or go somewhere unexpectedly. If this is not a part of the child’s routine, there can be cases where the child may find it difficult. It is advisable to create one blank picture, which can be filled based on the specific situation. This can help children to handle unexpected scenarios better.

Communication Boards

• These are topic based visual aids used by the child as well as the therapist and parents to communicate. When the same means of communication are used by everyone, it rules out any ambiguity in language by using both verbal as well as visual communication. 
• Communication boards also ensure that all forms of words like the nouns, verbs are used. These boards allow the child to express in a more natural and functional manner.
• Ms. Tabitha demonstrates their effectiveness through some videos where she uses these boards with children. Both she and the children are able to effectively communicate with each other using the board.
• In one example, she shows how a child communicates to their parent his preferred toy – a ball- using the communication board and pointing it out to the toy. The parent goes a step further by adding another action word – squeeze- to her child’s vocabulary.
• In another instance, Ms. Tabitha showed her communication with a child using the board, where she was able to use two keywords – a noun and a verb. The child was quick to ask for a top both verbally and through pointing. When prompted to use an associated verb – spin, the child could effectively ask to ‘spin top’.
• These examples show that the communication boards are effective tools that encourage functional communication. This helps in preventing frustration in children, when the parent or therapist understands their needs and offers them what they ask for.
• Communication boards can also be used by the child to relay information from the past, such as their morning in school or going to the mall. It is often seen that children with a delay in communication, often struggle with conveying past events. This can be addressed by using a ‘school board’ for example, where images from a child’s school routine are used. 
• Visual aids can also be used to work on sequencing skills of the child. Learning sequencing skills are highly crucial for their cognitive and language development. 
• By using the visual board, we can demonstrate the activity as a series of first, next tasks that helps the child understand and perform the activity. 
• Learning to sequence will help in speech and language development as the child understands to sequence a set of events and narrate the same effectively.
• Another important aspect in the child’s development is to know more about themselves. Visual aids in the form of a ‘me book’ can help a child understand more about themselves, their physical features, their families and more. 

Social stories

Social stories are one of the most important and widely used visual aids that help children understand a particular situation. It uses pictures to explain more about a specific scenario and acts as a guide as to what is expected of them, help them comply and prevent them getting overwhelmed in situations.

Structure of a social story

Social stories are personalised explanations using pictures and an effective social story can help children be more comfortable in social situations. While creating a social story, few points can be considered:

1. What is the purpose of the social story? Identify the situation, for which a social story is to be created, for example a visit to the doctor. Elaborate what is to be expected like an oral examination or a blood test. The child should be informed of what’s going on.
2. Gather the information: Observe the child in such situations. What are the stressors that might frustrate the child, what can the child enjoy in such situations.
3. Provide a solution: Instead of focusing on concerning behaviours, explain what the child can do. Try to avoid using harsh or negative language, encourage the child to use alternatives. For example, instead of using instructions such as ‘Don’t run’ or ‘Don’t fidget’, explain to the child ‘use a toy’ or ‘play with the slime’.
4. Reinforce: Encourage and positively reinforce when the child complies in the social situation. For example, after the doctor’s visit, the child can have ‘an ice cream’. This should be structured in the social story.

The social stories should be discussed in advance to help prepare the child of what is to be expected in a specific scenario. It helps children understand the expectations, overcome anxiety and be comfortable in situations.

Visual Communication is therefore a powerful tool that improves comprehension, information retention enhancing communication in children with delay in language development.

Other topics that were covered in the workshop involve, What is speech, language and communication? The attention bucket method to build communication skills, The OWL method to build language skills, Myth buster in speech development, and the Commonly asked questions by parents about speech therapy. 

Additionally, do see the video of Ms. Afshan Jabeen, Counselling Psychologist and Dyslexia Therapist, of how to improve communication in children with special needs.

If you have questions about Autism, Down Syndrome, ADHD, or other Intellectual Disabilities, or have concerns about developmental delays in a child, the Nayi Disha team is here to help. For any questions or queries, please contact our FREE Helpline at 844-844-8996. You can call or what’s app us. Our counsellors speak different languages including English, Hindi, Malayalam, Gujarati, Marathi, Telugu, and Bengali.

Disclaimer: Please note that this video is for information purposes only. Please consult a qualified health practitioner for proper guidance.