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Supports and Resources
This website is dedicated to providing developmentally-based, practical information and resources for children on the autism spectrum and to the people who support them.
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| The GO Chart
The GO Chart is a graphic organizer designed to help students get the most out of their reading assignments by encouraging them to actively engage with content. Designed by Ms. Pelletier, a regular ed 6th grade teacher, the GO Chart focuses on comprehension, vocabulary, and personal connections. The support can be used by an individual student or in buddy reading activities. Included for download are the graphic organizer and rubric for its use. The video tutorial briefly reviews the GO Chart.
Free Visual Supports Available:
GO Chart (PDF)
GO Chart Criteria (PDF)
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Reciprocal Statements (Video Tutorial)
Engaging in social conversations, particularly during less structured times (e.g., snack, lunch, etc) can be challenging for children with ASD and related developmental disabilities. Research has demonstrated that early language learners often initially engage in social conversations by making reciprocal statements with peers about common topics (e.g., preferred toy, shirt color, etc). This topic board is designed to support early symbolic communicators in making reciprocal statements about a familiar experience, Thanksgiving. Obviously, the structure of this board can be applied to countless topics. The individual words in the word bank on the second page is to be cut out, laminated, and velcroed on the top of the first page. All children present in the interaction should be encouraged to use the support to make their contributions to the conversation so that the child with ASD can benefit from modeling, as well as augmentative support.
Free Visual Support Available: Reciprocal Statements - Thanksgiving Commenting (PDF) |
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Updated for 2012 and the iPad 3, "Mr. Turkey, where are you?" is available as a FREE eBook app for iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch.
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Where is Mr. Turkey? (PDF)
Where is Mr. Turkey? is a book created by Lorrie Ann Harrington, a parent of a child who was diagnosed with autism in 2004 at the age of three. Since that time, Lorrie has created and used personalized books to teach her son new vocabulary, language-based concepts, and social communication skills. She has found that incorporating her son's interests, as well as including photographs of him and others close to him, in the stories helps to secure his interest and enables him to stay focused and relate to the teaching topic more easily.
Where is Mr. Turkey? (PDF) focuses on the "WH" question "WHERE?." This question is introduced as well as other concepts including, gender-based pronouns, punctuation, and more. In addition, the story is structured in such a way that it can be used to help teach children to identify, label, and categorize words, by commenting on the text and pictures.
Also included for download is the graphic and text used on the "I" page. This additional download can be used to personalize Where is Mr. Turkey? for your child or student.
Free Visual Supports Available: Where is Mr. Turkey? (PDF) | I Page Template (PNG) | How to add your own picture - (Video Tutorial)
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Trick or Treat (Video Tutorial)
Trick or Treat is a support designed to help children with ASD participate in and enjoy the Halloween tradition of trick or treating. Many aspects of this activity can be unsettling for children on the spectrum. This visual support is designed to reduce the anxiety that some feel by increasing the predictability of trick or treating. It is a two part support designed - 1) to help family members proactively plan trick or treat activities with their children and 2) to provides strategies for use during the activity. The top of the page helps families create their plan for the evening, while the bottom of the page helps children make decisions about what to do if they encounter a "problem" when they are trick or treating. Two separate pages are designed this way. One is for going trick or treating and the other is for staying home to pass out candy. Modification of the support is encouraged for individual children. The video tutorial discusses the support design and additional considerations for use.
Free Visual Supports Available: Trick or Treat (PDF) |
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Updated for iPad 3, the Halloween book is also available as a FREE eBook app for iPhone and iPod Touch.
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Halloween (PDF)
Halloween is a book created by Lorrie Ann Harrington, a parent of a child who was diagnosed with autism in 2004 at the age of three. Since that time, Lorrie has created and used personalized books to teach her son new vocabulary, language-based concepts, and social communication skills. She has found that incorporating her son's interests, as well as including photographs of him and others close to him, in the stories helps to secure his interest and enables him to stay focused and relate to the teaching topic more easily.
Included here is the Halloween Book (PDF) which focuses on the "WH" question "WHERE?." This question is introduced repeatedly throughout the book to help children learn location concepts such as- "in front of", "behind", and "next to." In addition, the story is structured in such a way that it can be used to help teach children to identify, label, and categorize words, by commenting on the text and pictures.
Also included for download is the graphic and text used on the "me" page. This additional download can be used to personalize Halloween for your child or student.
Free Visual Supports Available: Halloween (PDF) | Me Page Template (PNG) | How to add your own picture - (Video Tutorial)
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Waiting (Video Tutorial)
Waiting is a resource that is designed to help educators, therapists, and family members teach individuals with ASD and related disabilities how to wait. It details many different aspects of waiting that need to be considered when "teaching" the concept which are frequently overlooked. The support is designed to be a proactive approach to teaching a skill that often poses difficulty for individuals on the spectrum. The video tutorial discusses the some additional thoughts behind the support.
Free Visual Supports Available: Waiting (PDF) |
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Adapted Grading Rubric (Video Tutorial)
The Adapted Grading Rubric is designed to provide students and their families with authentic feedback about student performance on adapted curriculum materials. Four areas are assessed - independence, active engagement, accuracy, and completeness- for each assignment. Scoring is designed to be simple and consistent with a possible 5 points in each of the areas assessed. The downloadable support includes suggested criteria for the rubric, as well as sample scoring forms that could be printed and attached to a student's assignment. The video tutorial provides additional information on the potential uses for the support.
Free Visual Supports Available: Adapted Grading Rubric (PDF) |
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Grocery Treasures Map (Video Tutorial)
Shopping with a child can be an adventure. Grocery Treasures Map is designed to help make sure that the adventure is fun. This "grocery list" is designed to capitalize on the interest that many kids have in pirates. When customizing the fillable .doc template for early language learners, photos or google images can be used to ensure comprehension and active engagement. When customizing the list for older kids, written words may suffice. For more ideas on modifying this support visit the video tutorial.
Free Visual Supports Available: Grocery Treasures Map (PDF) and Grocery Treasures Map (DOC) |
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Updated for 2012, "4th of July with Lucy and her ladybug friends" is now available as a .99 eBook app and simple game for the iPad.
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4th of July Fun with Numbers
4th of July Fun with Numbers is a "Printable" book created by Lorrie Ann Harrington that focuses on teaching early numeracy skills and more. It's simple structure is designed to help teach children one-to-one correspondence, as well as to identify and label 4th of July vocabulary. Use it to encourage active participation, promote commenting, and strengthen the learning by asking your child or learner "WH" questions such as "Where?", "Who?", and "What?" (e.g. "Where is Lucy?", "Who is that?", "What number is that?", etc.) while referencing the text and pictures.
Also included for download is the graphic and text used on the "1 child" page. This additional download can be used to personalize 4th of July Fun with Numbers for your child or student.
Free Visual Supports Available: 4th of July Fun with Numbers (PDF) | 1 child Page Template (PNG) | How to add your own picture - (Video Tutorial)
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Updated for 2012, "Easter with Bunny, Rabbit and Me" will be available as a FREE eBook app for iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch.
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Easter with Bunny, Rabbit and Me (PDF)
Easter with Bunny, Rabbit and Me is a book created by Lorrie Ann Harrington that focuses on teaching communication skills centered around the "WH" questions "Who?", "What?", "Where?", and "Why?." In addition, the story is structured in such a way that it can be used to help teach children to identify, label, and categorize words, by commenting on the text and pictures.
Also included for download is the graphic and text used on the "me" page. This additional download can be used to personalize Easter with Bunny, Rabbit and Me for your child or student.
Free Visual Supports Available: Easter with Bunny, Rabbit and Me (PDF) | Me Page Template (PNG) | How to add your own picture - (Video Tutorial)
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Time Card System (Video Tutorial)
This four part Time Card system is designed for individuals with ASD who are working on understanding concepts that will help to facilitate their transition to work and to adult services. School staff and community support personnel can adapt the system to accommodate all language learning levels (e.g., For students who are pre-symbolic or early symbolic learners, focusing on the photo for recognition of their own cards and utilizing simple check marks will likely be appropriate. For students who are solidly symbolic communicators, focusing on the written elements of the support, using time stamps, and completing hourly calculations may be appropriate. The time card is a Word doc for easy personalization. The video tutorial offers additional information about the system's structure and support.
Free Visual Supports Available: Time Card Story (PDF) and Time Card (DOC) |
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Eating with Friends (Video Tutorial)
Eating together is an inherently social event in most cultures. However, sometimes children focus more on their food than on their friends, peers, and classmates. Children for whom this is the case often need a little extra help understanding the most basic social components of eating together. This support, Eating with Friends, is designed to help provide that support in a very simple and concrete way. The structure of the board as well as some potential modifications are discussed within the video tutorial.
Free Visual Support Available: Eating with Friends (PDF) |
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The Valentine Card is fun, simple card designed for early language learners who are utilizing picture symbols to aid in expression and comprehension. It is designed to be personalized with pictures of the child and his or her Valentines. Color coded parts of speech consistent with other supports on www.amy-laurent.com helps build semantic relations and sentence structure. The video tutorial briefly describes how to personalize the support.
Free Visual Support Available: The Valentine Card (DOC) |
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I Am a Student (Video Tutorial)
Some children with ASD struggle with the understanding roles and how they apply to them. One role that can be particularly challenging is the role of a student. This explanation was written in collaboration with Martha Velie-Gass, a fantastic inclusion specialist that I work with, for an elementary student struggling with this concept. It emphasizes some of the basic tasks that a student is expected to engage in while also providing some background information as to their importance. We hope that it sparks some thoughts that will be helpful in supporting the students in your lives and that you will be able to adapt it for them individually.
Free Visual Support Available: I Am a Student (PDF) |
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I Spy a Reindeer (PDF)
I Spy a Reindeer is a book created by Lorrie Ann Harrington that focuses on teaching commenting skills centered around the personal pronoun "I." This pronoun is used repeatedly throughout the book with a special page designed to teach the relationship between the pronouns "I" and "me." In addition, the story is structured in such a way that it can be used to help teach children to identify, label, and categorize words, by commenting on the text and pictures.
Also included for download is the graphic and text used on the "me" page. This additional download can be used to personalize I Spy a Reindeer for your child or student.
Free Visual Supports Available: I Spy a Reindeer (PDF) | Me Page Template (PNG) | How to add your own picture - (Video Tutorial)
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Helping Hand System (Video Tutorial)
The Helping Hand System is a support designed to help start the school year off right. It is simple in design and is simple to implement. The overarching goals of the system are to help students to feel supported and to help them establish trusting relationships with responsive partners, all while teaching them how to ask for help. Multiple copies of the Helping Hand can be placed around the student's classroom in areas that the student is likely to need help (e.g., locker, pencil sharpener, computer). The student can then be taught through modeling and visual cueing to give the hand to a staff or a peer to secure assistance. The Helping Hand System was inspired by a public elementary school teacher in Wisconsin.
Free Visual Support Available: Helping Hand System (PDF) |
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Green/Red Within Task Schedule (Video Tutorial)
Predicting the structure of activities, as well as, comprehending routines present known challenges for children with Autism and related disabilities. The Green/Red Within Task Schedule is a support designed to lessen these challenges, as it provides step-by-step information for a given activity. This particular sample is designed to be used with early conversational partners and utilizes color coded word combinations to enhance comprehension. The video tutorial describes the design and use of the support.
Free Visual Support Available: Green/Red Within Task Schedule (PDF) |
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Goodbye 3rd Grade, Hello 4th Grade (Video Tutorial)
Coping with change is a challenge for many individuals on the spectrum. Goodbye 3rd Grade, Hello 4th Grade is an example of a support created to help a student understand and feel more comfortable with the end of one school year and the beginning of the next. By focusing on familiar experiences, as well as positive associations, Goodbye 3rd Grade, Hello 4th Grade is designed to help lessen the anxiety often experienced during these types of "big, but expected" transitions. Frequent and repeated use of this type of story over the course of the summer is essential for accomplishing this goal. I hope you find inspiration in this example of a transition story and create your own that will positively answer some of the unknowns for the kids in your life. The video tutorial briefly describes the support and its personalization.
Free Visual Support Available: Goodbye 3rd Grade, Hello 4th Grade (PDF) |
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Silent Signals (Video Tutorial)
Students with social learning difficulties often struggle with the nuances of non-verbal communication. These challenges can pose significant difficulties in large social groupings where there are many partners to monitor in a fluid social scene. This is often the case in a classroom environment. In turn, classroom staff often find themselves using excessive verbal cueing (which can interrupt the learning environment) to redirect or guide student behavior. In addition to difficulties interpreting non-verbal cues, individuals with social learning differences at times demonstrate difficulty knowing how and when to initiate communication in appropriate ways within group environments. This often results in talking out in class at seemingly inopportune times.
Silent Signals is a support developed to address both of these challenges on a very basic level. The boards can be posted at the front of the class and if needed students can have personal copies to refer to at their own desks. The first board includes 3 signals that students can initiate using to initiate communication for the purpose of taking care of basic needs. Simple hand signals are included for asking to use the bathroom, requesting a break, and requesting help. The second board includes 3 hand signals that classroom staff can use to answer students’ requests. The video tutorial briefly describes the structure and use of the support.
Free Visual Support Available: Silent Signals (PDF) |
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| Autism Awareness Card
This is an example of an Autism Awareness Card that can be used to educate the public during challenging moments in the community. One side of the card contains information specific to the child and strategies that may be helpful in the moment for others to be aware of. The other side contains general information about autism. It is highly recommended to individualize these cards to contain information specific to your family member or individual in your care. The brief video tutorial discusses recommendations for doing this.
Free Visual Supports Available:
Autism Awareness Card - Example (PDF)
Autism Awareness Card - Template (DOC)
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| Self-advocacy Card
Self-advocacy is considered by many to be a critical need for individual's on the spectrum. Self-advocacy cards are an example of a support that can be used to help accomplish this goal. Such a card can be used to “educate” people that the individual may be meeting for the first time (e.g., substitute teachers, health care professionals, etc). The intent of the card is to increase awareness by offering some basic information about the difficulties experienced by the individual, as well as to increase awareness of individualized accommodations that may promote comfort and successful interactions. Information related to personalization of the cards is contained in the brief video tutorial.
Free Visual Supports Available:
Self-advocacy Card - Example (PDF)
Self-advocacy Card - Template (DOC)
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| I Like to Talk About... Do you? Book
Entering into and sustaining social conversations with friends, even about topics of interest can pose a significant challenge for individuals with social learning disabilities. And, at times when conversations with peers do occur, they can “feel” scripted or confined to the “topic” of the current activity. This support, the “I Like to Talk About... Do you? Book” is designed to serve as a medium to help generate novel and genuine conversations with others. The “book” is simple in its structure and the video describes assembly options and design. Once created, “the book” serves as a visual reference for the individual with social difficulties; and, perhaps more importantly, “the book” provides peers and friends with information about the student’s preferred interests which the peers can then use to initiate conversations and establish understanding of shared interests. The book purposely does not contain text or sentence starters. This omission is made in an effort for peers to initiate with students about preferred and familiar topics, but in novel and genuine ways.
Free Visual Supports Available:
I Like to Talk About... Do you? Book (PDF)
I Like to Talk About... Do you? Book - Template (PDF)
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Rub-a-Dub-Dub! Which Part do I Scrub? is a support designed to facilitate active engagement and communication during the bath time routine. (This is one visual you will definitely want to laminate.) The support is created to provide predictable interactions in a fun game-like structure. Children and their parents can take turns spinning the spinner to determine which body part is the next to be washed. The splash space adds an exciting element of anticipation to the game. Parents can use the symbols on the board to support their child’s comprehension during the bath, and children can use the symbols to assist with commenting and requesting. The video tutorial briefly describes the assembly and use of the support.
Free Visual Support Available: Rub-a-Dub-Dub! Which Part do I Scrub? (PDF) |
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Event Description Worksheet (Video Tutorial)
Students on the spectrum who demonstrate emerging language skills often struggle with communicating about past events. These difficulties have an impact upon a student’s conversational abilities and also upon their literacy skills. The Event Description Worksheet is designed for early language learners who are utilizing picture symbols to aid in expression and comprehension. It is designed as a visual tool for organizing the basic elements of a story grammar. Four standard questions related to who, what, where, and emotional state are posed. Each of these questions, is followed by a series of colored coded boxes. Each color within the stands for a particular part of speech which is needed to answer the question properly. Red for people/characters, Green for actions, Blue for modifiers, and Yellow for objects/ locations. The video tutorial briefly describes The Event Description Worksheet's organization and use.
Free Visual Support Available: Event Description Worksheet (PDF) |
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Comment- Question Board (Video Tutorial)
Students with social learning difficulties often struggle with learning how to share their intentions for social interactions within conversations- e.g., greeting, taking turns, calling, showing off, etc. Specific challenges related to these difficulties in sharing intentions in the areas of commenting and requesting information are particularly significant in that they impact a student’s ability to sustain conversational topics with others and to form relationships. The Comment-Question board is a tool that can be utilized in semi-structured environments to visually illustrate the desired balance between comments and questions in a conversation. One side of the support has the written cue, “I can make a comment,” while the other side of the support has the written cue, “I can ask a question.” During a semi-structured conversation between peers, a supportive partner should place a visual cue (e.g., a penny)on the “I can make a comment.” side of the board for each relevant comment that is made. When a relevant question is asked by one of the students involved in the conversation, the partner should place a more significant visual cue (e.g., a dime) on the “I can ask a question” side of the board. The combination of these visual supports and cues are designed to highlight the notion that asking a question is more “valuable,” as it turns the conversation over to a partner. The video tutorial briefly explains the rationale and use of the support.
Free Visual Support Available: Comment- Question Board (PDF) |
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Student Home/School Journal (Video Tutorial)
Students on the spectrum who demonstrate emerging language skills often struggle with communicating about past events. This challenge is almost universal due to the difficulties they face in joint attention, perspective taking, and language formulation. These difficulties present a special challenge for school age students and impact their abilities to communicate across the contexts of home and school. This visual support, The Student Home/School Journal, is designed to help scaffold a student’s abilities with cross-contextual communication. The Student Home/School Journal consists of 2 Journal sheets. One is designed to be filled out by a student at school and to be shared at home. While, the other is designed to be completed by the student at home and shared at school. Both of the sheets use color coded word combinations paired with a consistent, simple choice making formats to structure the student's communication. The video tutorial briefly describes the structure of the support and its use.
Free Visual Support Available: The Student Home/School Journal (PDF) |
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Classmate Social Culture Survey (Video Tutorial)
The Classmate Social Culture Survey is adapted from the work of Lorraine Kamp and Laurie Smith (2006). This survey is designed to glean information about peer culture and lingo that can be used in creative ways to provide students with social cognitive difficulties “something to talk about with their peers.” Consistent with The Participation Model (Beukelman & Mirenda, 2005) which stresses scaffolding communication opportunities that build on strengths and interests, this survey collects information directly from a student’s peers and potential communication partners. When giving the survey to peers to complete, adults should stress the importance of giving “real” answers rather than “ones that adults would expect.” This aspect is critical to ensure usability of the tool. Once the answers are collected, they can be used in a variety of ways to support students in meaningful, real interactions with their peers. Two examples of possibilities are offered as part of this download and described in the video tutorial.
Free Visual Support Available: Classmate Social Culture Survey (PDF) |
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Regular Routes, Detours, and Different Routes (Video Tutorial)
Regular Routes, Detours, and Different Routes is a Social StoryTM written to help students understand changes to their schedules. This Social StoryTM is written for students who are particularly interested in transportation. Bus Routes and Detour symbols are used to help students comprehend changes to their schedule. Emphasis is placed on the students still “arriving” at their final destination, the end of the school day, despite following a Different Route including Detours. Detour symbols for use on students’ schedules are also included in the download. The video tutorial briefly explains the structure and rationale for the Social StoryTM.
Free Visual Support Available: Regular Routes, Detours, and Different Routes (PDF) |
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ZigZags (Video Tutorial)
Students on the Autism Spectrum and those with related disabilities often have difficulty comprehending and coping with changes to their daily schedules. ZigZags Happen and Help with ZigZags are two Social StoriesTM written to help students understand and cope with schedule changes. In my practice, I have found that giving the concept of “change” a name (e.g., a ZigZag) is an extremely helpful strategy which supports students’ abilities to productively deal with unanticipated schedule changes. Both of these Social StoriesTM are most appropriate for students who are able to read written text with good comprehension. ZigZag symbols for use on students’ schedules are also included in the download. The video tutorial briefly explains the structure and rationale for the Social StoriesTM.
Free Visual Support Available: ZigZags (PDF) |
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The Volume Meter (Video Tutorial)
The Volume Meter is designed to be used with students who have difficulty adjusting their voice volume to match the social expectation of the environment that they are in. To be used most effectively, a student must have a conceptual understanding of volume. The Volume Meter uses both numerical and descriptive categories to help facilitate understanding and build knowledge of volume related categories/vocabulary. This support is designed to be used interactively and dynamically to provide students with clear feedback related to “expected volume,” as well as their personal volume. The support is available for download in 2 sizes. The smaller size is designed for portable use with a single student. The larger is designed for use in providing feedback to groups of students. The video tutorial describes the design, assembly, and use of the support.
Free Visual Support Available: The Volume Meter (PDF) |
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Matching Clouds (Video Tutorial)
Matching Clouds is a modified version of CLOUDS, a book that combines literacy numeracy and fun. It is written for children who are beginning to understand text and numbers. The visually augmented text using Boardmaker symbols is designed to help children see the connections between words and to bolster comprehension. In addition, Matching Clouds is designed to be an interactive book for kids in which they can match cut out cloud shapes and numbers with those on the pages of the book. The video tutorial briefly describes the activity and the assembly of the book.
Free Visual Support Available: Matching Clouds (PDF) |
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Clouds (Video Tutorial)
CLOUDS is a activity book that combines literacy, numeracy, and fun! It is written for children who are at the conversational stage of language development and who are learning the concept of one-to-one correspondence. Clouds is designed to be an interactive story that encourages kids to count along while they “fill in the clouds” with the predetermined number of cotton balls, pieces of popcorn, or small marshmallows. Adults should determine the appropriateness of these materials for individual children and should always provide supervision. The video tutorial briefly describes the design of the book and it's assembly.
Free Visual Support Available: Clouds (PDF) |
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Red Light / Green Light (Video Tutorial)
Red Light / Green Light is a popular playground game for children of all ages. The visual supports included in this download are designed to help children play with their peers successfully. For children who are ready to understand the symbolic nature of the game and comprehend simple sentences, the first two pages of the support are designed to impart the rules of the game according to imaginary roles. For children with more limited language and play abilities - simply using the final support, the actual "stop light," along with peer models may facilitate their participation. The "stop light" is designed to be printed out, folded in half and laminated. Either the child who is the “stop light” or an assistant can flip the card to show the “green light” or “red light” according to the child pretending to be the stop light’s directions. The video tutorial describes the use of the three visual supports included in the download, as well as a simple variation on the classic game.
Free Visual Support Available: Red Light / Green Light (PDF) |
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Duck, Duck, Goose (Video Tutorial)
Duck, Duck, Goose is a popular social game played in many early childhood programs. Success playing this game is dependent on a child’s ability to keep the directions of the game in his working memory, to monitor other’s non-verbal cues, and to process language. The simple visual support included in this download is designed to help support a child’s abilities in each of these areas, and in turn engage in successful play with his peers. The video tutorial describes the assembly and use of the support.
Free Visual Support Available: Duck, Duck, Goose (PDF) | 
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Who Goes First? (Video Tutorial)
Who Goes First? Children with social disabilities often struggle with taking turns and deciding who goes first. This challenge is almost universal due to difficulties with joint attention, perspective taking, and social monitoring often faced by children with ASD. This support uses a web format to help students recall and utilize different common methods for deciding who goes first. Each graphic in the web, represents a different rhyme or game used for this purpose. The video tutorial describes the design and use of the web for decision making.
Free Visual Support Available: Who Goes First? (PDF) | 
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The Wheel (Video Tutorial)
The Unexpected/Expected Regulation Strategy Wheel (aka "The Wheel") is designed to be used with students who are conversational and who can think reflectively about their own behavior. This compact regulatory support, designed to support the use of conventional regulatory strategies, dovetails with concepts presented in Michelle Garcia Winner's Thinking About YOU, Thinking About ME (2002). It is most appropriate for student’s who are very comfortable with Winner’s (2002) notion of unexpected and expected behaviors. Unexpected/unconventional regulatory strategies are written in on the red side of the wheel, while expected/conventional strategies are written in on the corresponding segments of the blue side of the wheel. A student should be an active participant in the identification of regulatory strategies included on the wheel and the construction of this support, as it is intended for independent use. The video tutorial describes the design, assembly, and use of the support.
Free Visual Support Available: The Wheel (PDF) | 
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Word Association (Video Tutorial)
Word Association is a fun and quick way to introduce the concept of reciprocity to kids who have fairly robust vocabularies, but struggle in conversation. Similar to conversational exchanges which build shared meaning, Word Association requires active listening and perspective taking to complete a valid turn. The first student lays down one of his squares while saying a word. The second student lays down his square next to the first student's square while saying a related word. Reciprocal turns continue to build a visual road representing connected thoughts until the students are out of squares. A student must monitor his peer’s turns for connectedness. If the connection between the 2 most recent words is not apparent to the listening student, he may call a “foul” and the speaking student must explain the connection.
Free Visual Support Available: Word Association (PDF) | 
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Countdown Board (Video Tutorial)
Predicting what is going to happen next, comprehending how much work needs to be done, and understanding the passage of time all present unique challenges for children with Autism and related disabilities. Two different visuals are included in this download. The first one is a countdown board that that indicates how many more problems, questions, or activities are scheduled to be completed prior to being all done. The second focuses on how many minutes are scheduled in an activity before its conclusion. Both of these visual supports are designed to help children actively engage by providing information that can help them understand and predict expectations. The video tutorial describes the assembly and use of these supports.
Free Visual Support Available: Countdown Board (PDF) | 
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Blow Balloon (Video Tutorial)
Creating predictable routines around fun and motivating activities is a key to helping young children with Autism and related developmental disabilities stay engaged and learn. This visual support is adapted from one used by a preschool teacher that I consult to, Mrs. O’Neill. This support capitalizes on young children’s interest in balloons and visual excitement, but also lends structure to an activity that can be chaotic. This support has proven to be a useful organizational support for children at all language levels; and therefore, helps children at different developmental levels participate in a common activity. When you look at the support, you will notice the visual symbols have been color coded to correlate with parts of speech- as it is important to infuse the color coding in both expressive and receptive supports. This support was created using Literacy Support pictures (TM) courtesy of Slater Software. The video tutorial describes the use of the support in dynamic, interactive group activity.
Free Visual Support Available: Blow Balloon (PDF) | 
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Taking turns (Video Tutorial)
Turn taking often presents significant challenges for children with Autism and related disabilities, as it requires ongoing social monitoring, understanding of social routines, and waiting. This visual support is designed to help children understand and actively participate in turn taking, by providing clear visual feedback related to the progression of the interaction. The downloadable support consists of a blank pie chart with 6 spaces. Each of these spaces represents a person that may be involved in the turn taking interaction. Spaces can be filled in with either photographs or written names, depending on the child's level of understanding. It is also recommended to affix an arrow to the center of the support with a brad. This allows for the arrow to move easily from space to space, thereby, supporting a childís ability to monitor the turns of others as they occur and to predict when his/her turn will be occuring.
Free Visual Support Available: Taking turns (PDF) | 
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Mr. Wolf (Video Tutorial)
This visual support is designed to help children participate in the playground game Mr Wolf. The support consists of 2 separate visual boards. The first is designed to explain the game prior to the start of play; and, the second is structured to support children while they are playing the game. Mr. Wolf is a game often played by children in the elementary grades at recess and is most appropriate for children who are conversational. The structure of the game inherently supports turn taking and reciprocity, critical skills supporting the development of friendships.
Free Visual Support Available: Mr. Wolf (PDF) | 
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Play Mat (Video Tutorial)
This is an example of a play web to help organize creative imaginative play for children at the emerging language stage of development. Play webs offer visual choices of ways to engage with the toys. This particular example illustrates play options for doll house materials. The circular construction of the web conveys choice rather than a linear sequence of steps for play. Each play suggestion is represented in simple verb-object phrases, allowing the child to select any play figurine to execute the actions. Each word in the captions is visually supported and color coded in an effort to ensure comprehension and to facilitate the development of early sentence structures. This support was created using the Boardmaker software program.
Free Visual Support Available: Play Mat (PDF) | 
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My Recess (Video Tutorial)
This is an example of a visual support which can be used to help organize a student's time during recess. It is most appropriate for children who are at the emerging language stage or conversational stage of language development. The support is designed to help provide a student with a balance of free time and organized social interactions at recess. This support is designed to be reviewed with the student prior to recess, as well as actively used during recess.
Free Visual Support Available: My Recess (PDF) | 
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Mother may I? (Video Tutorial)
Mother, May I? is a playground game typically played by children in the early elementary grades. This visual support is designed to facilitate children with ASD's participation in the game. It is most appropriate for children at the emerging language stage and/or early conversational stage of development. This video tutorial explains the use of the support and the general principles of the game.
Free Visual Support Available: Mother, may I? (PDF) | 
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Home/School Communication Log (Video Tutorial)
Home School communication is critical to the effective educational programming for children with ASD. This log is designed to streamline communication about a child's day. The video tutorial describes a simple system that school staff can use to complete the log in order to share critical information with a child's caregivers.
Free Visual Support Available: Home/School Communication Log (PDF) | 
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My Speed Meter (Video Tutorial)
This visual support for arousal monitoring is designed for children who are well established in the emerging language stage and/or conversational stage of language development. The two separate meters on the support are used in combination with one another. The first meter, the "My Speed Meter" is used to help children identify their current energy level. The "Activity Speed Meter" is used to help children identify the intended pace of the activity that they are currently engaged in. The information on the two meters is then compared and discussed. If the two speeds to be identical, children should be reinforced for being "on target." If a discrepancy is observed between the two meters a plan to help the child shift his "speed" to match the activity speed should be created. The video tutorial briefly describes the use of this support.
Free Visual Support Available: My Speed Meter (PDF) | 
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Monkeys on the Bed (Video Tutorial)
This visual support is designed to help children participate in the song "5 Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed." It is most engaging for children who at the early emerging language stage of development. This dynamic visual support is most effective when it is present in a child's visual field during the singing of the song. As the song progresses and monkeys "fall off the bed," either the child or his partners should reinforce the action of "falling" by removing a monkey from the bed until no monkeys remain. The video tutorial briefly discusses the use of this support and assembly instructions. Free Visual Support Available: Monkeys on the Bed (PDF) | 
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It's Digger Time - Let's Pave a Road
This book is offered as an example of a literacy activity for children at the conversational partner stage of development. The book is constructed around a familiar theme and follows a predictable sequence. The simple sentence captions are clearly linked to the photographs. The video tutorial briefly discusses the design of the book and assembly instructions. Free Visual Support Available: It's Digger Time - Let's Pave a Road (PDF) | 
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It's Zoo Time - Let's Visit the Animals
This book is offered as an example of a literacy activity for children at the emerging language stage. Each photo is captioned with simple 2-3 word combination. Each word in the captions is visually supported and color coded in an effort to ensure comprehension and to facilitate the development of early sentence structures. The video tutorial discusses the color coding system in relation to expressive and receptive language development. Directions to assemble the book are also reviewed.
Free Visual Support Available: It's Zoo Time - Let's Visit the Animals (PDF) | 
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Web links
The SCERTS ModelTM dedicated to providing current information related to SCERTS training, resources, and materials.
Communication Crossroads, a private practice located in Monterey, CA, directed by Emily Rubin, MS, CCC-SLP.
Dr. Barry Prizant , based in Cranston, RI and recognized internationally for his contributions in the field of ASD.
The FIRST WORDS Project is a model early identification and intervention program based in the Department of Communication Disorders at Florida State University.
Visuals Work was launched in 2011 by Paul and Lorrie Harrington to focus on creating software that brings "Visual Learning Strategies" to mobile device platforms such as iOS and Android as well as offering a variety of "FREE" printable resources.
Autism Resources website created by The Tulare County/District Special Education Local Plan Area (SELPA) to assist parents, professionals, and other members of the community by providing information on Autism Spectrum Disorders.
Autism Neighborhood is a non-profit agency committed to increasing public awareness regarding autism and its effects through a series of candid and compelling interviews with experts and professionals in the field, individuals with autism, and family members.
Social Thinking, is Michelle Garcia Winner's website which details her work exploring the concept of Social Thinking and the creative therapeutic strategies that support its development.
Toward More Inclusive Classrooms and Communities, is Paul Kluth's website which provides resources and articles on inclusive schooling, literacy, and differentiated instruction.
Autism Hangout, is dedicated to the presentation of relevant, timely ASD news and to the provision of technological tools that enable sharing discussions" related to ASD.
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