Teaching parents about the benefits of their child living in a visual-rich environment might be one of my favorite topics. Not just because I enjoy making them for my clients in the Autism Parent Inner Circle, but also because of the wonderful changes you're going to see right before your eyes!

Visual supports have helped my clients with potty training, decreasing challenging behaviors, communicating, expressing opinions, knowing how to self-regulate and more! The skills you could improve on with the help of a visual support are endless.

Your child (most likely) has a strength in visual processing and often a weakness (and sometimes a delay too) in auditory processing. 

This means that your child learns better by what they SEE  👀 rather than what they hear.

When we learn about a strength like VISUAL PROCESSING, we have to build that into your child’s day to increase the success they experience every day 🙌🏼.

This is part of setting up an environment to help them navigate the world better and experience more day to day success. 

What you’ll learn over time is that you have to be really intentional about putting certain strategies into place but once you start doing these strategies on a regular basis, they feel natural, they become easy and they feel like a normal part of your day. 

Here are 10 benefits you are going to see after creating a visual-rich environment for your child ⬇️

1

Visual supports help your child SEE what you mean. This is how your child's brain processes information the best. 

It's also an opportunity to show your child an example of you what mean in the form of a visual. This could help take the guessing out and decreasing anxiety. 

2

 Creating a visual-rich environment is going to reduce your child's anxiety by preparing them for what's to come. No more surprises throughout the day.

With the use of a visual support, like a visual schedule, you are creating the predictability that helps your child thrive. 

I have seen so much success with my former students and now my clients' children with the use of a visual schedule.

For some kids, you'll see the anxiety melt away almost immediately after putting it into place. 

3

 Visual supports are permanent and there for your child as long as they need them. This is going to support your child's processing needs by providing much needed extra time. 

The second your words leave your mouth, they are gone forever. But if you have directions or expectations in the form of a visual, they are present for your child to refer back to and allow for more processing time. 

4

 Your child is going to benefit from the use of visuals by getting rid of the pressure that sometimes comes with verbal directions. 

When they are told a direction or expectation, your child might feel the pressure and anxiety of wanting to please you but having a hard time processing your request. 

With the use of a visual, your child understands that the visual isn't judging them or adding extra pressure. 

5

A benefit that is one of my personal favorite, is that you're going to watch your child's independence really start to develop with the use of visual supports. 

Independence is the goal with every skill and behavior.

Visual help add support but also allow for the adult to fade out and the visual still be there to assist.

This leads to your child doing something on their own, independently. Doing something with the help of a visual is still doing it independently.

6

 A visual-rich environment doesn't have to be limited to your home and therapy centers. You can take the visuals with you on the go.

I've had clients take their visual supports to the grocery store, theme parks and on vacation to continue their child's success outside the home. 

We want your child to be successful with skills everywhere, not just home.

You'll start to see some success with a skill at home and the visual supports will help your child generalize the skill to outside the home. 

7

You will almost immediately see a reduction in challenging behavior because we are reducing your child's frustration by creating a world that makes more sense to them. 

Your child is currently living in a world that isn't set up to meet their needs. Creating a visual-rich environment is an easy start to changing that. 

8

Once you set up a visual-rich environment, you're going to see that your child will interact with their environment and other people more and more. 

They are going to increase their interaction with the people and things around him or her. 

Your child will become more confident, comfortable and successful with the interactions they have daily. 

9

Your child's communication skills are going to develop and strengthen with the use of visual supports. This is an easy way to teach your child to express their wants and needs with those around them. 

Having a communication is so important for your child if they are currently unable to speak. 

We have to give them a way to communicate their wants and needs with those around them

All behavior is communication. If your child doesn't have a way to communicate effectively, they are going to rely on behaviors as their only form of communication. 

You can get started with using PECS to help your child learn to communicate with visual supports. This is something that I help parents put into place to see their child's communication take off!

10

Your child might currently struggle with transitioning from activity to activity. Putting visuals into place are going to improve those transition times and help prepare your child better for the changes.

You will notice that you have a more natural flow of the day and you are taking the guesswork out for your child.

Once you start using visuals like a visual schedule or first-then chart, you are removing the worry from your child's mind about what's going to happen next. The transition is something that they will be prepared for and no longer refuse. 

I have personally had so much success with creating a visual-rich environment in my former classroom and for my clients in the Autism Parent Inner Circle. 

The visual supports that you put into place are going to play a major role in your child's success. 

You'll see challenging behaviors decrease and new skills develop right before your eyes!

If you aren't sure where yo start, make sure you download my free visual starter kit!