By Kim Howard, M.Ed.
Summer Break is finally here! Everyone in the family is ready for a pause from school routines and looking forward to fun
summer. But for children with autism spectrum disorder shifting gears into summer may be difficult due to the loss of routines that take place during the school year. One way to support children with autism during summer break is build up the use of the evidenced based practice of visual supports into your own home. You might be asking yourself why visual supports? There are 26 other evidenced based practices to choose from. Children with autism are visual learners. Spoken words disappear but a visual support is available to be looked at as often as needed. Visual supports can reduce anxiety and help children with autism be more independent in their daily lives. If you are thinking to yourself WOW how do I get started? One logical place to start is to partner with is your child’s school! Find out what visuals supports are already in place in your child’s classroom and look to see where you might be able to use them in your home routines. So now you are asking yourself: Where can I find some free visual supports? Here is an easy answer. My favorite websites for free printable visual supports are: http://www.victoriesnautism.com/ and https://www.iidc.indiana.edu/pages/visualsupports . Both of these websites have a ton of free materials that can be printed out & used at home
