Welcome back to our Visual Supports Series, where we have been exploring the concept and purpose of visual supports and the variety of visual supports we can use as tools for ourselves or others. 

In Part 1, we covered the basics of what visual supports might help us do, and in Part 2, we covered some of the forms they might take. 

In Part 3, we are narrowing our focus to visual supports in the home and how to identify, create, and use visual supports that fit your own needs or the needs of someone you are supporting.

We might often associate the concept of visual supports with the classroom, in part because they can be such valuable classroom tools and in part because it’s the space where we are most likely to label visual supports as they are. 

We might already use visual supports in the home without necessarily thinking of them as such. Taking things a step further and more actively considering the ways that the wider umbrella of visual support tools could apply in your living space can go a long way toward identifying helpful ways of navigating challenges related to routine, working memory, or organization. 

The great part about visual supports at home is that we can try and discard them as needed, and focus on supports that fit within the scope of our time, energy, and resources. So let’s take a look at some of the low, medium, and high-tech ways we can use visual supports in the home!

One important feature of visual supports that we have emphasized throughout this series is that it is a wide umbrella that covers lots of different types of tools, including ones that we might not consciously label as visual support tools. 

Sometimes, a tiny, low-tech visual shorthand is all we need to address our core concern. Do you forget to bring lunch to work sometimes? A post-it note or even a lunch box or brown paper bag placed next to an item you never leave home without might be all it takes to remember most days. 

Struggle with choosing an outfit on a time limit? Placing a more manageable number of choices in a visually prominent place ahead of time can offer flexibility while limiting the potential for getting overwhelmed. 

While low-tech supports might not be the answer in every situation, they are a great option to have in terms of flexibility, low time and resource investment, and the reality that sometimes the low-tech option just works!

For the purposes of this post, we are defining “medium-tech” as visual supports that are relatively simple to make but feel more consciously like a tool we are actively creating or seeking out. 

Medium-tech visual supports in the home might include scheduling formats, visual step-by-step guides for specific tasks, charts outlining expectations and responsibilities, or anything else that requires a degree of investment. 

Some medium-tech tools like chore wheels or grocery lists, or white boards, might already feel like old hat, whereas printing out a physical checklist or step-by-step guide might feel a little less traditional. 

Medium-tech supports are a great way to invest in potential solutions to challenges that you are navigating in the home while maintaining the flexibility to adjust or try new solutions altogether. 

High-tech supports come in two major flavors: utilizing existing technology as a mode of visual support and specific high-tech solutions built for visual support purposes. 

The benefit of each flavor of high-tech support is that they may have functions that medium- and low-tech options simply cannot replicate, and for some people in some cases, that difference in function is the most important thing. 

One drawback of high-tech support is that it may sometimes lack flexibility, either because of the resources required to try it or because the technology is too complicated to be adjusted in the specific way you need it. When considering whether to use a high tech visual support, it can be helpful to embrace the simultaneous realities that sometimes it is worth investing in the right tool and also that we operate with limited resources and sometimes need to weigh whether the time, energy, and resources we invest in a tool are worth the benefit we get from it. 

A classic example of a high-tech visual support is using a tablet as a communication tool, or using home assistants to set a schedule or to be placed strategically for visual reminders at certain times. If a high-tech solution feels promising and worthwhile, don’t be afraid to give it a chance!

We hope this post has offered some perspective on the variety of ways visual supports can be used in the home and the degree of investment that we can make. 

Visual supports can be beneficial, whether they’re just a minor tool to serve as a helpful reminder on occasion or an important component of our day-to-day routine and executive functioning. 

If you’d like to share your own experience creating visual supports at home, then we would love to hear from you! Just drop us a line at hello@autismgrownup.com and stay tuned for Part 4, where we will cover creating visual supports with computer software like PowerPoint and Canva!