Visual Language in Autism

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Visual Language in Autism

Visual Language in Autism

: Howard C. Shane, Sharon Weiss-Kapp

Details:: 176 pages, Available Online Only

ISBN13:: 978-1-59756-063-4

Release Date:: 11/01/2007

$79.95

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Overview

While the employment of visual supports is an accepted and relatively non-controversial topic in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) treatment, the authors contend that students with ASD are often introduced to visual support systems that create an artificial limit to what those students are able to express. They offer a new approach, developed during the last decade and more extensively during the last three years, that is systematic and comprehensive.

Visual Language in Autism provides a wide-ranging system of visual representation linking cognition and language, tied to the daily activities of children as they progress through their lives in school, home, and in the community. In providing such an inclusive use of symbolism, the book helps to aid individuals with ASD integrate basic activities of being, doing, knowing, and expressing. Such integration is a prerequisite for orientation to space, time, and particularly, relationships. The book provides a range of assessments of experiential world knowledge, and levels of visual representation that are mapped to language and cognition.

The book helps clinicians and educators provide a systematic progression of visual symbolism, leading the student from basic perception to metalinguistic understanding and use. A strong visual language also provides an organizational matrix that can be mapped to conceptual understanding, which is likely to enhance a students overall communication ability and, in turn, enable the person with ASD to relate to the world of objects and events, and to find his or her way to relationships with family, friends, and community.

Reviews

Christine Yannone, MS, CCC-SLP, Advance Magazine (2008):
"The use of visuals with clients is divided into three modes: Visual Expressive Mode (VEM), Visual Instructional Mode (VIM), and Visual Organization Mode (VOM). This clear delineation should help clinicians better plan, create, and explain the use of visuals to caregivers. The authors offer theory, research and practical suggestions throughout the manual. As would be expected of a piece of work that describes therapeutic application of visual language interventions, the book is filled with exceptional pictures illustrating the ideas discussed."
Melissa Fichter, MA, George Washington University, Doody's Review Service:
"...The book is accompanied by a CD that contains printable versions of the Monarch Natural Language Assessment, Experiential Knowledge Profile, and Key Factors in Selecting an Electronic Communication DeviceThis is a book for teachers, professionals, and parents who are unfamiliar with or have just a basic understanding of how to use visual symbols to supplement language instruction. The VIP provides useful gestalt ideas for teaching language using the typical heightened visual capacity of persons with ASD. The most useful information is on special considerations when working with a person with ASD (e.g., controlling inappropriate behaviors, inclusive classrooms, using visual symbols inside and outside the home), the appendixes, and the CD with printable profiles/assessment charts."

Chapter 1: In Search of a Visually Based Language System
Introduction
Language and Conversation Skills
Learning Capacity and Comprehension
Ability to Refer to and Orient to Time
Developments in the Use of Visuals
References
Chapter 2: Fundamentals of Communication and Language Acquisition
Symbols
Language Fundamentals
References
Chapter 3: Three Modes of Visual Language: VEM, VOM, and VIM
Visual Cues
Communication Displays
The Three Modes
Does Visual Language Blunt Speech?
References
Chapter 4: Assessment, Part 1: Visual Skills and Other Key Skills
Obstacles to Assessment
Testing Strategies and Key Assessment Principles
Assessment for Placement in Visual Immersion Program
References
Chapter 5: Assessment Part 2: Experiential Knowledge
Introduction
Previous Research
The Experiential Knowledge Profile
References
Chapter 6: Intervention: Applying the Three Modes of the VIP
Introduction
General Instructional Objectives
Areas of Communication Skill Development
Additional Intervention Principles and Guidelines
Language Instruction Mapped to Routines
Visual Immersion Program Instruction
Temporal Displays
References
Chapter 7: Special Considerations
Controlling Inappropriate Behavior
Expression of Pain and Discomfort
The Inclusive Classroom
Using Visuals Inside and Outside the Home
Interventions for Pre-Level 1 Learners
Intervention for Learners Who Read
Selecting Appropriate Assistive Technology
References
Appendix A: Monarch Natural Language Assessment
Appendix B: Informal Language Milestones
Appendix C: Experiential Knowledge Profile (EKP)
Appendix D: Monarch Individualized Pain, Illness, and Discomfort Awareness Program
Appendix E: Key Factors in Selecting an Electronic Communication Device
Index

About The Authors

Howard C. Shane

Howard C. Shane, PhD, is Director of the Center for Communication Enhancement at Children's Hospital Boston and an Associate Professor of Otology and Laryngology at the Harvard Medical School and Professor of Communication Sciences and Disorders at the MGH Institute of Health Professions.

Sharon Weiss-Kapp

Sharon Weiss-Kapp MEd CCC-SLP is a Clinical Assistant Professor at MGH- Institute of Health Professions and a Senior Clinical Associate in the Autism Language Program at Childrens Hospital Boston. Ms. Weiss-Kapp is the author of Creative Reading Instruction: Reading by the Rules a multisensory, structured phonics reading program for students with language based reading difficulties, and she is a lead-designer of educational software. She is a founding member of the Hanson Initiative for Language and Literacy (HILL) which provides teacher training, outcomes based research, and develops literacy materials for schools. Ms. Weiss-Kapp consults to numerous public and private schools and presents nationally on the topics of autism and literacy.