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 student’s 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.

Review

• 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."

Audience

Primary Subject: Speech and Language Pathology / Genetics and Syndromes
Secondary Subject: Speech and Language Pathology / Neurogenics
Audience Level: Professional/Textbook - 90 Days

• 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 Shane, Ph.D.

Howard C. Shane, Ph.D., 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.

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Sharon Weiss-Kapp, M.Ed.

Sharon Weiss-Kapp M. Ed. CCC-SLP is a Clinical Assistant Professor at MGH- Institute of Health Professions and a Senior Clinical Associate in the Autism Language Program at Children’s 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.

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