According to the Visual Teaching Alliance only 10% of learners learn primarily from auditory stimulus, yet 80% of instruction in schools is auditory. 65% of the population on the other hand are visual learners, so why not embrace visual teaching to meet the needs of the majority of students?
I have always tried to meet the needs of students by taking into account Gardner's theory of Multiple Intelligences. I try to give opportunities for multiple different teaching and learning styles every day. For instance I often will accompany verbal instructions with visuals displayed on the board or on paper, and I provide ample time for movement and hands on learning for my kinesthetic learners.
This year is my first year working in a special education classroom, in the past I have worked in inclusive rooms and have done my best to meet the needs of my students. This year with a plethora of specialists available to me (autism specialist, speech, physical therapy, occupational therapy, and a curriculum specialist) I have been taught that what I was doing is not nearly enough for some children, especially those struggling with communication. I now employ the use of picture symbols (PicSyms) using the software Boardmaker which is a type of assistive technology. I have pictures for every possible need in my classroom, I use them for displaying our class schedule, I use them for communicating feelings, making requests, basic communication skills, routines, and questions. I have them around the room labeling materials, as well as on key rings for myself and my aide to carry when dealing with most of our students. I have rules and expectations posted on the walls near each center which are also in picture form, and I use PicSyms for students to make choices on what they would like to eat for snack. When I teach lessons I have PicSym cards for key words and concepts that we will be learning about, and I use them often during my instruction.
Another visual tool that I use with my students is sign language. While I am not fluent in ASL, I attempt to use it as often as possible alongside my verbal communication with students and I encourage them to sign as well. For the majority of my instructional time I use ASL which assists both visual and kinesthetic learners, I use PicSyms for my visual and nonverbal learners, I use verbal cues for my auditory learners, songs and chants for my auditory and musical learners, and I give ample time for students to communicate with others to promote interpersonal development.
So far I have found that by incorporating PicSyms in my classroom I have been able to significantly increase the level of understanding and communication for my students. I have also found that by displaying expectations, rules, and my schedule in picture form that I have greatly reduced nondesirable behaviors such as off task behavior and meltdowns.