acteristics at each of the 3 communication stages, priorities for students in this stage, and an overall communication goal at each stage. We then related how this information corresponds to AAC implementation. (See Image 3: Scaffolding Supports by Stages of Communication). c. 5 Categories of Visual Supports . To identify a standard, comprehensive set of visual supports, grouped by pur- pose; that are ideally present in every classroom to maxi- mize overall student engagement. A team comprised of a behavior specialist, an AAC-SLP, and an instructional coach reviewed the variety of visual supports that were utilized throughout the district. The team identified 5 categories of visual supports grouped by the “purpose” served. This resource document details “why” each category of visual support enhances student engagement and should be standard in the classroom. It additionally describes the skills that students develop through consistent use of each type of visual support. Once the categories were identified, it became clear that in- dividual classrooms and their students benefited from utilizing supports across all 5 categories, universally in the classroom. To support educators at all schools, district Special Educa- tion staff developed a “Visual Supports Binder” that contains 2-3 examples of select visual supports within each of the five cate- gories. Special Education staff took it a step further and created each visual support example in 3 different versions, each version designed to match one of the 3 communication stages. For example, the category of EXPECTATIONS carries several types of visual supports to assist students in following expecta-
tions. The visual supports example for “classroom rules” in this category was created 3 times; one appropriate for a student at the Before Words stage, another for a student at the Emerging Language stage, and the last for a student at the Conversational stage. Because our district had been implementing and training on its low-tech core word board (CWB) systemwide for several years prior, the CWB served not only as the primary visual support for the COMMUNICATION category, but elements of it were also uti- lized in the other visuals highlighted in the binder. (See Exam- ple: Classroom Rules Emerging Languagee) After weeks of printing, cutting, and laminating, a hard copy of the Visual Supports Binder is now housed in each school in our district so that educators can look through, touch, and get ideas of the most optimal visual supports for the classroom. Also accessible online for all staff, the Visual Supports Binder serves as a teaching tool to show how one visual support can be slight- ly modified for each stage of communication development. (See Image 4: Five Categories of Visual Supports). d. UDL Lesson Planning Form to foster engagement. To provide structured, comprehensive guidance for teach- ers to purposefully embed visual supports when plan- ning lessons. Teachers now have ready access to this tool that guides them through questions to proactively embed UDL supports and strategies. Tips and reminders were included directly on the re- source to maintain awareness of developmentally appropriate supports for communication development and priorities for so- cial development. (See Image 5: FCS Lesson Planning Form) REFERENCE CAST. (2025). CAST: Until learning has no limits. https://www. cast.org Chevallier, C., Kohls, G., Troiani, V., Brodkin, E. S., & Schultz, R. T. (2012). The social motivation theory of autism . Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 16(4), 231–239. https://doi. org/10.1016/j.tics.2012.02.007 (ouci.dntb.gov.ua) Prizant, B., Wetherby, A., Rubin, E., Laurent, A., & Rydell, P. (2006). The SCERTS Model: A Comprehensive Educational Approach for Children with Autism . Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes Publishing.
Rubin, Emily. Communication Crossroads. (2025). SEE-KS . https:// commxroads.com/see-ks/
Rubin, Emily (2017, March). Navigating evidence-based practices for children with autism: Application of the SCERTS framework for selecting critical educational objectives. GOSSLP Conference, Atlanta, GA.
Example: Classroom Rules Emerging Language
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