Lecture

A visual People Locator can help children process where a favorite person is more readily than if just told. It makes the information more concrete and memorable. The visual format also allows children to refer back to the visual support as often as needed to reassure themselves and reduce anxiety. By having this visual tool at their disposal, children will have less need for verbal reassurances on the part of another person.

A People Locator does not have to be elaborate or costly to be effective. It can be a simple addition to a visual schedule (Figure 1) that is already in use, or it can be a complete separate visual tool (Figure 2 and Figure 3). For some children, it may be beneficial to include an actual picture of where the people in their lives currently are. For instance, at home a People Locator could include a photograph of mom and dad at their workplace, a photograph of the school or daycare siblings attend, or photos of other places that family members frequent (may be placed next to that person’s photograph) (grandparents, neighbors, friends, stores, etc.) (Figure 2). When the person returns home, a picture of the home can be placed next to his/her name and photo. The child with ASD may also want to be included on the People Locator (Figure3). When the picture of home is exchanged for the picture of where they are going, it helps prepare the child for the upcoming change, easing the difficulties with understanding transitions.

A calendar can also be used as a People Locator. Suppose the child has transportation arrangements that vary from day to day. It can be hard for an adult to remember who is coming on which day of the week, much less the child with autism! A calendar that visually shows what the transportation arrangements for each day of the week are can greatly reduce the child's anxiety about who is picking up on any given day of the week. It can also be helpful for busy staff members who have more than one child's transportation arrangements to remember. If every child in the classroom has a calendar showing who is picking the child up from school each day, staff will know at a glance what the arrangements for each child are every day (Figure 4). Calendars are also a great tool for students to know where they will be each day (Figure 5).