Researcher: Mary Barrow
Supporting Neurodiverse Learners by Using Visual Supports as a Tier 1 Intervention examined what could be learned by using visual supports as a whole-class support in grade 1, grade 2 and grade 1-2 classrooms.
Visual supports are an evidence-based practice for neurodivergent learners (with a large evidence-base, in particular, around the use of visual supports for autistic learners). However, in the COVID or post-COVID landscape, teachers are noticing young learners with less “readiness” skills than previous groups of students. They are noticing students with less problem-solving, memory skills and/or independence skills.
As such, the researcher entered this work hypothesizing that using visual supports class-wide would meet the needs not only of neurodivergent learners, but also of neurodiverse (all) learners in the classroom while being open to examining barriers, and possible solutions to, the use of visual supports in primary classrooms.
It was hypothesized that the use of visual supports could also benefit teachers and other adults working in grade 1 and 2 classrooms.