What not to do
A rule that only says no leaves a gap. The child knows what is wrong but not what is right, and in that gap the same situation arises again the next day. The pictures below show both the stop and the alternative.
♂What not to do
A person raises a hand and a yellow cross beside an overflowing bin with a red no sign and litter on the floor.
About this visual support
A prohibition contains less information than it seems. Do not throw rubbish on the floor states what should not happen but says nothing about where the bin is or what to do with something wet. Anyone who does not know the alternative is left with the same problem, and for a child who struggles to invent solutions in the moment the rule becomes merely a comment after things have already gone wrong.
Visual support can show two things at once: what does not work and what does. A pair of pictures side by side makes the alternative as visible as the stop, and it is the alternative that actually changes the next time.
A concrete tip is to phrase the rule as an action: rubbish in the bin, instead of not on the floor. An instruction can be followed, a prohibition can only be broken. In Routined such pairs can sit as picture cards to point at, and the app can be tried for fourteen days at no cost.
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