Melvin
A face your child has already seen on a card is recognised faster in the doorway, in the yard or in the classroom. The picture of Melvin below can be used to show who is coming, and who does what during the day.
Melvin
A smiling boy in a light blue t-shirt is shown from the front in a portrait.
About this visual support
Telling faces apart is harder than most adults remember. New people change clothes, hairstyles and settings, and for a child who already spends a lot of energy reading the situation, every unfamiliar face becomes a question about who this is and what they want.
A portrait like Melvin turns people into something your child can prepare for. Put the card in the day schedule next to the activity he is part of, and your child knows before the door opens who is waiting. One concrete move is to keep the same picture for the same person every time rather than swapping images between occasions, since recognition is the whole point. Children who become uncertain in new social situations tend to relax more once a name and a face have belonged together for a while.
In Routined, pictures of people can be linked to activities in the schedule, so your child sees both what is going to happen and who it happens with.
Use this image in a schedule
Build your own visual schedule with this image and download it as a print-ready PDF. Completely free.
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Take the visual supports with you
In Routined you build schedules from these pictures, add timers and voice instructions, and your child follows the day on their own.
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