The Process
Visual Voices is an ongoing research project shaped by interviews, site visits, classroom observations, reading, and experimentation. This page shares the questions I am asking, how I am exploring them, and how the project continues to change as I learn more.
Guiding questions
Integration
How can visual and multimodal communication tools become a natural part of classroom life rather than something added for only a few students?
Impact
How do visual supports affect communication, self-expression, participation, and early literacy for different kinds of learners?
Implementation
What helps teachers use tools such as symbols, gesture, drawing, visual schedules, classroom labels, and introductory ASL in ways that are both practical and inclusive?
Child Voice
What can young children themselves, through words, gestures, choices, drawing, or behavior, tell us about which tools help them understand, communicate, and participate?
The arc
Phase 01
Talk with educators, researchers, speech-language pathologists, and others who work closely with young children. I want to understand what they are already seeing and doing, what seems to work, and what questions or challenges keep coming up.
Phase 02
Visit early childhood and elementary classrooms to see how visual and multimodal communication works in practice. My field notes focus on how tools are introduced, how children use them, how they become part of classroom routines, and where there may be opportunities to do more.
Phase 03
Explore research on visual communication, AAC, Universal Design for Learning, early literacy, gesture, ASL, and inclusive education, alongside practitioner resources and examples from classrooms. I want to compare what I am seeing and hearing in classrooms with what researchers and educators have already learned.
Phase 04
Try a few of the ideas I am learning about in an elementary classroom and pay attention to how children and teachers actually use them. I will use what I learn from those experiences, together with the research, interviews, and site visits, to develop practical resources for teachers.
Who this is for
Visual Voices is primarily for classroom teachers looking for practical ways to give children more ways to understand, communicate, and participate. I also hope the research and tools will be useful to families, therapists, teacher-preparation programs, and others who work with young children.
As the project grows, I plan to keep the resources on this site free, practical, and easy to use and share.