Pupils’ views on visual timetables and labels in mainstream primary classrooms

The use of visual timetables and other visual supports such as labelling materials, places and people with words, symbols and/or photos has been advocated by many to enhance communication and understanding, particularly for children with special educational needs. These are used by staff in mainstream and special settings, and parents and carers also often develop these for use at home. A number of studies have been conducted to explore the value of these from the perspective of the adults who implement them but few studies have sought to obtain the children's views. In this paper, the authors who work at Queen Margaret University (MR); within the NHS Lothian Speech and Language Therapy Department (MR); within the Additional Support for Learning Service (JB and LJ) in Edinburgh; and at the University of Edinburgh (BLK and KC) report on a study they conducted to gain the views of 109 pupils with (36) and without additional support needs (73) attending two mainstream primary schools. They conclude that most pupils in both groups found visual supports useful but that they could be more involved in deciding how these were implemented and updated.