Many children with autism understand and learn better through their eyes than their ears. Visual supports — photos, pictograms, objects — aren’t a crutch: they’re the channel through which vocabulary can enter when the spoken word alone isn’t enough. This guide explains how to use them to build vocabulary step by step, starting from zero.
Comprehension first, speech later
Vocabulary has two sides: receptive (understanding a word) and expressive (saying it). Receptive almost always comes first, and it’s where visual supports shine. A child who doesn’t speak yet can show they understand “shoe” by touching the photo of a shoe — and every one of those demonstrations is a brick in the language that comes later.
The most effective way to build receptive vocabulary is surprisingly concrete: hear the word, then choose the right image from several options. It’s the same match-to-sample procedure professionals use, with the spoken word as the sample.
Which words to teach first
Not all words are equal. Criteria that work:
- Things they care about. Favorite foods, favorite toys, the people at home. Motivation does half the work.
- Things they see daily. “Cup” gets practiced twenty times a day by itself; “zebra”, once a year at the zoo.
- Concrete nouns before verbs and adjectives. “Ball” can be photographed; “big” requires comparison, and that comes later.
- Words that sound different from each other. At the start, avoid teaching “cat” and “hat” together — similar-sounding words get confused.
Ten or fifteen well-chosen words make an excellent first goal.
How to use images: from real to symbolic
Not all images are equally easy. The typical ladder goes:
- Real object — the actual shoe.
- Photo of their own object — their shoe, photographed.
- Generic photo — any shoe.
- Pictogram — a schematic drawing of a shoe.
Each rung is a little more abstract. A common mistake is starting directly with pictograms: for some children the schematic drawing doesn’t “mean” anything yet. When in doubt, start with real photos and move to pictograms later. And use several different images per word — three different shoes teach the concept “shoe”; the same photo repeated teaches that photo.
The practice session: short, with success guaranteed
- Lay out 2 or 3 images, say the word (“shoe!”), and wait for a touch.
- At first, help them get it right: move the correct image closer or point at it. Withdraw that help gradually — that’s errorless learning, and it’s the difference between a child who wants to play and one who leaves the table.
- Move the correct image’s position every round.
- Five minutes, end on a success and a celebration. Two short sessions a day beat one long one.
Once they touch the right image reliably, raise the difficulty: more options, more similar images, and from “touch the shoe” to “give me the shoe” with real objects around the house. That last step — from the table to life — is the one that truly matters, and it’s worth provoking on purpose: ask for the shoe in the hallway, at the park, at grandma’s.
Where Interlaza fits
Interlaza runs exactly this training — spoken word, options on screen, help that fades on its own — with hundreds of concepts in Spanish and English, realistic photos and pictograms, and difficulty that adjusts to your child’s real pace. The Family plan’s vocabulary pathway is built to do at home what you’ve just read, ten minutes a day, without you having to prepare materials or decide when to level up.
And remember: the app trains comprehension with precision, but words finish being learned in real life. Name what your child looks at, celebrate what they point to, and use the same words they’re practicing on screen.