An independent research project
Visual Voices is an independent research project exploring the different ways young children communicate and learn. I am especially interested in how things like symbols, gesture, drawing, classroom labels, visual schedules, and introductory ASL can help children understand, express themselves, participate, and begin to build literacy skills.
Through interviews, classroom observations, site visits, and reading, I am trying to understand when these approaches are helpful, for whom, and how they can become a natural part of classroom life.
Field Notes
Returning to St. John’s Preschool helped me see a familiar childhood memory in a completely different way: before I could rely on written words, I already had other ways to communicate.
Read the entry →Working at an ice cream shop, I noticed the flavor wall pairs written names with photographs so customers of all ages, reading levels, and language backgrounds can compare choices and communicate what they want. It made me wonder what classroom walls might look like if written language were paired with photographs, illustrations, gestures, objects, and other meaningful visual supports too.
My conversation with Dr. Eliza Akua Thompson made me think more carefully about when visual supports help and when they might get in the way of skills children still need to build.
A visit to a forest kindergarten outside Copenhagen challenged my assumptions about visual supports — and showed me how communication can be built into the environment itself.
My conversation at The River School made me think differently about what happens when visual communication is part of everyday instruction rather than added later as a support.
Inside the project
Interviews, site visits, and reflections shared as the research unfolds.
How the study is designed, what questions guide it, and who it serves.
A curated library of reading, tools, and organizations — coming soon.
A summary of insights and classroom-ready tools — coming soon.
A question I keep coming back to
“What would classrooms look like if every child had more than one way to communicate, participate, and show what they know?”