Build Supports

Making participation more understandable, accessible, and increasingly self-managed

Supports Enable Participation

Support is more than another person standing beside someone telling them what to do.

A support can help a person understand:
what is happening, know what they can do, know when and how to do it, navigate an environment, manage responsibilities,
and access assistance when needed.

The root question is not simply, “Does my child do this activity?”

A more useful question may be:

What could help my child participate in this successfully — while knowing and doing what they can by themselves?

Supports Can Take Different Forms

People
Parents, family members, coworkers, DSPs, instructors, community members.

Environment & Everyday Tools
Physical arrangements, routines, pictures and words, task steps, maps, schedules, timers and counters.

Technology
Phones, tablets, alarms, calendars, navigation, GPS, text check-ins and other digital tools.

Ways to Access Assistance
Knowing how to reach support when needed ~ whom to ask, how to ask, how to check in, and how to rely on oneself & supports

Supports Can Shift Toward Self-Management

A support does not always need to remain something the parent or adult manages.

A schedule that an adult once pointed to can become something the person checks independently.
A verbal reminder can become a phone alarm.
A person standing nearby can become a text check-in or another way of accessing help from a distance.

Thoughtfully designed supports can increasingly place information, cues, organization, and access to assistance in the person's own hands.

Supports change form as participation grows.

Technology can be a Tool for Participation

Phones, tablets, and other technology are often thought of primarily as entertainment, reinforcement, or ways to occupy time.

They can also be deliberately developed as tools for communication, navigation, organization, self-management, accountability, participation, and supported independence.

Learning to use these tools can begin long before the person needs to use them independently.

Supports Within Everyday Life

Throughout Living & Learning Aligned, you'll find examples of supports used within real activities and environments — including schedules, maps, Journaling/supporting communication, Participation Books, technology, workplace supports, self-monitoring tools, and other practical models.

The goal is not to collect more supports.

The goal is to build supports that help meaningful participation become possible.