After you submit your topic, Ella creates a draft outline for your visual support. In the preview, you can:
Review key messages and the narrative
Add missing details or topics
Remove anything unnecessary
Choose a format type
Select an art style
Add supporting characters
Adjust each part of the outline to ensure it includes all essential steps, omits anything irrelevant, and clearly guides the narrative.
Choosing a Format
Ella can create visual supports in a range of formats. Each one is designed for a different purpose, so you can choose whatever fits the situation best — or create several for the same topic. Formats vary in how they can be exported, so check each one's features for details on downloading, printing, and sharing.
Stories
A story is a short, simple narrative that walks through a situation, skill, or concept from the child's point of view. It uses clear language and supportive visuals to help them understand what's happening and what to expect.
Features:
Read together or use read-aloud for independent use
First-person ("I go to school") or third-person ("Ali goes to school") options
Customizable with names, places, and specific details
Translatable into 80+ languages
Best for:
Introducing new or unfamiliar situations
Teaching social concepts and expected behaviors
Supporting emotional regulation
Visual Schedules
A visual schedule breaks a routine down into steps, giving children something to follow and check off as they go. Having a clear sequence to reference helps build confidence and independence over time.
Features:
View in list or grid format
Includes checkboxes to tick off completed steps
Downloadable, printable, and shareable
Best for:
Daily routines like morning or bedtime
Multi-step tasks
Building independence and reducing reliance on reminders
Strips
A strip uses a sequence of panels, each with an image and short text, to walk through a single situation, interaction, or process one step at a time. Panels can also be left open or incomplete to encourage the child to think through what comes next.
Features:
Sequential panel layout with images and supporting text
Optional open panels to prompt thinking and prediction
Downloadable, printable, and shareable
Best for:
Teaching how to handle a specific situation or task
Showing cause and effect
Encouraging reasoning and anticipation
Posters
A poster communicates one clear idea in a single visual. It's designed to live somewhere visible so the child can refer back to it on their own, whenever they need a reminder.
Features:
Simple, easy-to-read layout
Works for a wide range of concepts, rules, strategies, and scales
Downloadable, printable, and shareable
Best for:
Display in the classroom or at home
Communicating expectations or strategies at a glance
Giving children an independent reference they can return to anytime
Picture Cards
Picture cards pair images with labels or short phrases to support communication, build vocabulary, or represent choices and concepts. They can be used one at a time or arranged as a board.
Features:
One image per concept, with a label or short phrase
Can be viewed individually or as a board
Downloadable, printable, and shareable
Best for:
Supporting communication and vocabulary
Choice boards
What-to-bring lists, clothing guides, and more
Video Clips
A video clip is a short animation showing a behavior, skill, or process in action. Watching something modeled rather than just described makes it much easier for some children to understand and imitate.
Features:
12-second animated clips modeling tasks, skills, or behaviors
Play directly in the browser
Download for offline use or share via link
Best for:
Learning new skills through observation
Understanding physical routines and sequences
Seeing expected behaviors demonstrated clearly
Worksheets
A worksheet is a structured document for practicing or reinforcing a skill. It gives children a focused activity to work through on paper or on screen, and can also be used to check understanding or track progress.
Features:
Guided, hands-on format with clear structure
Flexible enough to cover a wide range of skills and goals
Shareable
Best for:
Practice activities and knowledge checks
Step-by-step guides and reflection prompts
Tracking progress over time
Games
A game is a short, playful activity built around a single skill or concept. Simple rules and game mechanics make practice feel fun, which is especially useful for skills that need lots of repetition.
Features:
Built around one clear learning goal
Simple rules, easy to follow independently or with support
Shareable
Best for:
Practicing and applying new skills
Making repetition engaging and enjoyable
Motivating reluctant learners
Choosing an Art Style
Ella offers 12 different art styles. Choose the one that resonates best with your child:
Tip: Toggle on the "Remove backgrounds" option to render any style without backgrounds for a cleaner, more focused look.
Adding Supporting Characters
You can add other characters to appear alongside the main character. This is helpful for:
Showing social interactions
Including siblings or classmates
Demonstrating turn-taking or sharing
Creating peer models
Simply select the supporting characters (e.g., "Johnny" and "Sadie") in the preview before creating your support.
Finalizing Your Creation
Once you've:
✓ Reviewed the draft outline
✓ Chosen your format
✓ Selected an art style
✓ Added any supporting characters
Click the Create button (Create Schedule, Create Story, etc.) and Ella will generate your visual support. This typically takes 1-3 minutes depending on the format.
Chat Mode
Use Chat with Ella for complex or challenging situations. It helps you explore what’s going on and build a tailored plan.
When to Use Chat Mode
Persistent or escalating behaviors
Situations with multiple contributing factors
When you need a step-by-step, customized strategy
How Chat Mode Works
Click the speech bubble icon to activate Chat
Enter your topic or challenge e.g., "Eliot is showing aggression toward peers"
Answer Ella's follow-up questions to provide context
Continue the back-and-forth until Ella has a full picture of the situation
Ella summarizes its findings and generates tailored strategies, each with accompanying visual supports and a guidance document for implementation
Review the strategies and open any support to begin using it
What You Get from Chat Mode
Strategies: 3–6 approaches tailored to your situation, generated based on the conversation. Strategies cannot be edited or added to after generation
Visual supports: Fully editable ready-to-use materials for each strategy
Guidance overview: Detailed document including:
Guidance
Steps to implement
Early warning signs to watch for
How to respond in the moment
Long-term considerations
Bundle organization: All materials automatically saved together
Tip: The guidance overview can be translated, printed, or shared with your entire support team.
Accessing Chat Bundles
All resources created in Chat mode are automatically organized into a bundle under that topic in your library. You can revisit them anytime.
