A blog about autism resources and support from a special ed teacher with first-hand experience.
10 simple but effective transition strategies for kids with autism to make day-to-day tasks and classroom transitions less overwhelming.
Today, I wanted to share a resource with you for making dice worksheets. This is a great way to work on counting and beginning addition skills with your kids! I used this site to make some worksheets for my kids this summer. So far, they have been doing great with them. They have been taking their time and trying to get each question right. I started giving them "grades" for their worksheets...and they all want 100% and a smiley face :-)....I love when simple rewards are motivating for my kids!! The worksheet maker can be found at Worksheet Works. They have lots of other customizable worksheets you can create on their site as well. To start making the dice worksheet, you just choose how many dice you want per question, they layout of the dice, and the paper size. Then, this screen will appear. When you click on the link, the worksheet will open as a PDF. Your PDF worksheet will look just like this. If you go back to the original worksheet options and create worksheet again, it will create a new one with different problems. I created about 3 different worksheets for each level of students. Some of my worksheets had only 1 die to practice counting, while others had up to 4 dice for adding together/counting to higher numbers.
The signs of high functioning autism are more subtle than classic autism and may go unnoticed until your child is older and there are more social demands.
How to help a speech delayed child | From speech therapy activities to PECS communication boards, we’ve rounded up 32 tips & activities to get you started!
In the past, autism was wildly misunderstood.Thankfully, a lot has changed and we now have a better understanding of what autism truly is.
What can be done in speech therapy to help a toddler with autism that isn't talking yet? Carrie shares some great therapy ideas in this helpful video
Written by Quiera Bonds, RBTPotty training can have unique challenges that can be hard to implement. Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may learn to urinate in the toilet first and have a more difficult time with making a bowel movement (Dalrymple & Ruble, 1992). The following factors may inhibit a child’s ability to successfully use the bathroom: • Language: Language could mean the child is having a hard time comprehending and being able to use the language to say they have to use th
Continuing on my classroom tour....today I will show you my new, and improved, morning group! I received A LOT of new students this year (and I got to keep some of my oldies as well!!). I also have my largest class size year (13 STudENTS!!). Most of my new students need a very structured morning group and I need to cover a lot of the basics with them. So, this year, instead of having my entire class participate in morning group together, I split them into 2 groups. During my beginner group, I have a structured group which goes over social skills, calendar, weather, as well as some academic and functional skills. Here is a picture of our morning group schedule. As I complete each item, I make a check mark beside it on the dry-erase board. We go over all of the items on the schedule first. Then, when we are finished, students complete their individualized binders which cover the same material. In years past, I have allowed students complete their binders during the group time to keep their hands busy and occupied. My group this year can sit and wait pretty nicely, so I like it if they actually participate in the group work and then do the independent work after. Just like last year, we start with greetings. For now, I am working on having students respond (either a wave or saying "hi" after I say hi to them. Next up, we will work on saying hi to one another...and eventually, we will talk about things like "what did you do this weekend?" "what did you have for dinner last night?" etc. (I CAN'T WAIT! Saying "hi" every day is getting a bit boring! However, we went from no one responding to everyone responding within a month...so progress is progress!) Next, we do attendance where the kids practice raising their hands and/or saying "here" when their name is called. I think is important for our kids to work on, because it involves learning how to respond to your own name. Next up, is social time. We have a question of the week (this week is "What's your favorite food?"). Each student takes a turn coming up to the board and putting their name under their choice. Right now, we are just working on identifying our favorites. Eventually, kids will interact with one another during this activity to make it more social. Next up is calendar and weather. Here are before and after pictures of what they look like. Calendar "BEFORE" Calendar "AFTER" Weather "BEFORE" Weather "AFTER" My calendar and weather visuals are available on TPT here. Next, we have "Practice." This is something new this year. I noticed that a lot of my students are struggling with identifying numbers and letters, so we are doing daily practice. My students all have to follow along with their fingers and say (or just point for my non-verbal learners) to the name of the numbers/letters. I am hoping that this daily exposure will help get my students more familiar with letter and number names. Then, we have "Binders." This is where students practice the same skills from morning group on their own. I also include some additional work on skills based on IEP goals. I have posted most of these picture before in other posts, so I will include them at the end of this post. I did revise some of the sheets to more closely align to what is on the board. Once this work is finished, I have the kids sit and wait (see the visual cue below) before we start our journals. For now, I have moved away from our traditional journals of writing sentences and/or paragraphs about a topic. With this year's group, we are really focusing on numbers and letters. So, I have them complete a number and letter journal page each day. Here is a sample of a number journal page. And here is a sample of a letter journal page. This whole morning group process takes about 30 minutes to complete. When we are done, my kids check their schedules and move onto a set of rotations through stations in groups of 2 kids. Meanwhile, I run on over to my second morning group! This morning group is made up of some of my veteran students and more advanced students. We use this time to work on guided reading. When we are finished with guided reading, my students independently complete their more advanced binder pages on calendar/weather related skills. I will be posting more on what we are doing in this group later this year! As promised, here are the samples of my binder pages. I did re-arrange some of them so that they more closely mirror what is on the board to aid in my students completing them independently. I have also create a variety of levels of each sheet. Each student has a binder tailored to their individual needs and level. I do have a little girl who is visually impaired this year...she is unable to complete these type of binder pages with such small pictures, so I am working on putting together a larger version for her! Stay tuned for more on that! Easy Calendar Page Hard Calendar Page Easy Weather Page (Velcro) Easy Weather Page (circle) Hard Weather Page Circle the emotion you are feeling each day. Dressing the boy (I also have a girl) for "winter" vs "summer." The following 3 activities are included in my "HW Binder" on Teachers Pay Teachers. Identifying the colors of your clothes. Identifying coins names and values. Phew...that was another long post! More classroom tour posts to come!
This collection of activities that develop fine motor skills is perfect for strengthening muscles in the fingers, hands, and wrists for handwriting success!
Discover over 45 vestibular activities that can calm, regulate, and improve attention in your child. Plus, get vestibular exercises for...
17 FREE Printable Visuals for Autism classrooms including printable visual schedules, schedule cards, picture visuals, rules cards, social stories, and more
Social stories are exactly what their name suggests; very short and simple stories that illustrate a particular social scenario, often in picture format.
Replacement Behavior for Hitting- tips to change behavior for students with Autism and in LIFE Skills. Includes FREE Printable guide.
A blog about autism resources and support from a special ed teacher with first-hand experience.
Autism and behavioral problems can be all-consuming. Check out our best anger management tips for kids and learn how to calm an angry child the right way!
Token boards and visuals are MUST-HAVES when working with kids with autism. This free download will help you get started.
Are you looking for free printable worksheets for autism? Or how about free American Sign Language printables? While it may not have been the initial primary focus, one of the focuses has always been to
What do you do as a special ed. teacher when a student with autism refuses to work? It depends on the function of the behavior! Learn the 12 Best Strategies!
18 of our best teaching tips and ADHD strategies to make ADHD in the classroom more manageable for students and teachers alike!
Free social story for teaching WH- questions
Visuals are key for students in special education, but they are also important for staff. Look around the world and you will see there are visual cues all over. Adults need visuals and cues, too! Here are 3 ways I use visuals for staff in my special education classroom. Special education teachers are BUSY!! That’s […]
Tips that work...in fact, if you're not doing these 5 things, then you're doing it wrong. Find out the 5 instructional strategies for Autism you need to do!
Free special education visual support! Reduce problem behaviors, increase communication, and decrease prompt dependence with this simple, portable visual.
How to help a speech delayed child | From speech therapy activities to PECS communication boards, we’ve rounded up 32 tips & activities to get you started!
Social skill supports are always accessible for little hands in my classroom! They help my kinda understand how to behave or respond in particular situations that arise through out the day. Using such a visual guide to describe various social interactions, situations and behaviours helps them understand important social skills that they might miss. The goals of these stories is to share accurate social information and teach your students how to respond in them instances. These short stories describe social situations and clarify social expectations using images and words to represent the identified behavior. So I've bundled together a few of the popular ones I use! Each of the 10 books have clear pictures and easy to understand in simple words for you to read to your students! I always add the visual reminder strips at the end of tables and in work areas for tricky moments! (These are always on hand) I've also added an "On the Bus" social strip to grab to use on transport home! Autismade Store BONUS Strips Recently Added
