Are you a special education teacher; parent; or caregiver of a child on the autism spectrum who runs?  Managing runners can be hard but it is not impossible.  Here are my 10 best tips for managing children on the autism spectrum who run:

Stay in Shape:

Hi All,
      I have teamed up with some AWESOME educators and parents who work with and are passionate about children with special needs. Together we are doing a blog hop of BACK TO SCHOOL TIPS FOR THE SPECIAL NEEDS CLASSROOM  These tips can be used at home or at school so if you are a parent or a teacher, Welcome!



Whether your child is completely non-verbal or has a few words, these 8 Steps have worked for me time and time again with getting my students more verbal.

STEP 1: GIVE THEM A CHANCE TO PROBLEM SOLVE 
 Because of the small class size of the special education classroom, we get to know our students about as well as a parent. It doesn't take long before we are able to predict the student's desires before they express them. It is quite possible to get through an entire day without exchanging words if we cater to their every need before they can even speak. My advice, BACK OFF. Don't be so quick to solve their problems. Give them a chance to try. Yes in many cases we know that there is a price to pay, the dreaded temper tantrum. But here, you get what you pay for. And nothing of value comes easy. If you are willing to deal with the tantrums, your child can be well on their way to becoming more verbal.

STEP 2: GIVE THEM WORDS 
Talk to them. If you followed my 1st step and they are in tantrum mode this is the perfect opportunity to give them words. Tell them, "STOP IT! You do not have to cry. You want the __? Then say __." Sometimes this gets their attention, sometimes they continue to fall back on the tantrum. Why not? It's worked fine until now, right?

STEP 3: INSIST THAT THEY TRY 
Once you have introduced the word (usually something that they want), be firm. Insist. DO NOT GIVE THEM THE OBJECT UNTIL THEY TRY. Yes, you may have a big price to pay. Many kids in this situation choose to tantrum louder and harder. This is when you become worried about disturbing neighboring classes. It's hard I know. But this is an important moment. If you cave, who wins? No one. The child learns that the tantrum is the most effective way to communicate their wants and needs and you continue to subject yourself to his/her behavior. Now is the time to break the cycle.

STEP 4: PAIR WORDS WITH PICTURES
For some students, a verbal word is not enough. They need to associate the word with a picture. When teaching the word, have a picture to pair it with. SHOW THE PICTURE EVERY TIME YOU SAY THE WORD. You can also do this with the actual object. This helps the student to make the connection between the word and what it represents.  Later, when you have time, here's a post about one of my students that I did this with.

STEP 5: CHOOSE MEANINGFUL WORDS 
You have to crawl before you can walk, right?  Give your non-verbal child MEANINGFUL WORDS. Start with the basics. Every child should be able to communicate hungry, thirsty, bathroom, and their favorite toy or activity. Every child should also be able to communicate their favorite calming activity. Here is a sample of a communication board that you can use to teach some really basic words:

Hi All,
      Boy has this been a busy week!  Christmas activities, IEP's, meetings after work, running with my own kids, the list goes on, and the week isn't quite done yet!  Here's a little of what we've been up to in the classroom:

      I've been laminating the collage page of my letter of the week journal to use with manipulatives.  It just puts a different spin on things.  And I can't say enough about Cookies for Santa, my students loved it!  Me too! ;0)

      We've been practicing our counting using these Christmas 10 Frames.  You can get them FREE in my TPT store.  But don't go yet because that's last week's freebie!

We've been crafting up a storm!  We did the paper plate wreath, the hand print Rudolph, photos, Christmas cards, you name it, we did it!  Here's one of my favorites:

I saw it floating around on Pinterest and I wanted to try it.  I added the scarf as a little something extra.  The kids got to practice their snipping.  I've kind of been using this week as my last effort to squeeze in every cute Christmas craft or activity from Pinterest that I hadn't tried yet. ;0)

Here's one, it's different from the pin but the idea is still there.  Put together some Christmas themed items for the kids to explore.  It was called a sensory tub.  I made it a busy basket.  It had ornaments (snowflakes, candy canes, plastic bulbs), ribbon, chenille sticks, a stuffed elf, and a toy Santa.

I gave it a home by making a label for it and tucking it away neatly on the shelf.

Hi All,
      I am so glad to share this unit with you.  I've been using it in my class this week and I have to say that it has been a life saver!  As you know I teach children with autism and sometimes their behaviors can be challenging.  We were doing great but then we reached a point where the kids were pretty much DONE after recess.  You know, like "stick a fork in it, I'm DONE!!!"  I couldn't get much at all out of them at all!  They barely wanted to sit for a story!

      One of the speech therapists came with a cute little shape monster activity.  By cute, I mean I liked the words.  The graphics were Board Maker (BIG YAWN).  So I took the idea and put my own spin on it.  I added colorful graphics and the container with a cut out mouth to "feed" shape monster.  Not only did the kids enjoy it, but they "ate it up!"  It was literally a God send!

      I taught them how to do it on the 1st day.  Once they were comfortable with the format, they looked forward to doing this every day.  It became a very nice "go to" for the month of October.

Shape Monster Game Pieces:  Small Group & One-On-One

Shape Monster Poem:  Works with the Monster & Piecess- Read a Rhyme, then Let Student Match the Shape & Place it in the Container.

Monster Match Up- Match Colors & Practice Fine Motor Skills!

Who's in the House?  A Monster is in the House! Shape Monster was so nice, I did it twice!  Only I made, Who's In the House? Same concept:  Read & Show the page.  Have students Match. Lift the flap to find the character you are showing. "Who's in the House?, Who is this?  It's Frankenstein, can you find Frankenstein?  Student lifts flaps to find and point to character.

Pieces for Who's in the House

Click (HERE) to see Halloween Monster Fun in my TpT store.

Thanks for stopping by!  Be sure to follow Limars Stars on TPT and on Facebook to stay up to date on all of my latest offerings including FREEBIES!

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Hi All,
      I'm finally getting around to blogging about this.  Anyway, if you know me, I teach pre-k and kindergarten students who have been diagnosed with autism.  This year the spectrum in my case load has serious range.  This is an example of it.  This is one of my little guys who I am so proud of and excited about.  His latest thing is he wants to write the things that he sees or remembers from television.  Here is a picture of something that he wrote off the wall in my room.  I didn't ask him to do this it's what he chose to do during his down time:

Look at the dry erase board in front of him.  He wrote, "Criss Cross Applesauce!" Click (HERE) for the lovely posters from First Grade Fever by Christie

      Please ignore the "Mystery Stuff" on my walls.  I tried to get it off, haven't found the right product.  Anyway, I was so excited when I saw him do this that I decided that he was ready for Write the Room.  This is a big help to me because once I present a new letter, I also like to use the dry erase boards to have the students practice.  Then we move to the table to do tasks related to the letter.
      Well, once he gets the dry erase board, that's it.  It's very difficult to get him to stop and transition to the table.  He just wants to keep writing things around the room that have nothing to do with what I'm teaching.  So this is what I came up with:
      I covered the rules that he loved to write with the letter Gg items that I want him to learn.  He loves television and it's pretty much his whole conversation so to really get him excited, I also made a Curious George and a PBS Kids Go poster.  Those aren't shown.  I saved them for last or I never would have gotten through the presentation.
      I also made a matching vocabulary picture words activity for one of my other students.  You can grab this pack for FREE in my TPT store by clicking (HERE)  If you like it, be sure to leave me some feedback!

      If you are interested in my previous Autism 101 posts, click (HERE).  Like Limars Stars on Facebook to find more!  Follow me on TPT to find even more FREEBIES!

      That's all for now.  Thanks for stopping by!

Hi All, It's been a couple of weeks since I've had a chance to blog about my class. We've been so busy. We are still a work in progress but I see progress. I think that we will be working hard throughout the year all the way to the end with certain behaviors but we celebrate every success. Some of our success is in the area of work. These are photos of a few of the activities we've been doing:

Way Up High In the Apple Tree

      I've been using this cookie tray and pieces from my Apples Unit to do the rhyme: "Way Up High in the Apple Tree" with my students.  It's been very successful for developing oral language.  Even my non-verbal students are participating.  The apples are velcro'd to the tree and as we count backward I let them remove an apple until we reach zero.  Once all of the apples have been "eaten" I let them put them back on one at a time while counting out how many.

Candy Corn Emergent Readers & Centers:  Candy Corn Spin Game Now I must admit this one has been a challenge so far. I love it, but my kids haven't been able to control their impulse to put the candy in their mouths long enough to finish a game. I'm going to keep this in my centers and replenish the candy throughout the month. It's great for "My Turn, Your Turn," which is a great social skill. The 10 frames are a big hit.  I made them 2 ways:  filled and not filled.  For my students that need to do one to one, I have the filled.  For my students who can count out the given amount without doing one to one I have the empty.  I love it!  Turns out, candy corn is a great manipulative ;0) Well, that's all I have for now.  Be sure to stop by my store and check out my Apples & my Candy Corn units.   Thanks for stopping by! Asia

Hi All,
      We have just finished up the 2nd week of September.  My class is constantly evolving.  I am making changes at lightening speed trashing what doesn't work and developing new strategies.  There were 2 life savers this week.  1 was the puzzles task  I mentioned last week that the OT suggested for my little girl.  We've been doing it twice per day when I am working with other students.  And 2 was Furniture Arrangement!  Here is how it worked:


This is my latest set up for table work.  Notice the puzzles set up at the red table for my little girl.  The blue table is set up for one of my pull-out students.  I brought the tables close together and I sit in the middle.  This helps with 2 things:  1: I can block in my little girl & 2: Help keep both students on task.

Here's a closer look at the puzzle set-up.  As she finishes with her puzzle she puts it in a finish cubby.

Here it is in action! She's putting her 1st puzzle together.  This is a HUGE improvement!

While she is working, I can work with one of my pull-out students at the other table.  I'm between the two so that I can keep a close eye on both students.  Yay!  If only you knew!  I hope this helps somebody!

Later in the day, we do table work again with a different student.  My girl is doing her puzzle routine for a 2nd time while I work with this student.  Yay!  I'm loving it!

Hi All,
      Thanks for keeping up with us as we continue our journey.  From where we are now, it looks like we will be working a lot on behaviors.  A lot of Conscious Discipline calming techniques and developing independent routines. 
     
      Though there is some progress, the students are still struggling with sitting through a lesson and doing work.  I am mixing the work to include hands on and pencil & paper.  They don't mind the hands on as much but the pencil & paper has to have lots of bells and whistles for them to do it willingly.  They all seemed to really enjoy using the bingo markers on the search and find page of the Letter of the Week Journals.  They also don't mind the collage pages.  Next week I will switch the collage materials with paint just to keep it interesting. 

      As far as the independent routines; like I said, my boy likes the computer.  It doesn't keep him engaged for too long but I can expect maybe 8-10 minutes out of it which gives me just enough time to do something with my girl who at this point won't work more than that amount of time anyway. 

      I've teamed up with our occupational therapist to brainstorm possibilities of a good "Go To" routine for my girl.  The sand is no longer good for independent play because she is bringing the sand to other areas of the room and leaving trails (among other things) :-O.  The blocks are good but she still needs supervision and prompts in order to complete the task. 

      The OT came up with puzzles.  She can complete simple peg puzzles.  We line up 3 puzzles on the table for her to complete.  As she completes one she puts it on the shelf for "finish" then moves on to the next puzzle repeating the same pattern.  Currently, it is not an independent task as she still requires close supervision just to remain seated in the work space. 

Celebrations: 

• I am hearing more words! 
• There have been a few occasions where the students have used the choice board to communicate their needs without prompting! 
• There were 0 (zero) potty accidents this week!
• The students are beginning to name a few of the letters in their name!
• The students have completely adjusted to the Adaptive P.E. routine and enjoy it!

Photos from the week:


S was our letter of the week.  This is one of our table work tasks that we do in addition to the Letter of the Week Journal.

This is another table work task.  I call it "Seasonal Vocabulary Words".  Looks great on my lesson plans. ;0)  Really, I am just trying to teach my kids more words and get them talking.  I tell the student the word, encourage them to repeat it, then match it.  My girl matches so well that I've started giving her 2 pages at once.  She's also saying the word "bus" without prompting. (That's a Yay!) ;0)  Also, you can see the little cubbies where she places her puzzles for "finish." The words are available in "Write the Room" format in my Back to School ELA & Math Centers download.

This is a little activity that I hooked up using Active Inspire.  Tracing their name is such a chore at the table. You wouldn't believe the battle my boy puts up. :-0  Even hand over hand they simply do not like pencil & paper work.  But they have to learn to write their name right?  I find that they are more willing to do the task when I put it on the Promethean Board.  Independent tracing is not happening yet but they are beginning to name some of the letters of their name.  Yay! ;0)

      Well, that's all that I have for this week.  Your experiences and feedback are always welcome.  Be sure to follow Limars Stars on TpT and on Facebook to stay up to date on all of my new products and Freebies!

Autism 101 is a documentation of our 2014-2015 school year!  Follow us as we go on our journey!
Next Installment: Autism 101: Furniture Arrangement Saves the Day!
From the Beginning:  Autism 101: Reflections on the 1st Week of School

Thanks for stopping by!
Asia



  

Hi All,
      Thanks for following us on our journey.  Here are the highlights of our 3rd week of school.  We are still working on routines.  The routines have been evolving according to the needs and ability levels of the students.  We've been doing as much work as we can.  There are lots of student directed breaks between work.  We pretty much work in 20 minute increments which includes a presentation on the rug at the Promethean and some type of follow-up activity at the table.
   
      Because student directed time is still quite the challenge, I am still working on "Go To" activities.  My girl likes the sand table but it gets old quickly.  My boy likes the computer but often needs redirection.  Both students tend to get into mischief once their "Go To" gets old (which does not take long) so I've been working with them in blocks to give them another "go to."
   
      I am teaching them to build a tower using all of 1 color blocks.  Once they are done I want them to "clean-up."  My girl does not like cleaning up at all. :0) My boy will try but he can't fit all of the blocks in the given space because he throws them on the shelf randomly.  So this is what I've been teaching them:

I like to use the Alphabet Sight Word Reader during the presentation.

This is an accurate assessment of what this student can do without hand-over-hand assistance.  As the year progresses I expect to see the improvement as I flip through the journal.