The Teacher as a Leader Series (Part 10: Educational Implications - Autism)

The Teacher as a Leader Series was created as a guide for teachers to help conduct small scale (team meetings) or large scale (group presentations) professional development exercises with the other members of their classroom team or other members of their school team. The series aims to give a starting point for discussion and guidance on topic that will ultimately help to improve the capacity for teaching special learners for the teacher, paraprofessional and 1:1 assistant at the school level, while also improving student outcomes. 

This is part 10 of a 10 part series: Educational Implications for Students with Autism.  There are many educational implications to consider when working with students with autism. For example, when running an autism classroom, you must pay attention to preparing the classroom in an organized manner,  providing visual supports that students can use, teaching social skills, increasing self- help skills and understanding student’s sensory challenges. Each of these topics is discussed in the presentation.  Just click on the picture below for more details.

Here is an example of one the discussion points from one of the slides in the presentation.  When preparing the classroom, be sure to put time into the layout of the classroom. It is just as important to student success as lesson plans.  You will want to create clear visual boundaries in the room so that students can see where to go. It helps to make use of carpets, tape, furniture help create boundaries. If you can, have different areas of the classroom labeled and available for students to transition to throughout the day instead of having them stay in the same place.  Another way to prepare for students is to clearly define the child’s desk, chair or belongings with pictures, color-coding, names, etc.

This freebie can be used for personal use of for professional use to present to a group. Enjoy, and thank you for teaching children with autism.