Spring Activities for Your Autism Classroom
Spring is a season of growth, renewal, and vibrant colors—making it the perfect time to create engaging activities for students with autism. These spring-themed ideas focus on sensory exploration, motor skills, and social interaction, all while celebrating the joys of...
Supporting Students in Specials
Teachers often ask how they can best support students in specials classes (art, PE, music, technology, etc.). Below, I have outlined some tips and strategies to help our learners succeed in these classes. Tips and Strategies for Supporting Students in Specials:...
Winter Themed Learning & Valentine’s Day
Let’s keep the themed, multi-level learning going with these fun Winter and Valentine’s Day themed activities! When I taught in the classroom, I frequently had multi-leveled groups, and using The Autism Helper’s resources were life changing. I love working smarter,...
Winter Activities for the Autism Classroom
Winter is a magical season, filled with opportunities for learning, fun, and sensory exploration. For special education teachers, creating engaging activities that cater to the diverse needs of students with autism is both rewarding and essential. Here are some...
How to Refresh a Kindergarten Classroom After the New Year Holiday
The New Year brings a fresh start, making it the perfect time to refresh your kindergarten classroom. After a long holiday break, both you and your students are ready for a new chapter filled with learning, creativity, and growth. Here are some simple and effective...
Work Tasks and Activities to Work on Pre-Reading Skills
Pre-reading skills can involve many activities, which you can incorporate into your work tasks, direct instruction, or small group lessons. These skills help lay the foundation for future reading skills. Check out some work tasks and activities below to add to your...
Winter Break Activities for Kindergarten-Aged Learners
Winter break is a special time to bond with your kindergarten-aged children and make lasting memories. This is also when I find myself trying to come up with fun activities to do as a family. I also recommend these to families when they ask for ideas. While the chilly...
Teaching Seasonal Vocabulary
Seasonal Vocabuarly Learning seasonal vocabulary can be an exciting way for students to connect with the world around them, and it’s especially helpful for autistic students. Here’s why teaching words like “autumn", "leaves,” “snowflake,” or “sunshine” can make a big...
Implementing Interactive Activities in the Classroom
Running small groups can sometimes be challenging, but by implementing interactive activities into your routine, students will be motivated to learn and put their skills to the test. WHAT ARE INTERACTIVE ACTIVITIES? Interactive activities are fun, hands-on activities...
How to Create and Use Individualized Learning Bins
Kindergarten is a time for young learners to develop foundational skills, but each child progresses at their own pace and has unique learning needs. One effective way to address this diversity is through individualized learning bins. These bins are a powerful tool to...
Boosting Literacy with Adaptive Books: Tips for Special Education Teachers
As a special education teacher, finding the right resources to help students build literacy skills can be a challenge. Adaptive books are a fantastic tool to engage students with varying needs and abilities, giving them a chance to learn at their own pace and in a way...
Using Osmo in Special Education
As a teacher in a special education classroom, I am always on the lookout for tools that can engage my students and help them learn in a fun and interactive way. One of the best resources I’ve discovered is the Osmo Little Genius kit. This kit has been a game-changer...
Ideas for Successful Parent-Teacher Conferences
Parent-teacher conferences are a great way to strengthen the connection between home and school. They give teachers and parents a chance to talk about students' progress, share ideas, and set goals. Here are five helpful ideas for making your parent-teacher...
Embedding Functional Routines into the General Education Curriculum
Teaching functional routines in a general education kindergarten classroom is essential for fostering independence, social skills, and emotional regulation among young learners. As we attend continuing education, we learn that there are more intense curricula and...
The Only Curriculum You’ll Ever Need
Let's talk about the best curriculum out there for my self-contained classroom! As a teacher in a self-contained classroom, I’ve always sought resources that truly meet the diverse needs of my students. After years of trial and error, I finally found a game-changer:...
How to Expand on the Curriculum Learning Objectives
Throughout my years of teaching, there have been moments where we have had a smaller class size (occasionally from illnesses a lesson ended earlier than expected, or inclusion minutes), and these moments were perfect times for enhancing lesson objectives from our...
The Autism Helper Resources Needed for the Beginning of the Year
It’s not too late to feel prepared for the beginning of the year! While you may be like me and have been in school for two weeks now, I have found myself getting more prepped and pumped for this school year. This week the reality of being back in school sunk in. We...
Intermediate & Complex Matching Weekly Workbooks
Dreams Do Come True! The Autism Helper came out with brand new matching weekly workbooks, Intermediate Matching Weekly Workbooks and Complex Matching Weekly Workbooks. That means there are now THREE levels to choose from: Easy, Intermediate & Complex. These new...
The Beginning of the Year Setup as a Specialist
The beginning of the school year looks different for all of the people involved within the school setting. From a custodian, a teacher, a specialist, a parent, a student, and everyone else that I am missing! There is always a lot of work to get ready for teacher meet...
Setting up Behavior Resources and Conversations as a Team
There are many resources that we want to share with our educational team, even those veterans! Best practices and research within education are abundant. During our first few days together, we talk about the following information while organizing and setting up the...