Sometimes the whole room layout is hard to envision. Like I say all the time, I am a visual leaner, just like my kiddos. Even with pictures and videos getting the feel for exactly how the furniture are organized is tricky. I made a room layout diagram to illustrate how my furniture is arranged within my classroom. There is a method to the madness. The physical structure of your classroom is important. Having a classroom that is visually defined and visually defined is essential for children with autism. Check out the Seven Steps posts on classroom structure: Why Structure is Important; Classroom Structure Considerations; Visually Divided & Defined; Structure in Inclusion; and Making Structure Work.
I have a TON of furniture in my room. In order to create physically separate centers, I use desks, shelves, and dividers to structure my class. My advice – hoard around your school. Snag old teacher desks, unwanted shelves, student desks – whatever! You need a lot of furniture in order to provide physical structure in your class.
Here is my classroom’s layout:
Here is how we use the classroom:
If these are hard to see – you can download both diagrams as PDFs: Room Layout Diagrams.
- Using TAH Curriculum for Homeschooling from a Homeschooling Parent - September 10, 2022
- Using The Autism Helper Curriculum for Homeschool - August 8, 2022
- Literacy Subject Overview in The Autism Helper Curriculum - August 2, 2022
I love your site! I am new to teaching students with ASD and I’m wondering what program you used to create your classroom layouts. All the programs I have seen have been limited and I want to label specifically for my classroom.
Where do the kids go during down time???
There is a break area (play area – but since this classroom is older we call it break area) in the lower right hand corner.
I’m moving from a mostly ID class to an ASD for next school year. In my ID class, I did away with the rows of student desks and used small group tables and rotating centers. I started setting up my new classroom and a well-meaning, veteran teacher freaked out when I didn’t have the rows of student desks. She said the students needed their own individual space. I noticed you don’t use the rows of desks either. Did your students resist not having an individual space?
Hi Kelly, I have worked in many, many classrooms where students didn’t have their own desk with no issues. When you think about why a student would need their individual space – think about maybe what that would mean – maybe a place to keep supplies, communication book, a place to go to when feeling overwhelmed, etc. – I think you can easily accomplish all of this in other ways in the class!
Hi Sasha! Do you still set up your room this way or have you made any changes over the years?
When I was in the classroom, I usually made changes every year depending on the group I had!