Learning to Learn
Learning to Learn Real Talk: The start of the school year is HARD. Given the circumstances of last year, with remote learning and COVID, so many of our students are starting over in the classroom. This year I have 6 kindergarteners on my caseload and I'm remembering...
Using TAH Resources With Older Students
One part of my OT assignment includes working in a life skill program for high school students 14-18 and a transition program for students 18-21 years old. The focus of these programs includes learning important skills to prepare for adult life. As an OT, I work...
Early Childhood Classroom Roundup
Over the last week, I have had the privilege of visiting several classrooms in our county and talking about one of my favorite things…structure! If you have been following along this past month, The Autism Helper bloggers have been busy talking about different ways...
Reading In An Early Childhood Classroom
I have met more and more young children interested in literacy. Although reading is not a skill we expect to be mastered at this age, I do not want to hold them back. Whether I am working with friend's children, my child, clients, or students, literacy is an important...
Independent Work Systems for Younger Students
I'm a huge fan of teaching independent work. In fact, I've talked before about how independent work has saved my classroom. Independent work can free your time so you are able to teach, access, and work with small groups while other students are working. It can work...
Moving Beyond Requesting (Part 6): Comparing and Contrasting
This is the conclusion post in a series called Moving Beyond Requesting. Previous posts highlight how to teach increased feature, function, and category vocabulary, negation, using those concepts in greater complexity, and describing. If you didn't read part 5, I hope...
How To Create A Year-Long Plan
I will be honest. There are never enough minutes in a day, but that's probably no surprise! In times of increasing anxiety, I remember to list the must haves of the week. Keeping track of everything is a lot; being a teacher is A LOT! I am big on organization and if...
Making the Case for Consult Services
I recently wrote a blog post about how occupational therapists can support the classroom. You can take a look at that post here. One of the ways we can support students and teachers is the consultative model of service. I personally feel like this is a powerful...
Setting Up a New Classroom – Part 3
It's DONE. I feel like I've completed a marathon! This beast of a room is finally finished, and I have to say I'm pretty proud of how it turned out. This summer I've walked you through my thought process and strategy for my classroom as I set up a new space. You can...
Getting Setup with The Autism Helper Curriculum
The Leveled Daily Curriculum has been growing over the past few years. There are now 7 subjects: Language Arts, Reading Comprehension, Math, Science, Social Studies, Functional Literacy, and Functional Math. Level 0.5 and Level 4 has been added to several subjects.. I...
Who Needs a Picture Schedule?
The question in the title of this post is kind of a trick question. You can use pictures schedules anywhere and everywhere! Depending on the needs of your learners as individuals, they can be all around the classroom. Implementing picture schedules should not be a one...
How Occupational Therapists Can Support Your Classroom
When I meet someone new and tell them my job title, I often get different reactions. Sometimes the person knows exactly what an occupational therapist is, but more often than not, I am met with a confused look. To be honest, when I was in college, I didn't even know...
Back to School Tips
First Day of School Tips I'm going into my 18th year of teaching, and I still have butterflies in my stomach at the thought of the first day of school. That healthy mix of nerves and excitement has me out of bed and up early that first day, excited to meet my...
Moving Beyond Requesting (Part 5): Describing
Welcome back to the fifth part in this series called Moving Beyond Requesting. If you haven't checked out parts 1-4, they would be helpful, especially Part 1. In this series, I have talked about how to teach concepts that lead to an increase in spontaneous commenting...
How To Include Functional Gross Motor and Recess Activities
In all of my years of teaching, recess has never been my all time favorite time of the day. I love the time for our learners to get outside, enjoy nature, let out energy, play with peers, and have fun, however, I have experienced a lot of frustrations and tears due to...