Autism Classroom Resources Podcast: A Podcast for Special Educators

What can you do in the first few weeks of school to help create a more smoothly operating classroom for teaching special needs students? I often talk about the importance of implementing strategies and systems to ensure your classroom runs efficiently and implementing some very basic strategies in the first weeks of school can help set you, your staff, and your students up for success. The first f...

Teachers struggle a LOT with building and leading their classroom teams. I want to structure this month’s podcasts around helping you do both because even if you’re just out of school and surrounded by paraprofessionals with three times as much experience, you need to take the lead. So today, I start with a discussion of the nuts and bolts of building the structure with a classroom staff so they c...

Today, I’m focusing on setting up the classroom schedule for the IEP. To me, the schedule is the most important and pivotal element of classroom design. It drives the other pieces of the classroom, tells me what the physical space will look like, and is based on the teaching implementation plan. Once the TIP is completed, it’s easier to see what activities are going into the schedule, and once the...

Continuing our five-part series on Building Effective Classroom Teams, this episode focuses on how you, as a team member, are responsible for establishing and nurturing the classroom culture with both the students and the staff. Your tone, your behavior, and your approach can make the difference between a classroom that people tolerate working in each day and one that includes a team of adults wor...

July’s here! It’s an interesting month for us teachers. Everyone tends to slow down this time of year, go on vacation, and relax and chill. But those of us in the teaching world take some time out of our summer to gear up for the new school year. So, to move you forward in that direction, I want to give you some idea of materials I’d prioritize as you sit by the pool and think about how you want t...

If you follow me on social media, you can probably tell that I love independent work systems! Social media has made sharing tasks among each other much easier compared to the days before the arrival of Pinterest and Instagram. But it also means you have access to tons of misinformation, and there's a lot of it out there when it comes to independent work systems. What is an independent work system,...

So far, I’ve spent the last few episodes talking about creating a collaborative IEP. So now that that’s done, you have to actually implement the IEP. Start thinking about how to organize your learning environment and incorporate the IEPs for all of your students to meet their individual needs. It takes a well-structured, well-organized classroom design. In this episode, I'm discussing your teachin...

Creating effective special education teaching materials is more important than you may think, especially for our learners with autism. Students with autism oftentimes focus on details of pictures or learning materials that you may not even notice. Being aware and intentional of the teaching materials you are using is so important in helping them learn the concepts you are trying to teach.  Th...

In this episode, I'm talking about the basic principles of behavior. These principles may be a review for some, but I think even behavior pros will find at least a kernel that they can use to help their team understand how behavior works (and how it doesn't). Sometimes it's unfathomable to those of us who do this all the time why others in the classroom or school just don't seem to get these ideas...

When we are considering Extended School Year (ESY) services for our students, collecting and reviewing data is crucial. There are many state and federal regulations about who qualifies for ESY, and data is a key component in determining who needs this additional support and if it's beneficial for the students receiving the services. Whether you have already determined which students are eligible f...

For many of our students, high school graduation is not the end of their educational journey. We certainly have a lot more students who are recognized with autism now who are academically able to go on to secondary education. But how can we begin to help our students prepare for college, and what skills should we focus on? Today, our guest, Dr. Marc Ellison, shares some insight into this and more!...

There are many things that we need to think about when writing IEP goals. We need to look at the present level of performance, curriculum goals, and parent input. However, there are other things we should consider when we write IEP goals, regardless of when we write them during the school year. When considering what a student’s goals should be, there are questions we should be asking. There, of co...

There are many unspoken rules and expectations that neurotypical individuals pick up on and learn in their everyday lives. But for some people, understanding these unspoken norms of behavior and social interactions can be difficult. That is why it is incredibly important, especially as special education teachers, that we understand what the hidden curriculum is and how we can help our students be...

As special education teachers, we know how important it is to have solid teacher-parent relationships. Strong teacher-parent relationships help us best serve our students by creating a collaborative team approach that helps create a supportive environment for the students both at home and at school. But understanding how we as educators can develop these solid relationships can be challenging. Tha...

Behavior is not a one-way street. There is an interconnectedness between student behavior and teacher behavior, which we can sometimes miss. It is so important that we recognize the impact special education teachers and special education paraprofessionals have on student behaviors to avoid any unintentional reinforcement of challenging behaviors. In this episode, I’m breaking down the research beh...

When a student’s challenging behavior is a result of a sensory function, knowing how to address it can be difficult. We want to help our students cope with sensory experiences in an effective and safe way so that their needs are met and they are not harming themselves or others.  Whether students are looking to escape a situation that is causing them sensory distress or if they are seeking in...

There are many myths about behavior that impact the way we talk about and approach challenging behaviors. Many people look to answer whether a student’s challenging behavior is sensory seeking behavior or intentional behavior but there are several issues with focusing solely on that question when it comes to challenging behavior. As special educators, we have to help our students learn to cope mor...

Attention-seeking behavior is a common challenge in classrooms, and addressing it effectively is crucial for the overall learning environment. One possible reason for this attention-seeking behavior is that some of our students do not yet have the effective communication to gain attention in a more appropriate way. For these students, we need to explicitly teach them these communication skills. Wh...

All attention is not equal. We have likely all worked with students who engage in behavior just to get attention, whether it be positive or negative. Even when students are getting what we feel is a lot of attention, they may still engage in attention-seeking behavior because the attention they receive is on our terms, not theirs.  Students often realize that our response to negative behavior...

What do you do when a student asks for something that they cannot have? Oftentimes, when our students request something and they are unable to have it, it can lead to behaviors. There are strategies for behavior we can utilize that can help our students learn that sometimes they cannot have what they ask for. When we are looking at strategies for behavior, there are some things I would do and thin...

Asking for a break is a great replacement behavior for students trying to escape a certain situation. However, not all breaks are going to be effective for every student. Truly understanding the function of a student's behavior and what they are trying to escape from is key to understanding what an effective break would be for that student. When looking at replacement behavior strategies and deter...

Finding replacement behaviors for escape-related behaviors can be a challenge. Oftentimes, when we come across a student struggling with a work, social, or other situation in the classroom and are avoiding it, figuring out how to help them may seem difficult. However, there are some ways we can help students learn replacement behaviors for these situations. When our students have escape-related be...

What happens when we have independent work systems set up for our students, but they aren’t completing them in the allotted independent work time? The whole point of independent work systems is for students to get their work done independently and in a certain amount of time so they can do the thing they want to do. But we all know that that is not always the case. If your students aren’t completi...

How do we advance independent work systems once our students know how to complete it on their own? The goal of independent work systems is to help students build independence. In order to help our students learn to work independently, it is crucial that we know how to adjust the work system when necessary to bump up the level of independence needed to complete it. Using independent work systems is...

We know the goal of independent work systems is to help students build independence. Both the way these work systems are set up and the strategies we use within them are key to helping our students build independence. It is important that we use effective, evidence-based practices within these independent work systems. When teaching students how to work independently, we must provide the appropria...