I recently wrote an article for Widgit, all about ‘Using symbols to support ASD Teaching‘. Widgit is a symbol set containing more than 17,000 symbols. Widgit symbols are clear, simple, colourful and display a single concept in a concise way, aimed to be understood by all abilities. For me as Read more…
The Christmas season can sometimes be a very challenging time of the year for autistic children. There are all sorts of unpredictable changes to usual daily life in the lead up to Christmas and the school holidays such as: changes to the environment at home, school and in the community Read more…
Roleplay shopping can be a really fun way of learning about coins as well as practising counting, all with the inclusion of motivating toys and items! Items Needed: Firstly, find some toys or items that the child will be really motivated by, anything from bubbles, to cars, to balls to Read more…
Management of personal hygiene is a very important skill for all children to learn in order to grow and develop independence. Daily activities as part of a routine As a teacher of children with autism, personal hygiene tasks are a high priority on the school daily timetable. Dedicating time to personal Read more…
New or unfamiliar experiences can be daunting for anyone. This is exceptionally true for a child with autism, who has difficulty predicting what could happen next and generalising knowledge and experiences. Going to a new place can therefore be scary and provoke a lot of anxiety. This is why preparing Read more…
From left to right: Myself – Steph Reed, Jarymke Malijaars (Ku Leuven), Pat Quigley (The Garden Head of School) and Beth Junor (Specialist ASD Speech and Language Therapist). I was very grateful to attend the ComFor training held at The Garden School in January. The ComFor assessment is a tool Read more…
Imagine a typical classroom, what can you see and hear? It may be very noisy, have lots of furniture and equipment crammed into small spaces, perhaps a bit of clutter and bright and colourful displays on every available wall space! This can often be very overwhelming and distracting for a Read more…
I currently have an 8 year old child with autism in my class who has not done a wee or poo in the toilet before. He is an energetic, non verbal child who has an understanding of when we is doing a wee or poo and so, this made me Read more…
A visual days of the week board can be great for children with autism to learn the days of the week, the differences that happen on each day and how many days left there are until the end of the week. Here is an example of a days of the Read more…
Visual timetables aid transitions by enabling children with autism to understand what they will be doing next or where they will be going. Visual timetables enable children to be independent and can motivate children by making it clear what will be happening in the day. The child removes the next Read more…