I am going to be very honest. If you do not have the educational background in special ed, had any experience in teaching other than student teaching and the school and district are not providing you with the information and assitance you need to teach these children, you need to reconsider this position. Moderate to severe autistic children face a myriad of challanges and it take a well educated, experienced and supported educator to work with them. It sounds as if you have very little understanding of autism, the behavioral interventions you will need or the best ways to present information. These kids are at a point where they can not afford to be placed with someone who has to figure this out as she goes along. This is not a field to enter into as a way to get free tuition unless you are sure this is what you want to do. If you are planning to take this, get your credentials and then move onto a normal class as soon as possible, please do not do it.

If I am wrong, I do apologize. That being said, the school will provide you with copies of each child’s IEP. This will include the targeted goals for each child in most academic areas, as well as in speech and behavior. You will be expected to use these goals in developing curriculum and lesson plans. The behavioral plan for each child will also tell you what to expect as far as acting out towards others, themselves and property and the way to handle it. In general, this will be different for each child. You will need to come up with a general curriculum that you can then adapt to one-to-one teaching with each child. All of this is not easy…even expereienced teachers find it challanging. You should have a mentor assigned to you…use them for all they can offer. Schedule time to talk to all the specialists working with your students..speech, OT, PT..and get thier ideas and input. Read as much as you can in books that include commentary from parents and teachers with practical suggestions. Go back through the archives here and see what has been posted. Look up information on applied beharioral anylasis, education for children with learning disabilities and alternate forms of communication. Your school should provide you with access to any books, websites and the like they use. You will more than likely need access to a site that provides simple images for use in visual schedule and communication books.

All of this sounds overwhelming..as I said it is. You will need to be smart enough to know that you need help…and aggressive enough to make sure you get it. Good luck.

Hope: While I agree many general ed teachers have done outstanding jobs with inclusion students, this young lady is teaching 6 moderate to severe students in what would appear to be a self contained class for autism. That can indicate that these are students with more intense needs and issues. Many of the suggestions being given are what we know to be the basics of teaching kids on the spectrum,,read the IEP’s, firm schedules, meeting with parents, etc. If this is informatation she has not heard or known, it would seem she did not get even a basic class during college on special ed..a huge issue in today’s educational climate becuase nearly every class will have up to 25% of it’s students on an IEP or 504. It also seems to point to the fact that her administration team is not supporting her as it should. This is clearly a new teacher going into a very challanging classroom…she should be working one on one with a mentor to answer these questions and develop her plan for the year. At the very least, they should have given her the testing and curriculum standards as they apply to her class as without them she really can’t develop much of a curriculum.

I support any person who wants to go into special ed. However, and I admit there are always things we don’t hear or read in postings online, this young lady seems totally unprepared for this move, which could mean she had no intention of being a special ed teacher. Many of our best teachers come to the field in similiar situations. But just as many come in, spend a year struggling and leave, leaving some of our most succestible students to try and make up what may have been missed,overlooked or just not taught as the teacher was unprepared on how to run such a class. I would rather have someone so unsure take the time to talk to her supervisors and peers, get a few extra classes under her belt and build her confidence before entering this class.

First and foremost, SHOULD YOU be a parent? It is obvious that you have no compassion or concern for the needs of others. There are many children with challenges and as a mother of an autistic child, I can state with an absolute certainty, children act out for a variety of reasons and those are the challenges facing the public school system, not having a child with a disgnosis. There are many children with ‘lables’ and that is really none of your business. If that same child had a diagnosis of cancer would you say he should not be in the classroom? I am sure you have these opinions about just about everything and everyone. It is very sad! If you place a lable on every child in the classroom, as I’m sure your child would have one if nothing else they would say that is “HER” child because I’m sure you’ve made a name for yourself already! how would you feel when your child received her lablel? How would that make you feel? I have yet to see an autistic child be disruptive in a classroom but have witnessed full meltdowns from children whose parents think they are the most intelligent, better than any other child in the class, etc. It is obvious that you are the problem, and I’m sure you haven’t offered to lift a hand in the classroom to help the teacher lighten her load, thus take your precious daughter home and stay there.

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There are no two people alike, autistic or not. If these 6 children are going into 2nd/3rd grade, speak to the teachers they have had the previous years, and see what worked for them.

In general, kids with autism are visual learners.

Temple Grandin, an autistic adult, wrote a book called Thinking In Pictures. In the book she explains how it feels to be autistic and the challenges she faces everyday with acute senses. She explains how fluorescent lights made it hard to concentrate.How certain sounds,not always loud, hurt her ears. How someones touch was like sandpaper to her.It has been a long time since I read her book so I don’t remember if smells bothered her but I know they effect my child.I would suggest no cologne or perfume.

As mentioned,all kids are different but the environment can play a big part in the child’s behavior and their ability to learn in that environment.Pay close attention to the sights and sounds around you.

Talk to the parents,no one knows the child like the parents.Go over the IEP with them and the other professionals that should be involved.Speech therapists,behavior therapist etc.

Be calm ,firm, patient and creative.

I don’t agree that you need to be trained in special ed., you just need to be special teacher to want to work with these children.My child is autistic, and some of his most productive school years were in the regular education class with teachers( and a one/one aide) that never met a child with autism until having my child in their class.In the end I think you will find it quite rewarding.

www.autism.com is a web site for the Autism Research Institute.You will find tons of information there about autism that may be helpful to you. Good Luck!

Look on line for information on “Verbal Behavior.” This is a very good and fairly easy way to teach language to ASD children.

Also, make sure you divide the group into ability groups and plan your lessons accordingly. These should be at separate tables. Teach for fifteen minutes and then provide a sensory activity such clay or manipulative’s. You must TEACH the kids to play with toys, so make that part of your lessons every day. When you are ready to change groups, have the teacher and assistant move to the new groups, unless you need to recombine the groups for a different subject. Then just move one or two kids.

You should teach reading to the kids that can read, letter recognition to kids that can’t and shape matching for kids that can’t understand letters.

Math with manipulative’s at all levels.

Handwriting. I suggest the curriculum Handwriting Without Tears. Again present at different levels. Some kids may only be able to scribble with felt pens. Etch-A-Sketch is another good tool.

Unlike you and I, autistic kids like sameness, so keep your routine the same every day. Train the kids to the routines starting with the first day of school and continuing until they have it learned. Also teach them to walk to a sit in the cafeteria before you take them there for the first time. For kids who can’t handle the stimulus, provide a manipulative after he/she eats.

Get their IEP’s before school starts..this will give you an idea on what type of class you are going to have…ie, readers, non readers, verbal, nonverbal, behavior, etc. Ask for your district’s curriculum for this class….maybe they are using the gen. curriculum w/ accomodations..they may have a modified curriculum. Ask for a mentor teacher ASAP to ask the little questions. Start your first day with a clear schedule in mind. Adhere to it…the students will need the structure after coming off of break. If the schedule is not ideal, you can gradually change it to fit your/students needs. Talk with your aides and therapists about what the last teacher did..what worked, didn’t, etc. Good luck.

Hi, and wow I remember when I first started A few days ago and, with the same type of population. Any way go to this site it has many answers to your questions. When surfing go to Autism and the blog and on line shopping, resources galore. Remember to read the child’s IEP and their specific goals then plan around it. The aids are to assist you with your plans with each child they are assigned to but; also keep in mind what may work today may not tomorrow and, your frustration begins. It is also wise to observe your students and, see what they can do. Be observant and write your plan for this type of population accordingly. I wish you well you will survive I did!

Also, one of the most important things you will need to do for your students is to have a routine set up for them, from day one.

You need to *always* do things in the same order every day. Changing up their routines will upset your kids, and will likely result in breakdowns and a spike in behaviors.

And because a fair chunk of kids with autism (though not all) are non-verbal having pictures to show the schedule can also be helpful (picture of a book for storytime, picture of a sandwich for lunch time, etc.). You can either put these directly on each desk, or have one master schedule posted at the front of the room.

Every child needs routine to thrive, but especially for children with autism, routine is key to reaching them.

You probably already know from your schooling that no 2 autisic children are the same. So it will be hard to plan until you meet them and learn their specific disabilities. Yes, there should be separate standards for learning disabled which your school district should supply to you. You may want to contact the principal who hired you to get those materials early.

You should really meet with the parents one on one or try to get their input as to where they would like their child to be at the semester and at the end of the year- realistically. It will help you know where to start off because all children are different within their disability