Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Summer Travel Tips for Families Living with Autism

A new article from the Autism Society of America. Wishing you a great summer!

http://www.autism-society.org/blog/summer-travel-tips-for.html

Friday, May 27, 2011

Theme Token Boards

One of the many free printables from TeachTown! Here is a document that contains all of TeachTown's token reward boards. Just print the page(s) you need. Themes include farm animals, playground, and ocean. http://web.teachtown.com/pdf/funstuff/tokenboards/tokenboard_all_TeachTown.pdf

If you prefer to print them one at a time, you can access them on TeachTown's freebie page: http://web.teachtown.com/funstuff/

Amazon.com recommends...
Rewards for Kids!: Ready-To-Use Charts and Activities for Positive Parenting
Rewards for Kids! Ready-To-Use Charts and Activities for Positive Parenting

Buy the book from Amazon.com, and Amazon donates a percentage of your purchase to Positively Autism!

Thursday, May 26, 2011

10 College Programs for Students With Autism

A list of 10 colleges that offer support programs to help students with Autism successfully complete a college degree. From Best Colleges Online.

http://www.bestcollegesonline.com/blog/2011/05/25/10-impressive-special-college-programs-for-students-with-autism

Amazon.com recommends...
Realizing the College Dream With Autism or Asperger Syndrome: A Parent's Guide to Student Success   Developing College Skills in Students With Autism and Asperger's Syndrome   Aquamarine Blue 5: Personal Stories Of College Students With Autism  
Click the images above to view the books at Amazon.com . Amazon.com donates a percentage of your purchases to Positively Autism.

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

File Folder Games

Positively Autism's collection of file folder games specifically designed for students with autism. These games focus on skills such as matching, basic math, rhyming, and reading number words.

http://www.positivelyautism.com/free/01foldergames.html

You can view all of the free resources at Positively Autism here: http://www.positivelyautism.com/free/

Amazon.com recommends...
Instant File-Folder Games for Reading: Super-Fun, Super-Easy Reproducible Games That Help Kids Build Important Reading Skills-Independently!     Colorful File Folder Games: Skill-Building Center Activities for Language Arts and Math (Colorful Game Books)     CARSON DELLOSA FILE FOLDER GAMES READ/MATH GR. 2FILE FOLDER GAMES READING GR. 2

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

JobTIPS - A Free Employment Program

Description from the JobTIPS website: "JobTIPS is a free program designed to help individuals with disabilities such as autism spectrum disorder explore career interests, seek and obtain employment, and successfully maintain employment. JobTIPS addresses the social and behavioral differences that might make identifying, obtaining, and keeping a job more difficult for you.



Though JobTIPS is designed for direct use by individuals with autism and other disabilities, this program (including all of the printables, assessments, and videos) is also suitable for delivery by teachers, family members, clinicians, mentors, and job coaches."
 
It also includes videos of office social behaviors, such as greeting a co-worker and lots of great lessons and activities on a wide variety of topics. A great resource from Do2Learn!
 
JobTIPS website: http://www.do2learn.com/JobTIPS/index.html
 
Amazon.com recommends...
Developing Talents: Careers For Individuals With Asperger Syndrome And High-functioning Autism- Updated, Expanded Edition
Developing Talents: Careers for Individuals with Asperger Syndrome and High-Functioning Autism by Temple Grandin and Kate Duffy

Click the book image above to buy the book from Amazon.com. Amazon donate a percentage of your purchase to Positively Autism!

Monday, May 23, 2011

Customized "Waiting" Social Story

Creating this free, customized Social Story about "waiting" requires registration for this website's newsletter. You also enter specific informaiton about your child such as name, school name, favorite toy, etc.

From Sandbox Learning. The link below is to the newsletter registration page. Once you sign-up, instructions on creating the Social Story will be sent to your e-mail.
http://www.sandbox-learning.com/RunScript.asp?ap=Member_reg.asp&np=1&page=1&p=ASP\~PgDefault.asp

There is also an instructional video available on YouTube on how to create the Social Story:


Amazon.com recommends...
The New Social Story Book, Revised and Expanded 10th Anniversary Edition: Over 150 Social Stories that Teach Everyday Social Skills to Children with Autism or Asperger's Syndrome, and their Peers
By Carol Gray
I highly recommends this book! A great resource for parents and teachers. Click the picture above to read more about this book and purchase it from Amazon.com.

Friday, May 20, 2011

Underwater Supernanny Superstars™ Reward Chart

A reward/point chart with an ocean animals theme. This could be used in a classroom and/or for a self-monitoring chart. See this month's blog posts on Positively Autism for more information about self monitoring.

http://www.supernanny.com/Reward-Charts/-/5-to-7-year-olds/-/Underwater-Supernanny-Superstars-Reward-Chart.aspx

Amazon.com recommends...
Ask Supernanny: What Every Parent Wants to Know

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Summer Vacation Social Story

A story similar to yesterday's "Last Day of School" Social Story. From British Columbia Provincial Centre: Special Education Technology.

http://www.setbc.org/pictureset/resources/summer_vacation/summer_vacation.pdf

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Last Day of School Social Story

I can't believe it will be here soon! Here's a Social Story (with PECS-type images) about the last day of school from Slater Software.

http://www.slatersoftware.com/Last%20Day%20of%20School%20SocialStory.pdf

The Last Day of School
The Last Day of School by Louise Borden

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Enter to Win a Gift Certificate from The Gray Center

From The Gray Center's Facebook page:

"Would you like to win $50 to spend at The Gray Center? Complete a short survey about the way(s) we have benefited you, your family, and your community at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/2NYM8T2 . Four prizes will be awarded!"

Here is more information about The Gray Center and Social StoriesTM: http://thegraycenter.org/

The New Social Story Book, Revised and Expanded 10th Anniversary Edition: Over 150 Social Stories that Teach Everyday Social Skills to Children with Autism or Asperger's Syndrome, and their Peers
The New Social Story Book

Monday, May 16, 2011

SeizureTracker App/Printables

As far as I know, an account on this site is free. It allows you to track things like medication dosage and seizure activity. It also has free printable tracking sheets that correspond to the SeizureTracker program on the site.

SeizureTracker: https://seizuretracker.com/
Printable tracking sheets: https://seizuretracker.com/Seizure_Log_Printable.php

Amazon.com recommends...
Seizures and Epilepsy in Childhood: A Guide (Johns Hopkins Press Health Book)
Seizures and Epilepsy in Childhood: A Guide (Johns Hopkins Press Health Book)

Mommy, I Feel Funny! A Child's Experience with Epilepsy
Mommy, I Feel Funny! A Child's Experience with Epilepsy

Friday, May 13, 2011

Telling Time Flashcards

A set of telling time (to the hour) flashcards. I like these because they list the dignital time (such as 1:00) right under the picture of a clock showing that time. I believe it was Temple Grandin who recommends that flash cards for students with autism include the term on the same side as the picture, to help make the connection.
The flashcards from from AdaptiveWorksheets.com .

http://www.adaptiveworksheets.com/free/freepdfs/clocks.pdf

My Book of Easy Telling Time: Learning about Hours and Half-Hours
My Book of Telling Time (Kumon Workbooks)

I'm not generally a huge fan of workbooks, but the Kumon series has worked very well for my students.

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Guide on Bullying and Children with Disabilities

Walk A Mile In Their Shoes: Bullying and the Child with Special Needs, A Report and Guide from AbilityPath.org

Includes information on bullying statistics, bullying signs, and cyberbullying.

http://www.abilitypath.org/areas-of-development/learning--schools/bullying/articles/walk-a-mile-in-their-shoes.pdf

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Teaching Students with Autism: A Resource Guide for Schools

A helpful online book from the British Columbia Ministry of Education, Special Programs Branch. Includes chapters on characteristics, teaching strategies, managing behavior, and IEP development.

http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/specialed/docs/autism.pdf

Amazon.com recommends...
Educating Students With Autism: A Quick Start Manual
Educating Students With Autism: A Quick Start Manual by Jo Webber, Brenda Scheuermann

Monday, May 9, 2011

Today's Freebie: Special Education Scorecards for the United States

This publication of the National Center for Learning Disabilities, lists state-by-state information including the state's US Department of Education rating, federal special education funding, and graduation rates for students with IEPs.

http://www.ncld.org/images/stories/OnCapitolHill/PolicyRelatedPublications/StateScorecards/AllStates.pdf

Amazon.com recommends...
Wrightslaw: All About IEPs
Wrightslaw: All About IEPs

Friday, May 6, 2011

Thursday, May 5, 2011

100 Free Printables from Scholastic

In honor of their teacher appreciation week, Scholastic is offering 100 free printables. These include student interest surveys, behavior reward cards, graphic organizers, and more.

http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=3751875

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Video/Article: Brain Exercises and Classroom Music to Reduce Test Anxiety

This is more of a general teaching resource, but I thought I'd share as our students sometimes have increased anxiety about changes in routine, such as state or standardized testing. Please feel free to leave a comment and share any experiences you've had with these strategies for students with autism. 
Here's the resource: a video demonstration of "brain exercises" and music in the classroom to help students reduce their test anxiety. From Scholastic.http://blogs.scholastic.com/classroom_solutions/2011/05/state-assessments-reducing-test-anxiety.html

Amazon.com recommends...
The Most Relaxing Classical Piano Music in the Universe

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Articles Explaining Autism to Peers/Siblings

I had a request for articles on explaining an Asperger's diagnosis to siblings, and here are a couple of articles I found from kidshealth.org. I like the article for teens better, as it is a little more positive and it addresses Asperger's directly. The article for kids is a little more basic, and just addresses autism in general.

For kids: http://kidshealth.org/kid/health_problems/brain/autism.html

For teens: http://teenshealth.org/teen/diseases_conditions/learning/autism.html

Amazon.com recommends...
My Friend with Autism
My Friend with Autism: A Coloring Book for Peers and Siblings

Monday, May 2, 2011

Wandering Safety Brochure

After reading recent research on autism and wandering (http://www.autismspeaks.org/inthenews/ian_wander_study.php), I wanted to re-post this brochure with safety tips and resources on wandering. From the National Autism Association.

http://nationalautismassociation.org/pdf/autism_wandering_FULL%20SHEET%20BROCHURE.pdf

Amazon.com recommends...
Lost & Found Temporary Tattoos - AUTISM - Child Safety Product
Lost & Found Temporary Tattoos