Autism Teacher Diaries

16/04/2021

During attention autism stage 3 my students had to take turns and pick a foam letter from the tray (water beads, water and soap). They then had 2 minutes (timer) to write as many words as they could think of starting with each letter. They definitely gave me some hilarious words and they were all engaged. @ London, United Kingdom

13/04/2021

The boys had so much fun during our gardening session. They planted various seeds in plastic cups in order to be able to observe the life cycle of plants and make notes on their science journal. They are also responsible to look after them and water them daily. @ London, United Kingdom

09/04/2021

I think I had more fun than my students in this lesson. We looked at the story of Jack and the Beanstalk. I used skittles as the magic beans, the sweet peas we planted last term for the beanstalk, cotton for the clouds, a chicken and a golden egg (easter egg) a ukalele as the harp and a plastic saw to “chop down” the beanstalk. The story was on PowerPoint slides with added music and videos to make it more exciting! In the end they had to sequence the story using pictures and describe what is happening in each. I also prepared word banks to support independence during the task. @ London, United Kingdom

08/04/2021

Learning about adverbs! I used colourful semantics and communication Inprint to support my students with structuring their sentences and understanding the use of adverbs. On the second page I gave them less support to check if they would be able to use adverbs independently. This worksheet is by my highest academically student. @ London, United Kingdom

02/04/2021

Look at this colourful tree made by our wonderful students! Each leaf is unique and beautiful just like them. Autism awareness should be happening always but today will hopefully get more people involved.

02/04/2021

2 April 2021. Today is Autism Awareness Day. Having a cousin with autism has been eye opening ever since I was a child. I remember not being sure what to say or how to act around him as I didn’t want to upset him. You see the unknown and unfamiliar bring a sense of fear and uncertainty.
So many years later I have become a teacher for students with Autism. I have worked with about 30 students with autism in the past 5 years and interacted with so many more on a daily basis. Each individual presents autistic traits in their own unique but wonderful way therefore all interactions have been so very different. After some years of training and understanding (even though still every day I learn something new) I have come to realise how much they’ve taught me. They constantly teach me the importance of being resilient, accepting, empathetic, honest, a little bit silly🙃 but mostly kind. I have learnt to view the world with a different set of eyes... They make my world a little bit better, a little bit brighter, a little bit funnier. Some days can be very tough for them and their parents, especially for those pre verbal students who cannot communicate their needs. But we always try to take one day at a time and start afresh the next. I remind them and myself that ‘It is OK to have a bad day. What is not ok is to stop trying!’ But I worry.... I worry what will happen to them when they leave the safe bubble we’ve created for them in school... Neurotypical people can be cruel... because they simply fear the unfamiliar. I hope with all my heart that each year this day and this month will bring more awareness to others... because once I stopped fearing the unknown and found ways to communicate with my students it was simply magical. When I see my cousin now I sing to him and dance with him and we have the best time ever. I love you Stephano! And I have loved all my brilliant students with my whole being. Today try to be a little be kinder and a little bit more accepting. We are the only ones that can make the world a little bit better for all! Happy Autism awareness day!

08/03/2021

What a better way to start exploring the time than making our own colourful clocks. This activity allowed my students to sequence the numbers, understand what the short and long clock hands are used for and learn how to tell the time using their own clocks. Fun day!

28/01/2021

Teaching the basic fractions today was a challenge... for extra support I used the magnetic fraction builders and it really helped my students to understand that they are used to represent smaller pieces (or parts) of a whole. Still have a lot of work to do but these magnetic fraction builders are a perfect visual aid. You can find them here: https://www.consortiumeducation.com/magnetic-fraction-builders-1

19/01/2021

Great video! Building a strong student-teacher relationship can be a powerful tool in education! If not the most powerful.

Research shows that students who feel safe and supported by adults at school are better able to learn.Our How Learning Happens video series explores teaching...

11/11/2020

My students created some colourful and imaginative rockets in Maths. They traced and combined 2D shape blocks and made their own amazing designs!

20/09/2020

What a great tool for teaching drama!!