Special Needs: Embracing Autism

🌈✨ LET'S MAKE RAINBOW SENSORY FOAM DOUGH! ✨🌈

Get ready for the SQUISHIEST, fluffiest, most colorful sensory activity EVER!

This foam dough is soft, stretchy, and SO satisfying to play with. And you only need TWO main ingredients!

🧪 What you need: 🌈 2 cups foam soap (shaving cream) 🌈 2 cups cornstarch 🌈 Food coloring (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple) 🌈 A large bowl and your hands!

🧪 How to make it: 1️⃣ Mix foam soap and cornstarch together 2️⃣ Divide the dough into 6 portions 3️⃣ Add a different color to each portion 4️⃣ Knead until the color is fully mixed 5️⃣ PLAY! Squish it, roll it, stretch it, create!

Pro tip: Too sticky? Add more cornstarch. Too dry? Add more foam!

Why we LOVE this activity: 🧩 Perfect for sensory play 🧩 Calming and regulating 🧩 Builds fine motor skills 🧩 Sparks creativity 🧩 Reusable — store in an airtight container!

The look on my students' faces when they see ALL THE COLORS? Pure magic. 🌈

Sensory play helps us learn, calm down, and be creative!

💬 Are you trying this with your students? Drop a 🌈 below!

📚✨ Book Review: The Incredible Flexible You™ Series ✨📚

If you work with preschool or early elementary students who need support with social thinking — this series belongs in your classroom!

The Incredible Flexible You is a Social Thinking curriculum designed to help young learners understand emotions, perspectives, and social connections in a way that actually makes sense to them.

Here's what's inside:

💭 Thinking Thoughts and Feeling Feelings — Helps children understand emotions and perspectives

🤝 The Group Plan — Teaches teamwork, participation, and social connection

👀 Thinking With Your Eyes — Encourages students to notice social cues around them

🧍 Body in the Group — Focuses on awareness, attention, and being part of the group

👂 Whole Body Listening — Teaches students how to engage with their whole body during learning

Why I love this series:

🧩 Designed for young learners — preschool and early elementary 🧩 Visual and engaging stories 🧩 Teaches foundational social-emotional skills 🧩 Perfect for autism classrooms, speech therapy, and small groups 🧩 Builds skills that last a lifetime

Social thinking isn't something kids just "pick up." For many of our learners, it has to be explicitly taught — and this series does it beautifully. 💙

💬 Have you used this series? Drop a 📚 below!

💙✨ This Is My Favorite Shirt — And Here's Why ✨💙

Special. Smart. Precious. Intelligent. Strong. Brave. Blessed. Gifted. Unique. Genuine. Kind.

These aren't just words on a shirt.

They're the truth about every single person with autism.

Different. Not less. Always enough. 💛

I wear this shirt as a reminder — to myself and to everyone who sees it — that autism acceptance isn't just for April.

It's for EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.

Because our students, our children, our community members with autism don't stop being amazing when the calendar changes.

They don't stop needing acceptance.

They don't stop deserving to be seen, valued, and celebrated.

Autism awareness isn't a one-month thing. It's a lifestyle. It's a commitment. It's how we show up every day.

So yes — this is my favorite shirt.

Because it says what I believe with my whole heart:

You are AMAZING. Exactly as you are. 💙

💬 Do you have a favorite shirt that represents something you believe in? Drop a 💙 below!

📚✨ Vocational Book Tasks — Building REAL Job Skills! ✨📚

Want to teach your students how to sort and organize books? This structured task system is PERFECT for building independence and vocational skills!

Here's how it works: 📖 Each book has a number 🗂️ Students match the book to its numbered spot on the shelf ✅ They check off "Finished" as they go 🧺 When done, they put materials in the finished basket

Why I LOVE this system: 🧩 Clear visual structure = less confusion 🧩 Easy to follow = builds confidence 🧩 Organized for independence = students work on their own 🧩 Real-world application = prepares for actual jobs!

The best part? This is the FIRST STEP toward a real job in a library! 📚

Sorting books. Following a system. Completing a task independently.

These are the exact skills employers are looking for. And we're building them RIGHT HERE in the classroom.

💬 Are you working on vocational skills with your students? Drop a 📚 below!

🌈✨ Melted crayon magic for Mother's Day! ✨💐

This is one of my FAVORITE art projects for the autism classroom — and the results are absolutely stunning every single time!

Here's how we made it: 🖍️ Line up colorful crayons at the top of the canvas 🔥 Use a heat gun to melt them down 🌸 Add flowers and butterflies 💌 Write a sweet message for Mom

Why this works so well: 🎨 Beautiful visual results = instant pride 🧩 Simple steps students can follow 💛 Sensory-friendly with amazing color effects 🌈 Every single one turns out unique and gorgeous

The look on their faces when they see the colors drip down? PRICELESS.

And moms are going to LOVE these. 💐

💬 Are you trying this with your students? Drop a 🖍️ below!

🥚✨ We made an egg BOUNCE. Yes, really. ✨🥚

Science experiment time in the autism classroom — and this one was a HIT!

Here's what we did: 🧪 Dropped a raw egg into vinegar ⏳ Waited 48 hours 🪄 Watched the shell completely dissolve

What was left? A squishy, rubbery, BOUNCY egg!

My students were absolutely fascinated. The textures. The transformation. The "wait… it BOUNCES?!" moment.

This is hands-on learning at its best — engaging multiple senses, building curiosity, and making science feel like magic. 🌈

Want to try it? All you need: 🥚 1 raw egg 🫙 A jar 🍶 White vinegar ⏰ 24-48 hours of patience

Fair warning: Once it bounces, they'll want to see how HIGH it can go. 😅

💬 Have you tried this one? Drop a 🥚 below if you're adding it to your classroom activities!

✨ Today is the last day of April — the last day of Autism Acceptance Month. ✨

But acceptance doesn't end when the calendar turns.

"Autism doesn't come with an instruction guide. It comes with a special education teacher who will never give up." 💙

To every educator who has stayed late. Who has built visual schedules from scratch. Who has celebrated the smallest wins like the biggest victories. Who has believed in a child when no one else did.

You are the guide. You are the advocate. You are the difference.

Autism Acceptance isn't just a month — it's a commitment we live every single day.

Keep showing up. Keep believing. Keep going.

Because our students are worth it. And so are you. 💛

👉 Save this for the hard days 👉 Tag a teacher who never gives up 👉 Follow for more autism acceptance content

A child with autism is not ignoring you. They are simply waiting for you to enter their world." — National Autism Association

Read that again. 💙

How often do we misread silence as defiance? How often do we assume a child isn't listening — when really, they're just experiencing the world differently?

Connection doesn't always look the same for every child.

For some, it's eye contact and words. For others, it's parallel play, shared interests, or simply sitting nearby.

Our job isn't to pull them into our world. It's to meet them in theirs.

When we stop expecting connection to look one way — and start entering their world with patience, curiosity, and understanding — that's when the magic happens. ✨

👉 Save this for a reminder 👉 Share with someone who needs to hear this 👉 Follow for more autism acceptance content

🎉 TOMORROW IS THE DAY! 🎉
SPED teachers — I am SO excited to bring you this FREE live training!
I know how hard you work. I know how much you pour into your students every single day. And I know sometimes it feels like you're doing it all alone.
That's exactly why I created this training — because YOU deserve support too 💙
Tomorrow I'm sharing: ✨ Real classroom strategies that actually work ✨ Behavior support without the burnout ✨ Simple systems you can use right away
This isn't theory. This is 16+ years in the trenches, and I'm handing it all to you.
📅 Saturday, April 18 🕐 10 AM Arizona / 1 PM Eastern
I'm here for you. Let me help you feel confident supporting your students — without running on empty.
👉 Link in bio — grab your FREE spot now!
See you tomorrow! 💙

Teachers — this is for you 💙

In honor of Autism Acceptance Month, I'm hosting a FREE live training to support teachers working with students with autism.

If you've ever thought: "I wasn't trained for this" "I'm overwhelmed" "I don't know what to do next"

You are not alone.

✨ I'll be sharing real classroom strategies ✨ Behavior support that actually works ✨ Simple systems you can use immediately

📅 This Saturday, April 18 🕐 10 AM Arizona / 1 PM Eastern

👉 Link in bio to sign up

You don't have to do this alone. Let me help you feel confident supporting your students — without the burnout 💙

✨ "Effective autism intervention empowers individuals to unlock their potential, fostering growth, independence, and meaningful connections." ✨

This is what it's all about 💙

Not compliance. Not "fixing" anyone.

Empowerment. Growth. Connection.

When we focus on building strengths instead of eliminating differences— that's when real progress happens.

Our students deserve support that sees their potential. Not their limitations.

👉 Save this for a reminder of WHY we do this work 👉 Share with someone who needs to hear this today