Teaching Older Students with Milder Forms of Autism

The transition to middle school and high school can be difficult for any kid, but for kids with autism this may be compounded by their social difficulties. Although students with disabilities are entitled a Free, Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) in the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) the services they receive in middle and high school may [...]

There’s always a reason…

All behaviors serve a function, it’s the forms that those behaviors take that are sometimes objectionable. It is useless to try to address a behavior if we do not understand its function because any “interventions” we try will not be maximally effective.
The way in which we can address this is by doing a functional [...]

Untrained Paraeducators in the Classroom

In many schools across the nation more and more children with autism are being educated within the context of the general education classroom. Many times they will have one or more paraeducators to them to support them in the classroom. The unfortunate reality is that many of these paraeducators are untrained or poorly trained to [...]

Smaller Caseloads Equals Bigger Success

Children with Autism and other disabilities which affect their ability to access and make progress in the general education curriculum are provided with special education services to help them access and make progress in the general education curriculum. When children are included in the general education classroom they are typically placed on the caseloads of [...]

Inclusion…are we doing everything we can to make it work?

As many of you know there is a movement within the schools to ensure that children with autism and other disabilities are included in the general education classroom. As a teacher in a school district I find myself asking the question: Are we actually doing everything we can to make it work?
The answer that [...]