Using Primer Passages to Improve Reading Comprehension
Quick, less than 5 minute, tip for reading comprehension for students with autism. Using a primer passage is a simple strategy that can be used with almost any text or story.
Check out the video here: I've also made a free set of outer space themed reading passages that come with primer passages already written. The link is below.
Here are the resource links from the presentation:
“Drawing a Blank: Improving Comprehension for Readers on the Autism Spectrum” by Emily Ila
Using Circuit Building Kits to Teach Communication, Academic, and Other Skills
If you've been following me a while, you know I think it's important to teach science to students with autism. With all of the other skills our students are working on, science is easy to overlook. It might not seem as important as communication or social skills, but it has lots of benefits, including supporting language and social skills.
Here are some of the reasons I feel so enthusiastic about teaching things like technology and electricity to students: People with autis
Working on Language Using the "Codenames" Game
My family really enjoys the game "Codenames." In this game, you give single word clues to try to help your teammates guess which words match the clue. One of my students is working on identifying the "main idea" of paragraphs, and I really like this game for helping develop language skills that help with this concept. To play the game, you have to both: Think flexibly about what the words have in common (essentially the "main idea" of the group of words), and Identify words t
Web Graphic Organizer with Lines
I made this for one of my students to work on writing paragraphs about a specific topic. How I use it is: Show a picture of something to write about, Use this form to make notes about the topic and some details/observations about the picture, and Write a paragraph based on the graphic organizer. There are various ways you can use it; that's just the reason I made this particular form. You can get the free download here: http://www.positivelyautism.com/downloads/WebGraphicOrga
Art Project: Marble Painting
This is a really fun project that kids (or adults) of almost any age and any art skill level can do! It's also really fun because you get to shake marbles around in a box and that's just pretty cool.
You can also customize the project by allowing the student to trace or draw something they're really interested, like cars, trains, or dinosaurs. I've made a video demonstration of the activity that you can show to your student. At the beginning of the video, I talk a bit about
