Ideas for Teaching Autism

In podcast episode #3, I chat with Nikki Robertson, who is an autism teacher in Wales, UK. She teaches 3-7 year olds at an autism school (with students aged 3-19 years old). She gives many tips and ideas to use in an autism classroom with almost all students who are nonverbal. She shares what a day looks like in her class, how they use Book Creator (iPad app) to collect evidence and data and assemble into a book to share with parents. She discusses how they fit in time for lesson prep, assistant training, and some of the hands-on activities that their students love. Moreover, Nikki is also part of an outreach team of specialists who train and encourage general ed teachers at mainstream schools in a variety of ways including using a strategy called a classroom takeover. It includes observations in both Nikki's class and the general ed teacher's class, which are essential to improve the classroom environment and implementing effective behavior strategies to help autistic students be more successful. Nikki also compares special educational in the UK and America. We get to hear some Welsh phrases. But I have to say I was blown away with how her school transports their students! Get the full show notes with links and resources here.