an autism information web page
Room5ideas.com
Welcome to Room5ideas.com
Room 5 ideas.com is a classroom web site dedicated to
helping parents and teachers of
students with autistic spectrum disorders.
Here you will find classroom and home ideas as well as
links to my favorite sites.
Enjoy your stay, and be sure to
send me a note if you have any questions.
Chris
Room5ideas@yahoo.com
...my favorite links...
Structured Teaching Ideas
Structured Teaching
Group ideas for preschool and primary inclusion classrooms.
Structuring Classrooms for Children with Autism
Autism and the importance of Choice
Choice
Tips for teaching high functioning people with autism.
Tips for Teaching
When social skills are difficult for children to
master, try Social Stories by Carol Gray.
Social Stories and here are examples
Sensory issues can often be a problem with children with disabilities.
http://www.babystepstherapy.com/
Steps Therapy, Inc. believes that every child should have a chance to reach their full potential.
They exist to facilitate optimal learning for all children.
Steps Therapy, Inc. specializes in the areas of sensory integration, autism,
and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) as well as
learning challenges & disabilities.
Here is a site dealing with sensory problems
and suggestions are for both parents and teachers.
http://www.spdfoundation.net/
Here is valuable checklist for sensory issues
A checklist for sensory issues
Information on Discrete Trial.
Diagnostic Criteria for 299.00 - Autistic Disorder
from the American Psychiatric Association
DSM IV
Information in Spanish about autism
http://www.emergenzautismo.org/
Applying structured teaching to toilet training
The Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) gives children with autistic spectrum disorders a method of communication and promotes verbal communication.
Mayer-Johnson PCS Book symbols are excellent to use with this system.
Mayer-Johnson
I am important.....
"...I am the decisive element in the classroom. My personal approach creates the climate. My daily mood makes the weather. As a teacher, I possess a tremendous power to make a child's life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate or humor, hurt, or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated and a child humanized or de-humanized."
~~Haim Ginott~~
The Autism Society of America offers a wealth of information
on all aspects of autism. Its membership is open to anyone interested in learning more about autism. Their conference is held each summer in a different part of the U.S. It includes workshops on education, medical issues, communication, legal concerns, and family services, as well as presentations by a number of adults with autism.
See you there!
The Autism Society of America Home Page
Many links on the Room5 page are to Educational Approaches TEACCH.
I highly recommend attending a TEACCH workshop or conference if possible.
Division TEACCH
Autism Speaks is dedicated to funding global biomedical research into the causes, prevention, treatments, and cure for autism; to raising public awareness about autism and its effects on individuals, families, and society; and to bringing hope to all who deal with the hardships of this disorder.
http://www.autismspeaks.org/
One hundred years from now, it will not matter what kind of car I drove, what kind of house I lived in, how much I had in my bank account, nor what my clothes looked like.
But the world may be a little better because I was important in the life of a child.
(by Forest Witcraft)
Visual strategies for visual learners -- Linda Hodgdon’s books are at the top of my list. The books include sample schedules for work and home activities and are filled with ideas. Sign up to receive her newsletter filled with teaching ideas and resources. Her web pages also have free pictures and suggestions on how to use visuals with your students.
http://www.usevisualstrategies.com/
My favorite place for books and information on autism is:
Autism Society Bookstore
This is a great site for teachers and parents to exchange ideas. You will find many questions and answers on the subject of autism.
Teachers.Net
Parents are special people !
As teachers, we work with these children usually less than 6 hours per day and 5 days per week. Here are words from the hearts of families. Their jobs are twenty-four hours per day, seven days per week --- for a lifetime --- they are the strong ones. I am often told that I must be a "very special person" because of my job, but I know I don't deserve that kind of recognition. I chose this job that I love so much, and I get paid for it.
Most of these parents did not have a choice.
They don't get paid. Their work never ends. Their love is unconditional.
THEY are the special people.
Chris
My Someone Special
Trevor
Trevor's Story ~~ by his Mom
Trevor update: He's been cancer free since December 1997.
He's happy & healthy!
