What is Errorless Learning? Errorless learning is an instructional strategy that special educators use to make sure that the correct response is always chosen.  Basically, it's a way for the child to ALWAYS get the right answer.  Errorless learning involves using prompts that should eventually be faded.   Why use Errorless learning? Students on the spectrum and even some other disabilities aren't always successful when learning from the mistakes that they make like typical children do.  Sometimes correcting a mistake when using standard instructional methods will res ..read more

What are Token Boards? Token boards are just positive reinforcement that works.  Token boards are a visual reminder to the students to see how close they are to an edible or a preferred item or even a preferred activity.  Token boards give clear expectations and a goal to work toward and reduces negative behaviors all at the same time.  Students are able to stay focused and on-task, especially when the tokens are highly reinforcing. Token boards should be individualized for the students.  Some tokens work for some students and other students need images of the local ne ..read more

Using Independent work systems in the classroom has slowly become a passion of mine. There are so many different variations of how you can set up these work systems for both the self-contained setting and an integrated setting. I wanted to show you a few different ways that you can set these up quickly and efficiently.  1. Tiered shelf system:  this is the traditional setup. You have a tiered shelf on the left side of the desk. You have a schedule in front of the child with the reinforcer at the end of the schedule. This system needs an "all done" area. You can use a cardboard box ..read more

Independent Work systems are key to a successful self-contained classroom.  Coming up with all of the different types of tasks that are needed for this center can get expensive and time-consuming.  There are many things that you can get for free for this center.   You may also be thinking that the tasks that you are using are getting boring or stale and need to switch it up a bit.  I have compiled of list of different tasks that you can make fairly easily, can find for free, or spruce up some of your tasks.   1. Task Boxes:   Using task boxes for t ..read more

Starting your first year as a special education teacher is so incredibly nerve-wracking.  You don't know the students, you don't know the staff, you typically don't know the building.  When I started, I was so nervous. And believe me, I had to start in a new district about 5 times!!  So after 12 years of being a self-contained special education teacher,  I finally decided to share my top 12 tips that you can use at the beginning of the school year.   I also made a little cheat sheet for you to grab in case you wanted to print it out and put it in your teacher bi ..read more

Add caption Teaching students with autism is such a unique and rewarding profession! It is also one of those specialist positions that doesn't include a manual, or a cheat sheet, for success. All students are different, of course, but there are certain steps you can take to set up your classroom to minimize behavioral problems and maximize progress. Here are my recommendations for setting up your autism classroom to result in a win for you and your students! Going back to our classrooms after months of at-home learning will be the perfect opportunity to look at your space with fresh ..read more

Before you even start making a schedule for your room, you have to know what centers you want your students to rotate through.  Whether they actually move around the room or the material is brought to the student, they should be able to move through "centers" which is basically whatever is on their visual schedules.  There are so many different types of centers that you can have in your classroom and they can be called so many different things.  I am going to go through a few different types in this blog post to give you a rough idea of what you could have in your classroom a ..read more

Setting up a schedule in a self-contained classroom is one of the hardest parts of our job. I remember my first year of teaching thinking, "why did no one teach me how to do this in college?" After years and years of tweaking my daily schedule, I finally settled on the same master schedule every year and I actually came to love this part!   Don't be fooled, I am an organizational freak, so this type of stuff gets me excited!  Let me preface by saying that there is no magic wand I wave and suddenly my master schedule is created. I WISH! However, after a few drafts, I typical ..read more

Once families have a functional routine set up, you can start to encourage “homework” exploring sensory strategies as a family. Everyone has sensory needs, but those of us with typically developing neural networks pay less attention to our sensory profiles than our children’s or students’. Being home provides an opportunity for families to deepen their relationships and develop an awareness of sensory strategies that effectively help regulate emotions and behavior, and those that do not. I like to think of these times as a period where families are having fun at home together. I know that ..read more

It is so hard trying to provide distance learning for our students that have extra sensory needs! Because the classroom environment and staff behaviors are a critical piece of student success, it can be hard to transition that success to the home environment.  Explaining our classroom process can be a bit like trying to orally explain how to ride a bike – impossible!  Mix into that parents who may have no respite care OR educational training, and distance learning could be a set up for frustration! Luckily, parents are a crucial part of student learning teams. Because of the n ..read more