Updates! I am so happy to share some exciting news! I have changed the name of the consultancy service and website from ‘ASD Teacher’ to ‘Autism Spectrum Teacher’. The main reason is due to myself feeling disconnected with the term ASD (Autistic Spectrum Disorder) because of the word disorder. The Read more
How successful parent and teacher relationships impact children with autism and how to ensure the relationship is effective, from a parent and teacher perspective. Parent Perspective Written by Harshita Patel, parent and author of ‘Autism in the City’ It’s Good to Talk! The moment a child with special needs comes into Read more
Using Widget symbols to support teaching I recently wrote an article for Widgit, all about ‘Using symbols to support ASD Teaching‘. Widgit is a symbol set containing more than 17,000 symbols. Widgit symbols are clear, simple, colourful and display a single concept in a concise way, aimed to be understood Read more
Using A Keyboard If a child can match colours, then they can learn to play a melody on the keyboard! I love teaching music, and teaching how to play the keyboard is really fun. I cannot think of a single child who I have taught, that didn’t enjoy touching and Read more
Sensory Resources As a teacher, I have used a range of sensory equipment in the classroom to support individual sensory needs. An Occupational Therapist (OT) is the professional who can support you to assess the sensory needs of a child in order to direct you to appropriate equipment to meet Read more
Emotional Regulation is a Key Area of Development. Being able to regulate emotions means being able to effectively identify and respond to an emotional experience. For children with autism, understanding their emotion and knowing how to appropriately respond to help themselves regulate, can be very challenging. This, therefore, needs to be Read more
Engaging Learning You will have probably noticed that autistic children can find attending to and concentrating during activities that they are not particularly interested in, very challenging! With developmental delay in the areas of joint attention, language, communication and social skills being core features of the diagnostic criteria for Autistic Read more
Changes during the Christmas season The Christmas season can sometimes be a very challenging time of the year for autistic children. There are all sorts of unpredictable changes to usual daily life in the lead up to Christmas and the school holidays such as: changes to the environment at home, Read more
Role play shopping game Roleplay shopping can be a really fun way of learning about coins as well as practising counting, all with the inclusion of motivating toys and items! Items Needed: Firstly, find some toys or items that the child will be really motivated by, anything from bubbles, to Read more
The Garden School The Garden School is a highly specialist school for children aged 4 – 16 years with autism as well as severe learning difficulties, located in the London borough of Hackney in the U.K. The Garden uses a child-centred approach to teaching and learning. A wide range of evidence Read more