John Talavera
Autism iHelp – Language Concepts
A parent of a child with autism, and a speech-language pathologist together developed this language-intervention app to be used with students with severe to moderate autism.
Curated OER
Lessons for Young Children with Autism
Here are a variety of lessons geared for young children with Autism. There are 12 short activities intended to build attention, imitation, communication, independent living, social, motor, and literacy skills. Each skill is geared toward...
Curated OER
Groupworld: A Group Imagination Activity to Promote Group Cooperation and Compromise
Teach learners how to communicate and collaborate in a discussion on a shared project with this rich activity. It asks participants to channel their unique imaginations to produce a fictional "groupworld", while adhering to proper...
Positively Autism
The Very Hungry Caterpillar Big and Little Activity
A big caterpillar, a little caterpillar. A big butterfly, a little butterfly. Images from Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar model for learners with autism the difference between big and little.
Positively Autism
Fine Motor Skills for the Home or Classroom
Put coins in a piggy bank. Thread a shoelace through straws. Take a nut off and place it back on a bolt. Help kids develop their fine motor skills with this series of activities.
Autism New Jersey
Autism Awareness
Have your class inquire about learning disabilities by identifying their own capabilities. They discuss their interests and hobbies and identify that not everyone has the same skill set now or anytime in the future. They listen as the...
Curated OER
The Little Engine that Could Mini Unit Plan
The best part about teaching little ones is setting up fun, thematic learning stations. Here is a full day of activities that all relate to the story, The Little Engine that Could. Included are six different activities that cover art,...
Curated OER
Girders and Wrecking Ball Activity
As learners build the "girders" of conversation by staying consistent on a particular topic, they avoid the "wrecking ball" of an off-topic comment. To help students develop this important conversation skill, this resource provides them...
Museum of Disability
Ian’s Walk and Apples for Cheyenne
Help young learners understand friendship and empathy with two reading comprehension lessons. Each activity focuses on a story about a child with autism, and encourages readers to compare and contrast the characters to each other and to...
Curated OER
Publish a Book
Help your autistic learners to create a story and publish a book. They write simple stories, then turn their stories into books. A picture is drawn for each page of the book and the story is written below. Note: This is a good activity...
John Talavera
Autism iHelp – Sorting
Here is an app that will help kids sort objects! Sorting is an action that promotes cognitive flexibility and executive function. It is a key skill used in categorizing scientific data, making generalizations, and is foundational in...
John Talavera
Autism iHelp - Home
Building a strong functional vocabulary is key for helping children with ASD or PDD NOS communicate their wants and needs. While strengthening vocabulary, learners can also build their sight-word vocabulary by tackling words commonly...
John Talavera
Autism iHelp – WH Questions
Who, what, when, where, and why questions are often the questions that teachers use to foster engagement, verbal communication skills, higher-order thinking, and hopefully, a deeper understanding of the world. This tool is geared toward...
Curated OER
Going to the Doctor: Vocabulary Cards
Flash cards are a great tool for kids with autism; use them to build a functional vocabulary. This set of nine flash cards focus in on vocabulary you'd use at the doctor's office. Consider providing sentence frames for your learners to...
Curated OER
Yes We Can! Students with Autism & Down-Syndrome on the Drums!
To learn about various topics and improve their social skills, learners with special needs play along with music on drums and other sound objects. Teachers take digital pictures of the students participation and use them to make bulletin...
Curated OER
Chain Connection and Un-Connection Activity
Learners practice remaining on topic during a conversation using printouts of chains as visual models for their work. Chains are placed in sequence while students stay on a shared topic of conversation, and a broken chain is used as a...
Curated OER
Travis the Train: Spring Time Animals
Tag along with Travis the Train as he encounters various baby animals that live on the farm. The spring time story introduces special-needs or autistic children to the types of plants and animals found on farms, each animal is identified...
Leicestershire County Council
Developing Handwriting Skills for Individuals with Autistic Spectrum Disorder
Here is a resource packed with strategies to help individuals with ASD improve their handwriting skills. Intended for the teacher or specialist, the resource provides background information on reasons learners with ASD have difficulty...
Positively Autism
Trace the Train Track!
Learners with autism develop their fine motor skills with an activity that asks them to trace Travis the Train's track
Positively Autism
Sight Word Train
Keep students with autism on track learning sight words with the Sight Word Train. Complete directions, and a video demonstration are all part of this clever resource.
Do2Learn
Participating With Others
For learners with autism spectrum disorder, participating with others in a social setting can be stressful and overwhelming. A brainstorming activity prompts pupils to consider the expectations of a particular social occasion, including...
Curated OER
World Autism Awareness Day
In this World Autism Awareness Day worksheet, students read or listen to a passage, then match phrases, fill in the blanks, choose correct words, unscramble words and sentences, write discussion questions and conduct a survey.
Curated OER
Things That are Orange
What can you think of that is orange? Bring this word recognition activity to your special education class. Learners can view this resource as many times as necessary to learn about items that are the color orange. They can also build...
Curated OER
Easter Vocabulary
Help your autistic or special-needs children become familiar with the words and activities commonly associated with the Easter holiday. These pages can be printed, made into a matching game, or viewed on a computer. Just click and use!