
Adapting Learning Experiences for Students with Profound Autism
Imagine arriving at work and being told where to sit, what to do, and how to do it—without being asked...
Research indicates that many teachers in the general education classroom feel unprepared to serve the growing number of autistic students. The Curriculum in a Box is an autism resource for teachers that provides school districts, schools, and teachers with the foundational knowledge and effective classroom strategies they need to be better able to teach autistic students. Designed for flexibility, the program can be used by administrators for small staff meetings, facilitators for large professional development sessions, or individuals as a refresher.
Order the Curriculum in a BoxThe Curriculum in a Box is a comprehensive professional development program designed to provide middle and high school teachers with the knowledge and evidence-based strategies needed to support their autistic students in the general education classroom.
This curriculum for autism includes everything teachers need to host a professional development session: two 75-minute PowerPoint training presentations, to be used together or separately, with video clips, participant handouts, activity worksheets, and scripted facilitator notes. It also includes Understanding Autism: A Guide for Secondary School Teachers, along with two guidebooks, in English and Spanish, and a quick reference sheet:
All of the materials are accessible online. If you wish to order a hard copy, we encourage you to first view the materials online.
The Understanding Autism: Professional Development Curriculum contains scripted PowerPoint presentations, facilitator notes and handouts, activity worksheets, and video clips.
Online PresentationsWe collaborated with researchers from the University of North Carolina’s Frank Porter Graham (FPG) Child Development Institute to produce a manual for teachers to use in coordination with the video presentation and refer back to throughout the school year.
The Educator Fact Sheet offers teachers an easy go-to guide for including their autistic students. It lists ways that autism can make learning difficult, simple accommodations and modifications that can make the classroom more autism-friendly, and interventions that have worked in other classrooms and are supported by research. No two autistic children are the same, so differentiation still remains important. Still, these evidence-based methods can help teachers at all levels support their autistic students in the classroom.
Adapting Learning Experiences for Students with Profound Autism
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