Social Skills for Kids - Patricia Robinson

Hi Everyone,

Patricia Robinson is a therapist with a special interest in working with kids with Autism Spectrum Disorders and ADHD.

Today at the Autism workshop that I attended we spent a lot of time talking about the needs of students with Aspergers Syndrome. Today Patricia's post is on the same topic and is well worth a read if you are committed to setting up Aspergers friendly environments and teaching routines.

Every time I have posted a question on this blog, Patricia has emailed me back. She is a great online resource.

On the right margin of this blog there are loads of links to other great resources covering a huge variety of topics.

If you would like to see the blogs that I read for inspiration, scroll all the way to the bottom of the blog ( It's a long way down!) to access my blogrolls.

Zac Browser

I love to visit the Blog Teachers Love Smart Boards. I find so many great applications there to use with my class. I received an email today from the author of the site, James Hollis, telling me about this site. If you are working with children with an ASD or very young children, with or without a disability this is definitely a site for you. It is designed to help students navigate around the web easily and has lots of fantastic sites accessible through the free program download. I am so impressed! Click on the picture to follow the link. Make sure you visit Teachers Love Smart Boards too!

Free Online Books and Videos for Kids

Hi Everyone,

I love using online books and videos to teach my room full of tech savvy visual learners so I created a blog to store all of the great resources that I find. There are hundreds of online stories, videos, songs, magazines and kids cartoons stored there, that are compatible with most school server blockers!I will put a permanent link in the right margin of the blog too. Just look for the flying books!

Help Kids Learn

Hi again,
Do you have kids in your class who love trains? How about some precious little people with limited mobility, who love playing switch games and reading simple switch stories?
If you answered yes to any of these, this is the site for you. Check it out!

Teaching Life Skills - A Parent's Guide

Hi Everyone,
I just finished my final Individual learning Plan for the term. As I mentioned yesterday, I have lots of children in my class with 'life skills' as a priority learning goal. On our ILP document we have a section for parents where we let them know what they can do at home to help support their child's progress in reaching their learning goals.
This document by Casey Family Programs is a 57 page manual on how parents can teach their children life skills at home. It's a great document because it covers ages from primary to adult and all of the experiences are embedded in normal life scenarios.
I am definitely going to print out a copy when I get to school.

Arthur- Life Skills

Hi again,

Arthur is one of my favourite story characters. I was really excited to find that the Arthur web site has loads of resources to support life skills topics because the Arthur character is so appealing to my students. I have linked this post directly to the life skills section. I don't have a life so I will be spending my Saturday night checking out the activities!

Education.com

Hi Everyone,
I have spent most of today writing individual learning plans for two of my students. Both kids have life skills as a priority goal for this term. I decided to have a look on the net for life skills sites to support their learning and I came across this great site which offers so much more than I was looking for. Education.com is an online magazine for teachers. It is definitely going to be one of my professional reading sources and I would strongly suggest that you add it to your favourites.

Jacob's Lessons

Hi Everyone,
This is a terrific site for pre-schoolers and children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder. The site was originally created by a father wishing to provide some online activities for his son. His wife, a behavioural analyst who works with kids with ASD, discovered that the activities also worked well for her clients. The activities are designed for children to use while working with an adult. I intend using them with children in my classroom next term.

Food Safe Music Videos

Hi Everyone,

This site is proof positive that you can make any topic interesting for just about any audience if you try hard enough. I know that I am promoting 2 hand washing sites in a row but I don't have Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Not with regard to hand washing or germs anyway!
This one has great music clips, PowerPoint's and more about hygiene and food safety that would appeal to both primary and secondary students. I promise faithfully that I will move on now!

Crawford the Cat

Hi Everyone,
I never thought I would do cart wheels over finding a good 'hand washing skills' web site but today I came close. This is my new favourite site!
Crawford the Cat is a great site for teaching personal, practical and social skills to young children. the videos, online books and printables are fantastic!

File Folder Heaven

Hi Everyone,
Today I had a good look around the web for free downloads for children with ASD and found a site that could assist in teaching Early Years and for children with learning disabilities. This site offers interactive books and file folder games for free, as well as a selection that can be downloaded very inexpensively and safely. I emailed Natalie the web administrator earlier today ; she told me that the site is active and that she will be adding adding more materials this week. Why don't' you take a look!

Learning Page.com

Hi Everyone,
Today I became a member of Learning Page .com.
This means that I am now able to access loads of ready made work sheets, suitable for Early Years and Primary students, absolutely free. There are a huge range of worksheets to choose from and the sign up process is painless.

Positive Partnerships - Autism Spectrum Disorder

Hi Everyone,
I will be doing some training this week to prepare myself for a new role in supporting teachers who are new to teaching children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).
The Australian Autism Education and Training Consortium (AAETC) have produced a basic online course for people who would like to discover more about ASD and it's impact on learning.
There are courses aimed at parents, carers and teachers.
The course takes about 95 minutes to complete. It's interactive so you won't get bored. You don't even have to take the course in one sitting. It is broken up into modules that can be completed when ever you have time.
It is a simple introduction about ASD which answers lots of the most common questions people ask.
Click on the picture to get started!