According to Deris and Carlo (2013), the amount of children that have autism has increased from one in 150 to one in 88 from the year 2000 to 2008. As the amount of children that are born and diagnosed with autism rises, the pressure for teachers to cope with this disorder will rise as well. Children with autism have a wide variety of characteristics that they display such as, repeated and restrictive behaviors, delays in social interaction, symbolic imaginative play and language, and they have trouble communicating and interacting with their peers. Through the article I reviewed this week Deris and Carlo (2013) provide teaching and classroom management strategies that help teachers to make their classroom environment more beneficial …show more content…
Through reading this article however, I feel that I am already better equipped to handle at least one need in my classroom. Whether you have a student that is autistic, or you just have young kids in your classroom I feel as though these tips and guidelines are beneficial. When I set up my classroom I will begin by ensuring that all of the stations are adequately sectioned off so that the purpose is clear. I think I will do this by getting duct tape and taping the floors, that way you can tell the students that the material in this station shouldn’t cross the line on the floor and be taken into the other station. I will also be sure to include either sensory materials in each station or have a special station especially for sensory input, this will depend on the needs of my students in the classroom. The next thing I will do after moving everything into its station, is to label it with both pictures and the name of the object. To ensure real world application I will use actual photographs of objects as much as possible instead of clip art or other animated representations. Then I will create a schedule that is extensive enough to incorporate all of the daily activities yet simple enough to ensure that it will be useful for everyday and that it will be modified only when completely necessary. The schedule will also have pictures, and I will take time to go over schedule before most, if not all, of the activities before we begin them to make sure that the transitions are easier. I will try my best to get a handle on any triggers and prevent negative behavior, because one break down could not only ruin the learning day for the child with autism but for the rest of the class as