Skip to content

Blog

We’ve got a Runner! A closer look at elopement and wandering for students with Autism.

Elopement and Autism

    Elopement and Autism

    When I used to hear the word ‘Elopement’ I thought of two lovers running off to get hitched… but having been in Autism Units and LIFE Skills classrooms for so long ‘Elopement’ means something different. It means something that’s downright scary.

    We’ve got a Runner! A closer look at elopement and wandering for students with Autism.

    And it is downright scary when you look up and realize one of your students has wandered away or “eloped” the sense of panic that engulfs you is petrifying. Just downright scary.

    It is also exhausting when you have to constantly stand in front of a door or always block a student from running (like out the door and into traffic). Just downright exhausting.

    So what do you do? How do you get some control back when studies suggest nearly half of student with Autism wander or elope? Well, here are a few helpful tips and strategies…

    Read More »Elopement and Autism

    Happy Holidays from NoodleNook- Get some FREE Printables to add to your toolbox. All printable, ready to go, and totally FREE!

    Happy Holidays from NoodleNook

      Happy Holidays from NoodleNook!

      Roller Coaster

      Whenever we come back from Thanksgiving it feels like a frantic roller coaster to the Holiday Break. There is just so much to do- and little has to do with instruction! There is paperwork to finish, activities for the holidays, and then campus things like exams and report cards… And you know what happens (not to you because you’re a rockstar)? Sometimes teachers just stop teaching.

      I know, I know… what?!?

      So how do you manage the Roller Coaster and have a bit of a break before your break.

      Read More »Happy Holidays from NoodleNook

      Tips and tricks to write a killer BIP! Great help with free printables.

      How To Write a BIP

        How to Write a BIP

        Teacher: It is terrible… Bobby is running out of class all the time!
        Me: Okay, let me see the BIP.
        Teacher: Oh, it’s totally not working. (Hands me the BIP.)
        Me: This BIP is for verbal outbursts.
        Teacher: Oh… is that why it’s not working?
        Me: *sigh*

        Tips and tricks to write a killer BIP! Great help with free printables. YAY!

        Read More »How To Write a BIP

        How to find and implement replacement behavior for hitting while working with students with Autism or Significant Disabilities PLUS FREE Data Sheet!

        Replacement Behavior for Hitting

          Replacement Behavior for Hitting

          I’m getting the crap beat out of me. Help!

          So, unfortunately, this is an actual conversation that I’ve had recently. It’s hard to get up every morning and go to work when you know you are going to get hurt.

          So what should you do?

          Where do you even start?

          How to find and implement replacement behavior for hitting while working with students with Autism or Significant Disabilities PLUS FREE Data Sheet!

          4 Steps to Replace Hitting Behavior

          The good news is you can change Behavior. The bad news is it’s going to take a little while. So, first things first, here are the four steps to changing Behavior.

          1. Defining the Behavior
          2. Collecting Data
          3. Determining the Function
          4. Designing the Behavior Plan

          It seems like such a no brainer, but when you are sitting in a classroom getting the snot smacked out of you all day long it gets hard to think things through logically. The only thing running through your head is how to make it all stop.

          How to find and implement replacement behavior for hitting while working with students with Autism or Significant Disabilities PLUS FREE Data Sheet!

          So let’s break down these four steps a little more.

          Read More »Replacement Behavior for Hitting
          Vocational Targets for Students with Autism- 7 Skills to help get your students job ready.

          Vocational Targets for Students with Autism

            Vocational Targets for Students with Autism

            Every year when I sat down with one of my favorite students to get ready for her IEP meeting, we had nearly the same conversation…

            Me: So Katie, what do you want to do when you graduate.

            Katie: I want to deliver babies.

            Me: That means being a doctor. You would have to go to college for a long time to do that.

            Katie: That’s okay. I like school.

            Me. Katie, you can’t read and don’t like to write. It may be hard to get into medical school and graduate.

            Katie: I guess so.

            Me: Is there another job might like?

            Katie: Yes! I want to deliver babies!

            Me: *Sigh*

            Read More »Vocational Targets for Students with Autism

            Social skills for students with Autism is hard to teach, but a must have! Here are 4 strategies to teach vocational social skills...| NoodleNook

            Social Skills for Students with Autism

              Social Skills for Students with Autism

              Me: Hi Bobby!
              Bobby: Hi Mrs. Noodle.
              Me: How are you today?
              Bobby: I’m not touching my balls!
              Me: Um? Good Job!?!

              So, needless to say, this really happened.

              Vocational Social Skills: 4 strategies and 2 freebies to teach social skills to students with Autism.Functional Versus Academic Skills

              We work hard with our students on academics and learning… and we also work with them on building functional and vocational skills in hopes they will be able to get and keep a job someday.

              Here is the truth of the matter.

              Even if they are part of the less than 10% of students with low incidence disabilities that are gainfully employed, many of them will struggle to keep a job. And the two main reasons low-incidence disability students (like Autism) cannot keep a job is because they have poor hygiene or they have poor social skills.

              Read More »Social Skills for Students with Autism

              HELP- What do for my Autistic Student who licks everything? Practical Tips and Tricks.

              Autistic Student Licks Everything


                Student with Autism Licks Everything

                “My autistic student has licking habits.

                She licks everything.

                Everything means books, paper, plastic, the ground… all.

                How should I teach her?”

                    -M. Basel

                HELP- What do for my Autistic Student who licks everything? Practical Tips and Tricks.

                It can be a real challenge when students present behaviors that are extreme or that really cross the divide of what is socially acceptable.

                Licking everything is one of those…

                And having a student who licks everything is actually just a version of stimming behavior that’s so typical in students with autism. There’s no way for you to just expect a student with this type of behavior to suddenly stop.

                Instead what you will have to do is redirect the behavior into something more acceptable and also more hygienic.

                Read More »Autistic Student Licks Everything