Blog Posts

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

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…

Best of 2016

Happy New Year! To make this year your best year yet, remember all you’ve learned here at NoodleNook over the past year with these Best… Read More »Best of 2016

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.

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*

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?

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.

Defining the Behavior
Collecting Data
Determining the Function
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.

Freebie Friday for November for NoodleNook Readers! Thanks y'all!

Freebie Friday from NoodleNook

Freebie Friday! Free activities for Autism Units, LIFE Skills, Self Contained and Early Elementary I LOVE getting time off for the Holidays… and really taking… Read More »Freebie Friday from NoodleNook

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*

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.

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.

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

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 on modifying activities and procedures in Active Learning Classrooms!

Modifying Activities for Active Learning

Teaching Active Learning is a tough job… and knowing what exactly to do with a class full of Active Learners is even tougher. So what… Read More »Modifying Activities for Active Learning