Autism Awareness

Dear Educators,

We have all had experiences with autism. Maybe you’ve taught students with autism in your classroom, maybe you’ve interacted with students who have autism in your school, maybe you took a college course or two on autism or had countless professional development opportunities learning how to teach these precious students. All of this exposure teaches us how to educate, but does not teach us how to raise awareness. When was the last time we sat down with our students and talked about autism? If you are like me, your answer is probably never or not often enough!

Autism is on the rise and it so important to teach all students about it and raise awareness. I believe that as a society we tiptoe around this topic. We don’t talk about it. Why? I don’t exactly know the answer to that question, but maybe it is because we aren’t sure how. Maybe we fear we aren’t addressing it correctly, we don’t want to say something offensive or in the wrong way. We need to talk about autism with our kids. Lets not keep it a secret or a conversation piece we are afraid to touch. Talk about autism with your class. Raise awareness! Share the joy that is AUTISM! Let us not be silent anymore.

I am making this task easy for you. My best friend Jenny has a beautiful son named Couper who has autism. This family is an inspiration. I have asked my friend to share with me everything she would like teachers to share with their students and to approach this also through the eyes of her son. She has provided me with so much great information and I have compiled it together in this project just for you and your students. We are making our world a better place by raising awareness and talking about autism. Give these children a voice!

Sincerely,

Amanda Martin

WHAT'S INCLUDED:

-Classroom “Autism Awareness” Poster

-”What is Autism?” Poster

-KWL Headers and Flapbook

-Mini Book- Provide a copy for each child. Read the mini book together and discuss.

-True/False Puzzle Piece Sort- After reading and discussing the mini book, use the true and false puzzle pieces to sort in a pocket chart or on the whiteboard. Use the answer key for help and to discuss why the statements are false.

-Can/Have/Are- Use the Can, Have, and Are headers to place on the whiteboard or in a pocket chart and as a class, brainstorm words or phrases to fit under each

header. A student copy is provided.

-Large Puzzle Pieces- Create a bulletin board display using the large puzzle pieces. Give each child a puzzle piece. Inside each puzzle piece have the child write a word to describe autism or the name of a person they know who has autism. Have the children cut their puzzle piece out and use all the pieces to create a bulletin board. You could even arrange them to make the shape of a heart. You may use the colored pieces or use the blackline pieces for the students to color themselves.

-Write About Autism- Have students think about all they have learned by doing this Autism Awareness packet with you. Have them use the graphic organizer to organize their thoughts and create a writing piece.

*This would also be an excellent tool to present at a staff meeting.

A PORTION OF THE PROFITS MADE FROM THIS PRODUCT WILL BE DONATED TO GENERATION RESCUE!!!!