The students in my classroom have all been identified as having Autism Spectrum Disorder, as a primary disability, along with speech and language needs. Many of the students have additional disabilities such as emotional disturbances, specific learning disabilities, and intellectual disabilities. It is very difficult to teach the students the necessary life skills they will need as adults, when the classroom is lacking the differentiated materials needed to succeed.
Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder need specialized materials to reach their individual goals and needs.
My classroom consists of students in grades kindergarten all the way through 7th grade. It is extremely difficult to reach all their various academic, sensory, and social needs without the proper materials. Unfortunately, the school district does not supply special education teachers with the funds to support this. The only money we receive is 100 dollars a year through the PTA. It is unfortunate, especially since my classroom is located on a Marine Corp Base and services military students and their families (not a DOD school).
My Project
The purpose of this project is to receive meaningful materials and curriculum that the students can understand and that can be differentiated to meet their unique needs and that can be used in teacher led centers (2-3 students rotating to different areas of the room every 15 minutes to work on specific skills). Currently we only have general education curriculum available to us that is not exactly beneficial to my students.
Students with special needs, especially Autism Spectrum Disorder, need differentiated curriculum and materials.
All of the materials requested will be used in small group, teacher led centers, as described above. The Handwriting Without Tears will be used as a handwriting center, to help with writing across the grade levels, from pre-writing skills to sentence structure. The reading curriculum will be used as a language arts center. Transitioning within the class and around the school is also difficult for students with Autism therefore the transitioning book will be used to support that area. The Melissa and Doug and Learn to Dress boards are going to be used for teaching life skills such as self-dressing and opening doors and cabinets. Lastly, the social skills materials will be used to discuss proper behavior at home, school, and and the community. All of these items will be greatly appreciated and utilized on a daily basis as the students rotate throughout the day to the different centers, building on their academic and life skills.
DonorsChoose is the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.
As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Ms. Mata and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.