Austin & Lily Blog
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When Inclusion doesn’t work anymore for Middle School Students with an ID
Inclusion has helped students with intellectual disabilities, there is no doubt about it. One highlight has been the realization that students with an ID are able to learn more academic content than was previously thought possible. Inclusion has also acquainted...
Why Students with an Intellectual Disability Need Massive Amounts of Nonfiction Curriculum
Like all students diagnosed with an intellectual disability, Lily runs into a wall with reading comprehension. Once basic reading skills are obtained, which many students with mild and moderate intellectual disabilities can learn, the next step is learning...
Win a Free Subscription to Exceptional News!
Free Giveaway! We are excited to announce our latest product called Exceptional News, a weekly current events subscription that students love. We have been working on this for over a year and are very excited to share it with you. You can read more about it here. To...
Be Magical: How to Use Your Voice to Engage and Teach
Use your voice as an instructional strategy to support comprehension. My mother was an actress and taught public speaking classes when I was growing up, and as a result, she would not only read with a lot of expression, but she talked to us using a lot of expression....
9 Strategies for Teaching Concepts to Students with Intellectual Disabilities
Concepts can be so difficult for students with an intellectual disability. They are abstract which makes them cognitively demanding. Take the concept of being deaf, for example. It seems simple, but there will be some students who do not fully understand it. When you...
How to Motivate People with Intellectual Disabilities
It's always good to have several strategies to motivate a person with an intellectual disability. Today I was reminded of one strategy I have used with a lot of success, and thought I would share the story with you. What made me think of it, was something I stumbled...
How to Help Students with Intellectual Disabilities with Reading Comprehension
Reading comprehension is challenging for students with an intellectual disability (ID). The cognitive demands are often out of reach without significant support. Understanding the demands helps educators wrap their heads around the supports needed. Effective teaching...
How to Help Students with an ID Understand the Purpose of Questions
This week I had an opportunity to teach live in a classroom using my Elvis book. Soooo fun! Oh how I miss teaching! Anyway, I want to give you a tip for working with kids on asking questions. One of the things that we talked about was the fact that Graceland was...
How To Incorporate Dance and Music into Special Ed Classes
I found a great resource for easy to follow dance steps that I think students of all ages with special needs will enjoy. I stumbled on it while I was writing the lesson plans for our Elvis Presley book. In the book we talk about Elvis' nickname being "Elvis the...
How To Access Your News Subscription
Each week we will update your account with a new issue pertaining to a current event. Accessing these issues is easy. In this tutorial, I'm going to walk you through four simple steps on how to access these materials in your account. Step 1: Login Click the...
