Austin & Lily Blog
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What Grade Level are the Austin & Lily Units?
What grade level are these materials? That’s a good question. Here is how we address this with our modified curriculum materials: There isn’t a specific grade level for Austin & Lily materials, but they are aligned with grade-level standards. Students with an...
How We Used Elvis’ Chimpanzee to Work on Self-determination Skills
Developing self-determination skills is a major priority when it comes to teaching students with intellectual disabilities. What helps is getting a really good feel for how to identify teachable moments so that students get a lot of support and practice developing...
Why the Royal Wedding Captivated Students with an Intellectual Disability
Everyone benefits from studying a topic and exploring subtopics related to it. The more we learn about different aspects of the topic, the more interesting it becomes. Because this experience is beneficial for everyone, we make sure students with an intellectual...
How to Govern your Language So Students with an ID Can Understand
I have always been dedicated to teaching students who were considered at-risk. My students were either learning English, having trouble reading, behind academically, and/or had a disability. Teaching special education came after teaching English Language...
One Behavioral Strategy that Worked
If there is one thing I learned teaching special education, it is that having an arsenal of strategies helps. I also learned that some of my best ideas related to this were developed on the fly when I needed them. An example of that is my coveted lotion strategy. It...
How I Taught a Woman with Down Syndrome to Read
I would like to share a demonstration video of me working with Jennifer, a 35ish year old woman with Down syndrome, who had never been taught to read. Jennifer was difficult to motivate. To address this, I was playful and made a game of it. We also alternated between...
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....
