It’s coming up to the time of year when schools are all trying to really help support Autism Awareness Day/Week/Month. And one of the most common questions I get during this time is ‘How can I teach autism awareness in the classroom?’ and it’s a great question to ask! It means that teachers are really trying to spread awareness and acceptance about the neurodivergent community.. And this is going to be hugely beneficial for our students growing up.
There are more and more autistic students now attending general education schools. And one of the toughest parts of this is ensuring that other students are accepting of all of their peers. Autism Awareness Day/Week/Month is great for reinforcing this.
What is Autism Awareness Month?
Autism Awareness Month takes place in April every year. And while it is important that we are promoting awareness, acceptance and inclusion all year long.. This is a great opportunity where one month a year we can really focus in on this specifically.
How to Promote Autism Awareness
There are lots of great ways that you can teach and promote autism awareness in your classroom. Some ideas of this are;
Using Books
There are lots of great books that you can use with your students to teach about autism and acceptance. You can find some of my favorite books for teaching about autism here.
But for some quick reference now, here are 3 great books;
You Can Watch Videos
There are lots of great videos that you can watch online with your students to teach about autism, awareness, acceptance and inclusion. There are also some great videos that talk about what our autistic peers may face like how sounds may feel to them. These videos can help our students be more understanding of their peers.
Group Discussions
Encourage group discussions between your students. Include this in your circle time. Have students discuss what they know about autism.. And also how their autistic peers may feel. What do they struggle with? How can we help them? If the playground is too noisy, can we help lead them to somewhere quieter?
We can also discuss about what each of us struggle with and what help we would appreciate from our peers. Opening up conversations about our individual selves and needs can help to encourage and promote that inclusion.
Visit an Autism Center
There are lots of great centers around that providing support to our neurodivergent community. These can be great places to take your students for a visit to find out more about the different services on offer for our neurodivergent community and how it helps. This can be things like attending soft play and listening to how that soft play business adapts and promotes inclusion by having sensory hours. We can use this to discuss things like different lighting, noises etc.
Fundraising
This is a great time of year when you can really help to fundraise for some local autistic charities. I always say to support the local charities over big ones because then you’ll really get to see how much your support helps the local community. You could do sponsored walks, or coffee/cake mornings.
Do Some Research
Research famous people around the world who are diagnosed with autism. I love to teach about Temple Grandin. Especially with how well she talks about autism, her differences and the success that she has had in her life. She is an amazing person to do a research project on throughout April.
Support Autistic Businesses
This is a great opportunity to reach out and support autistic businesses too. When you purchase items from these businesses, you are not only supporting that autistic business owner.. But many businesses also donate a % of profits to autistic charities, especially throughout Autism Acceptance Month.
My Favorite Autism Acceptance Month Activities
Below are some of my favorite autism acceptance month activities;
- Temple Grandin Fact Flip Book
- Autism Acceptance Comprehension Passages
- Facts and Myths About Autism Posters
- Free Autism Acceptance Bulletin Board
- Autism Acceptance Month PowerPoint
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Nikki
