It's important to give students opportunities to work completely independently, it increases their self-esteem and allows classroom staff to have a chance to work with other students who have higher needs.Independent work time should be highly structured and students should only be working on tasks that they have 100% mastered. Here are links to task examples that my students typically work on during this time.
Task Book Ideas
Task Box Ideas
Task Box Ideas Continued
Task Boxes 2
Math Task Boxes
I love independent work time, because when some students are working independently, my paras and I have time to work 1:1 with our students who have more severe disabilities. During this time, we re-position students in wheelchairs, provide sensory stimulation, give them switch toys to play with, or anything else they might need.
Note: The work stations in my classroom will likely look VERY different than one set up in a classroom only for kids with Autism. I have students in my classroom with a variety of levels and disabilities, so the structure may look different.
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| "We can statements" are displayed for people who come to our room to visit. The chart explains how the boxes are labelled. Pieces are in bags to easily change the labels on boxes and tasks on student's cards. |
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| The shapes indicate the subject (math, literacy, and fine motor) of the box. The color indicates the level of the box (I did a level 1, 2, and 3). |