Everyday Teaching Autism Resources

When working with early learners with autism, sometimes it is necessary to work with a physical therapist in your team. Autism spectrum disorder affects a broad range of a person’s conditions and development. Difficulty in moving around, walking, running, etc. may not normally fall in this condition. However, some individuals may exhibit complex conditions including physical challenges on top of social and communication difficulties.

I get to work with this physical therapist this year. She works with one of our shared students on physical therapy IEP goals. As a child gets older and masters those physical therapy IEP goals, this service can be usually transferred to adaptive physical education(APE) services to incorporate physical education aspects of a child’s education. In that, a child can work on the necessary skills to be able to participate in regular PE class with his or her peers.

Here are some suggested physical therapy activity ideas in the autism program for early learners.

Obstacle Course during Transitions

There are many cool ideas out there to set up physical therapy ⛳️ in the classroom. Some may have your own space for the appropriate equipment (e.g., yoga ball, trampoline, balance beam, different types of ball, etc.) If that’s not the case like in my classroom, we can simply set up a station on the way from or to certain routines. Like coming back from recess to work time.

1. hop on to the block
2. jump onto the red dots
3. jump on the trampoline 20 times
4. pick up a ball and shoot

It may take only 30 seconds or less, but this involves many different skills- practice consistently is key in the most motivational way. We will see how far we can go with this newly added routine.

Ball Activity and Play Structure

Our PT talked about how great it is this ball activity(lying on your tummy over the therapy ball). She continued it is such a simple way to increase core strength and stimulate your brain. It’s almost like tummy time for the babies.

When she makes visits to our campus, she would take an hour outside on the play structure with a group of my students leading the way climbing up and down the play structure, having them jump, run, walk, skip, and so on.

Most of my students with autism would not explore every side of the play structure features. They have one or two favorite parts of the structure, and tend to spend most of their time there 🙂

It is so helpful to see our Physical Therapist utilize the play structure in the way it is supposed to be. This simple activity and place would really help our students grow stronger and well-balanced.