Using Fall Themes to Teach Skills in the Autism Classroom
It’s fall. The leaves are changing, your classroom is labeled, the visual schedules are up and yet you find yourself staring at the clock at 9:47 a.m. wondering, What on earth am I supposed to teach next? You’ve got the IEPs in hand, you know the goals, but filling an entire day with meaningful, engaging activities for students with autism? That’s a whole different skill set no one warned you about.
Don’t worry, we have resources for arrival, morning, and afternoon that will make you put down your warm pumpkin spice latte and tilt your ear. And all with a fall flair.
1. Arrival
Mornings are a great time to teach independence. Students are just arriving, and it sets the tone for the whole day. A simple fall-themed morning work routine can help students practice working on their own.
Set up a space with a visual schedule, a finished bin, and worksheets with apples, pumpkins, or fall patterns. You can even use 3-drawer carts or file folders for each task. This helps students know exactly what to do first, next, and last.
Our Morning Work for Students with Autism (September & October) can give you worksheets each day for students to focus on for a short morning arrival activity. Perfect for K through 2nd or students with developmental delays, this pack is has easy tasks like matching, gluing or coloring.
2. Morning
Once you move into the morning part of the day, you may want a structured group lesson. That is where the Autism Lesson Plan Printables for Autism Support Classrooms (FALL) come in.
We're talking about exploring the colors and festivities of fall, acknowledging the fun of Thanksgiving, getting in the game with football, having some pumpkin-themed fun, embracing the spooktacular vibes of Halloween, and taking a moment to honor our heroes on Veteran’s Day. The worksheets can help you create a 15 - 20 minute activity.
To expand to that 15-minute activity, first, you create a standard warm up with small toy or a routine greeting. Then, you have students raise hands to get EVERYTHING. From paper, to crayons, to glue to markers, if they want it, they ask for it. Then, present a visual support about the topic or some type of prior knowledge. Next, have them complete the worksheets. 
These specific worksheets are made for students who a have a difficult time processing language and who may need short, hands-on lessons with concrete pictures to increase receptive language. Students with developmental delays were in mind when creating this product, although, many of the activities may work well in any Pre-K or Kindergarten class.
3. Afternoon
By now, it is possible you have reverted back to staring at the clock and wondering, Now what am I going to do now that has lunch set in? Well, you still have a while to go, but your energetic bunch is either ready to sleep or ready to rebel. At this time, I offer you our sensory printables for Fall. 
Wake them up or calm them down using The Wrecked Printable! Sensory Lessons for FALL (Speaking and Listening CC). They were made to bring the mess.
Gather your group at the table, get out your glue, fast track the glitter and even shaving cream, this is going to be something. Each page incorporates sensory input in some way (you can add more if you want) AND includes communication images to help students point to what they’re exploring on that page. Think about that, your AAC is built in!
So if your lesson plans are looking a little short and your school day is a looking a little long, remember you don’t have to do it all alone. With the right tools, you can fill your students’ day with structure, success, and smiles. Now get back to that latte. You’re gonna need it.
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