A Peek Inside the SPED Community: Resources on How to Become a More Inclusive Classroom

The month of April brings more than just showers and flowers. It is a time when we celebrate our autistic students and children. It is also National Deaf History Month. We need to take the time to educate ourselves on the best practices of inclusion, and how we teach equity to our students. 

Think about this statement for a moment…

Students with special needs are twice as likely to be bullied compared to their nondisabled peers.

We at Education to the Core have a request to make of educators and parents. 

Teach your students and children to be accepting of others, especially those with autism and other special needs. 

Instead of seeing only differences, let’s teach our students to practice equity and inclusion. Teach them to…

• Include the student who is non-verbal or uses minimal words when speaking. 
• Invite the student who looks different from others in your class.
• Walk with the student who is in a wheelchair or uses leg braces.
• Learn sign language to communicate with a deaf classmate. 
• Celebrate differences, practice empathy, and educate others to do the same.
• Speak out when they see others being treated unjustly. 

In this blog, we will highlight special education resources, read-alouds, blog posts, videos, and influential educators of the special education realm.

TPT Sellers

Creative Learning 4 Kidz – Offers a variety of picture cards for PECS and Boardmaker; Social Stories picture cards; Adapted books, and Fine Motor resources

Mrs. D’s Corner – Adapted standards binder bundles for all subject areas; Variety of SPED resources for teachers

Simply Special Ed – This teacher seller has file folder games and adapted books, in both printable and digital formats

Breezy Special Ed – Find a variety of visually supported worksheets in both printable and digital formats

Read-Aloud Resources

Board Books:

• I Can, Can You? By Marjorie W. Pitzer
• One, Two, Three…Jump! (Little Movers) by Carol Thompson
• Snug by Carol Thompson
• Off to the Park! by Stephen Cheetham

Picture Books:

• Boy by Phil Cummings
• The Deaf Musicians by Pete Seeger and Paul Dubois Jacobs *Deafness
• A Boy and a Jaguar by Alan Rabinowitz *Stutter
• The Black Book of Colors by Menena Cottin *Blindness
• We’re All Wonders by R. J. Palacio
• Rescue and Jessica: A Life-Changing Friendship by Jessica Kensky and Patrick Downes *Service dog for leg amputee
• Thank You, Mr Falker by Patricia Polacco *Dyslexia
• The Amazing Erik by Mike Huber *Physical Impairment
• All the Way to the Top: How One Girl’s Fight for Americans with Disabilities Changed Everything (Inspiring Activism and Diversity Book About Children with Special Needs) by Annette Bay Pimentel
• Emmanuel’s Dream: The True Story of Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah by Laurie Ann Thompson *Physical Impairment
• Not So Different: What You Really Want to Ask About Having a Disability by Shane Burcaw
• It’s Okay to Be Different by Todd Parr

Chapter Books:

• El Deafo by Cece Bell *Deafness
• As Brave as You by Jason Reynolds (Grades 5-6) *Blindness
• Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper (Grades 5-6) *Cerebral Palsy

Autism Focused Books:

• The Girl Who Thought In Pictures: The Story of Dr. Temple Grandin by Julia Finley Mosca 
• Benny Doesn’t Like to Be Hugged by Zetta Elliot 
• Benji, the Bad Day, and Me by Sally J. Pla 
• Noah Chases the Wind by Michelle Worthington 
• A Friend for Henry: (Books About Making Friends, Children’s Friendship Books, Autism Awareness Books for Kids) by Jenn Bailey 
• My Brother Charlie by Holly Robinson Peete and Ryan Elizabeth Peete 
• A Boy Called Bat by Elana K. Arnold (Grades 1-5)

Video Resources

Autism Society #CelebratesDifferences

Fast Facts About Autism

Meet Julia from Sesame Street

Arthur’s Friend Carl

Blog Posts

Be Your Own Author…Create A Social Story  

Creating a Calming Corner for Your Primary Classroom 

30 Preventive Strategies to do Before a Behavior 

One Room Schoolhouse

The Autism Helper

Mrs. D’s Corner

Mrs. P’s Specialties

Additional Resources

Visual Schedule & Social Story is a free app to download.  This site offers and assists autistic children as well as those with communication challenges by helping build visual schedules and social stories.

We all fit together like a puzzle… give each of your students a puzzle piece to decorate and then create a “classroom puzzle”. It shows that each of us is unique, but we all fit together as a community.

Take it a step further and join groups such as Autism Society, Autistic Self Advocacy Network, or Special Olympics. Get involved to help educate and encourage acceptance, understanding, and inclusion of all students and children. 

Thank you for being part of the change. Together, we can make the world a more inclusive and accepting place for everyone to live in. 

We hope you find these special education inclusion resources helpful. As an organization, ETTC will continue to share blogs and resources that promote diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. These resources should not just be used for one month, but all year round. 

In addition, if you have resources to share with us, be sure to put them in the comments below! Together, we will work towards the goal of inclusion of everyone. We are looking forward to hearing from you. 

??? Team Education to the Core Collaboration

Suzanne Kelley, Trudi-Ann Lawrence, Janessa Fletcher, Kristin Halverson – NBCT, Christopher Olson

At Education to the Core, we exist to help our teachers build a stronger classroom as they connect with our community to find trusted, state-of-the-art resources created by teachers for teachers. We strive to be the world’s leading & most trusted community for educational resources for teachers. We improve the lives of every teacher and learner with the most comprehensive, reliable, and inclusive educational resources.

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