A resource I made for a mixed group of ks1 / ks2 children with autism / social communication needs. Aim is to develop greater understanding of feelings and to begin to develop awareness of other's feelings, also turn taking and attention and listening. Resource includes a feelings poster and 18 cards describing situations that have happened to an imaginary child - e.g. 'She has a wobbly tooth'. We discuss the various feelings an how children are feeling today. Cards are placed face down and children take turns to turn cards over. They consider how the person may be feeling. More able groups could be prompted / questioned to consider would everyone feel that way in that situation (some people can't stand having wobbly teeth, others get excited...) further developing theory of mind and understanding that people can feel differently about situations.

Cards giving a selection of situations, child uses a clothes peg to select the answer. Best laminated so resource is more durable. I use these with children who have autism but also suitable for KS1 or children with other SEN / SEMH needs. Can be used 1:1 or in a small group. Some of the answers I’ve had have surprised me, even when I know a child well - I’ve found this quite an interesting resource to get to know my pupils in most depth.

Worksheet to support pupils in reflecting on events in their lives so far. Developed for pupils with SEN and autism who struggled with reflection, recall and sequencing.

Storyboard - designed for children with autism to reinforce their understanding of the story. Children sorted the order of the text as a group before drawing their own accompanying pictures. With my group of children (mixed aged KS1/KS2) I kept the text on the worksheet but I have included a publisher version so this activity could be adapted to a cut and stick activity, or children could write their own sentences.

4 oval shapes for learners to draw - self portrait, things I like, my family, what I want to do when I grow up. When these are finished, ovals should be cut out and folded in half. Two halves should be stuck to one oval - making a 'cross' type shape when viewed from above. Apologies for my rubbish description! String can then be used to attach the 'basket' to the hot air balloon. A lovely 'getting to know you' craft for the beginning of the school year. These look nice strung in a line across a window.

Various winter topic activities. We have been reading Little Polar Bear so have learnt about the North Pole / Arctic and what adaptations polar bears have in order to live where they do. Activities include picture of a polar bear / cards for children to stick on sheet to label (polar bear physical appearance) Jungle / Arctic sorting table with 2 sets of cards for children to sort (set one - facts about the areas, set two - animals) Polar bear adaptations worksheet / facts to stick. Two different versions of this, one is simplified. Short North Pole PowerPoint I have included resources in publisher and PDF format. Used for children in KS1 and KS2 with autism. Also suitable for mainstream pupils / older pupils.

A4 worksheet to prompt pupils to recollect what they have done over the summer holiday. Designed for pupils with autism but also suitable for mainstream pupils.

Editable personal fact-file, used for students with autism as part of Asdan work (New Horizons)

Worksheet as part of work towards New Horizons Asdan course. Used with Y8 group of learners with autism.

Resource created to support learners with ASD in understanding personality and appearance - this can be a real area of difficulty for learners with ASD. Children should write outside of the first image, describing 'outside', they write inside the second image to help them understand that personality is on the 'inside'.

Resources created for an SEN group, aimed at learners with autism, mixed KS1/KS2, during an Indian topic. Included are visual supports and structured activities. As our topic was India with a Geography focus, the blockbuster game also includes land-form questions. Questions are very simple due to the needs of the group, questions also include questions about the identity of Jungle Book characters. The Indian animals booklet is more of a 'tiger fact-sheet' to go with the 'Tigers' power point. I had planned to create a booklet about Indian animals but ran out of time on the topic.

This is a 2 page fact sheet designed for my class who were a mixed age primary group, all with autism, attending a specialist provision. This group were working between P6 and approximately a Y1 level. The activity was designed to increase learner’s awareness of basic facts relating to themselves as few of the class were aware of basic personal information such as their full name, birthday and address. As the activity was geared around them, they were more engaged than usual and most were able to remember the key facts after practising asking and answering each other. I also linked this to our maths - taking about how many of each eye colour / shoe size etc and measuring heights, hands and feet. I will upload that separately. Activities suitable for any age group working at this level. Eye is to be coloured in with appropriate colour - in case anyone is wondering why there is nowhere to write the eye colour!

A bundle of 4 resources created for my ASD class to support understanding of basic time. Suitable for KS1 or any aged SEN learner. These activities could be used as part of a narrative / colourful semantics approach to develop understanding of ‘when’ or in maths to support basic time awareness. Months: Table of the months of the year and a selection of 24 symbols. Teacher to choose which symbols are relevant and will be recognised by your particular group of learners. Students stick the symbols onto the correct month (e.g. Halloween next to October). When I did this with my class I also included pictures of the children in the class and learners stuck pictures of their classmates in the birthdays section of the table. I have left this version of the table in, as it might be of use for some, but I’ve also included a copy of the table without the birthday column. Day / Night Sorting: Instructions included. This could be used as a worksheet task or it could be laminated / velcroed and used as a re-useable workstation task. Days of the Week homework: Worksheet to support learning and reinforce understanding about the days of the week. Days of the Week School: Instructions included. Learners stick the days of the week into the correct order, they then stick symbols on to indicate what happens in school on particular days.

A weather poster to hang in the classroom. Children use clothes pegs to indicate the daily weather. I use this with young people with autism and social communication difficulties.

Resources made for Science Week with a focus on ‘Staying Alive’. We learnt about the difference between living and non living things, that animals including humans grow from babies into adults, that some animals grow inside their mother while others hatch from an egg, children kept a food journal for later learning about a balanced diet. Before learning about basic needs, children attempted to complete a mind map, adding to this later. Living / Not Living / Never Lived sorting activity / workstation task What do you call a baby… table to complete 5 day food journal - table for students to complete (Monday to Friday) Egg or Mum? Sorting activity / workstation task - did this animal grow inside its mother or hatch from an egg? Human basic needs - male and female mind map activity, pupils to add what is essential for human life. Designed for KS1 / KS2 children with autism but also suitable for mainstream learners or older learners with SEN.

Presentation and mind-map template - to assess student's learning at the end of a topic. Could also be used s a formative assessment tool at the beginning of the topic, with students adding their new learning to the mind map at the end.

Designed for Y7 pupils, all with autism. Two PowerPoint presentations - one on Victorian Childhood and one on Victorian toys. TEACCH style questions (for both topics) to ensure that activities are structured. Cut and paste activity - cut out pictures of Victorian toys and complete the table.

Activity created for primary SEN group. Children cut and pasted a map of the continent and a picture of that continents animals into the appropriate box. Some animal pictures are on a map of the continent to give children a visual clue - because of this I gave them the strip of maps and the strip of animal pictures separately to avoid confusion. I let the children cut out their pictures themselves to promote fine motor skills.