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ABA Activities for Older Students with Autism

By Rosemarie Griffin

Looking for ideas to get older students with autism talking? Telehealth and distance learning can be challenging, especially for our older students with autism. When it comes to communication, the challenge is even greater. Don’t let the planning overwhelm you! ABA has some no prep, easy to use lessons to incorporate today, along with a great freebie! Just sign up below for your, free, no prep, ABA activity for older kids, Free Vocational Skills Lesson!  Perfect for middle school and high school teens in special education or with autism. The lesson is easy for teachers to incorporate for distance learning at home, speech teletherapy sessions or as an ABA activity for telehealth.

No Prep Resources

As teachers and therapists in this distance learning world, the need for no prep resources has never been greater. Between the planning, evaluating, assessing, replanning, communicating with families, and did I say planning, teachers are doing quadruple duty! When working with students with autism in middle and high school, the ability to get them to communicate through a screen is difficult.Take something off your plate with some, no prep ABA activities available today on TeachersPayTeachers. These are the distance learning goldmines that you have been looking for! You can purchase in the morning and  be ready to go for your afternoon speech teletherapy sessions or special education classes! Easily, just share your screen in person or project for learners at home.

Vocational Skills Freebie

Vocational skills are very important for students in this age group! Our students need exposure to different job settings so they are ready for their first job! The vocabulary and social situations within different vocations is so helpful in preparing our students for their futures! Our Vocational Skills Freebie focuses on a bakery unit! The unit utilizes real life pictures, which are ideal for our students with autism, a comprehension passage and social questions. Get hands on with a baking demo from a distance for students in distance learning or teletherapy or together if you are in person! A stress free day with a treat at the end! Sounds good to me! Just put your name and email in at the end of this article to get your free bakery unit.

Conversation Starters For The Year

Trouble getting students to engage in any conversation in the distance learning world is such a common trend right now. A really perfect option to help with this is one of those no prep activities for distance learning is, “Conversation Starters For The Year(available on TPT). Each month incorporates thematic conversations relevant to the month. For example, in January, you will see, “What do you like to do on a snow day?” In February a question would be, “Will you do anything to celebrate Valentine’s Day?” There are also 48 additional general conversation starters. Being general in nature allows for your middle and high school students to lead the direction of the conversation!  Conversation Starters For The Year are easy to use for online learning, or in person. They are great for older students, students with autism or special education students! The best part is it is ready to go as a TpT digital activity, which means there is absolutely no prep for you! Just get your kids talking!

Social Skills

Oh yes, social skills! With older students with autism, there is a huge need to focus on social skills! Learning how to communicate in various social situations is so important for students to take with them on their journey in applying these social skills on a daily basis. The scenarios available in Navigating the Social Scene Bundle (also on TPT) is the obvious choice for the no prep, ready to use resources we need right now for our middle and high school students. The bundle includes real life photographs, making it totally appropriate for older students and uses questions to help get the conversation moving! Even better than just getting the conversation rolling is the problem solving that students will use navigating through the 12 social situations. Students will be prompted to discuss how people are feeling and ideas on how to navigate each social situation. The guiding questions will help students communicate about the social protocols that happen all the time! Navigating the Social Scene Bundle is also ready for digital use, making your next planning session a breeze! 

You came to the right place! These are the no prep resources you have been looking for! They are easy to use, no prep activities for teens in middle school and high school, and provide a stress free way to help students increase their functional communication skills! Don’t forget to sign up with your email for the great freebie, Free Vocational Skills Lesson! Thengo check out the  “Conversation Starters For The Year” and “Navigating the Social Scene Bundle” for some more easy to use, no planning needed, distance learning (or in person) lessons to use today!

8 Comments

  1. Diane Reyna

    Thank you!

    Reply
  2. Linda C

    How do I get all the resource activities you listed??

    Reply
    • Rosemarie Griffin

      Just sent you an email

      Reply
  3. maira gutierrez

    How do I get all the resource activities you listed??

    Reply
    • Rosemarie Griffin

      Hello! If you click on the links it will take you to our TPT store and you can purchase them there- thanks

      Reply
  4. maira gutierrez

    How do I get all the resource activities?

    Reply
    • Rosemarie Griffin

      Hello Maira. If you click on the links it will take you to my TPT store and you can purchase these items there.

      Reply
  5. Angela Mier

    Hello! I am interested in the vocational activities. :0)

    Reply

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