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A brief teaser:
This tv show is about a spectacular young man who has graduated medical school and has become a resident at a hospital. He has to prove himself as many doubt him with his challenges with Autism being in the medical field.

How a teacher can use this:
This would be a fun interactive way that a teacher could bring disability awareness to the classroom. It could be for just one episode or spread out throughout the year to watch the whole show.

Teaching Idea:
A teacher could have the students watch one episode and then do a journal entry on what they think will happen next in the show and why. It could be a fun thing to bond all of the students but also learn a lot about autism and see and example of a person with a disability hold a very successful job.

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For other television series with similar titles, see The Good Doctor.

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A brief teaser:
This movie tells the story of a boy who was passionate about baseball, but different than the other players. What made him different is his diagnosis of Autism and the challenges and advantages being him held. The story is inspiring yet truth telling.

How a teacher can use this:
A teacher can use this to inspire and encourage their students. This movie could be watched by older middle schoolers or high school aged students.

Teaching Idea:
After the movie, the students will be requires to write a movie review. They will act as movie critics and discuss the good things and bad thing s about the movie in a basic way but also in the meaning and impact of the movie overall.

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A Mile in His Shoes (TV Movie 2011) on IMDb: Plot summary, synopsis, and more...

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Inside an Autistic World: Spiritual Experiences of People with Autism

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Inside an Autistic World: Spiritual Experiences of People with Autism

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Author: N/A; interviews done by editor of book.

Illustrator: N/A

Publication date: July 5, 2013

Genre: Non-fiction

Approximate interest level: High School

Brief teaser:
This book is a more personal account of a person that has Autism. She includes a lot of her religious and spiritual experiences, making it unique from most books about disabilities.

Teaching Idea:
The students will be required to write a short paper on the comparison between this book and a book they have been previously required to read in class. This class will have previously had focus on other disabilities and acceptance of diverse communities and people unlike themselves. Therefore, they will have prior knowledge and the ability to have a comparison that could promote discussion and awareness.

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The Power of Different: The Link Between Disorder and Genius

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The Power of Different: The Link Between Disorder and Genius

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Author: Gail Saltz

Illustrator: N/A

Publication date: March 7, 2017

Genre: Non-fiction

Approximate interest level: High School

Brief teaser:
This book is a psychological look on Autism as well as many other disabilities. It talks about the way one's struggle can become a positive aspect in their life, making them who they are.

Teaching Idea:
The student must choose one disability or mental health illness discussed in the book and create a powerpoint presentation on it. They must include a definition, example (story of a person they know or have researched), and discuss how the disability may affect a person's life, both good and bad. They can include why they chose they chose it and a more personal story if they have the want.

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Ten Things Every Child with Autism Wishes You Knew 

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Ten Things Every Child with Autism Wishes You Knew 

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Author: Ellen Notbohm

Illustrator: N/A

Publication date: 2005

Genre: Non-fiction

Approximate interest level: High School

Brief teaser:
This book is written by an established "autism author" who is a mom of a child on the spectrum. She discusses her personal experiences as a mom and professional being around people with autism and discusses the ten things she feels are important for everyone to know.

Teaching idea:
A great way to end this book would to be to take a trip to an elementary school and help in a special education classroom that could hopefully be mostly based with students with autism. This would be an amazing experience for everyone involved and would just be really cool to use the things read to have more of an understanding and acceptance for people with a disability.

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Author: Temple Grandin

Illustrator: N/A

Publication date:

Genre: Autobiography

Approximate interest level: High School

Approximate text level: 1120L

Brief teaser: This book is an autobiography of the life of a woman that has been diagnosed with Autism. She talks about how she overcame her circumstances and the people in her life that helped and the people that had a negative effect.

Teaching Idea:
The students will do research on Temple Grandin at difference times in her life. They will work in different groups and be assigned an age to research what Temple Grandin was doing in her life. They will present it to the rest of the class to create a story all about Grandin's life.

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A brief teaser: This song and music video are written and created by a mom of a son with with Autism. It describes how raising a child with Autism feels to a parent.

How a teacher can use this: This could be used by a teacher with older students to promote acceptance of students with a disability. The students can watch this to understand how a person that has Autism may struggle and how these struggles may affect those around them.

Teaching Idea:
This video would be great paired with another lesson to share more of the emotion and family-life for a student that has a disability. Individually this video could serve the purpose of helping students to understand that everyone has their own personal struggles and advantages. This could begin a prompt for a journal entry of some sort for students to individually reflect. They may have the chance to share out loud if they feel inclined to do so.

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A brief teaser: This graphic is simple and offers alternative thoughts and actions for the basic, and inappropriate, describing words many peers use for their classmates with Autism.

How a teacher can use this: If a teacher is struggling to help their students understand that the describing words they use are inappropriate to call their classmate, this is a wonderful graphic to show and discuss. A teacher is then offering alternative thoughts on what is going on and this graphic can be a good conversation starter about acceptance.

Teaching Idea:
For this lesson a teacher could show this comic and facilitate discussion and welcome questions. After the initial discussion, the students would be directed to create their own comics. They can so a cartoon on something that is important to them for their peers to understand. They can use colored pencils and other art supplies or computers if this technology is available. They can then project their projects on the screen and bring awareness to diversity as a whole.

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A brief teaser: This video is a wonderful animation of what Autism is and describes what someone with Autism may experience events differently. This will allow students to be more understanding of the reactions of a peer that has Autism and why they may react differently to an event than the majority of their peers.

How a teacher can use this: This would be a great resource to use if a teacher has a student that has Autism, especially if his/her peers are having trouble understanding the behaviors that they observe. This can promote acceptance as well as a basic understanding of Autism that can be helpful for the rest of their lives.

Teaching Idea:

A seventh grade student is expected to draw final conclusions in their writing. After watching this video and facilitating a short class discussion, the students will be expected to write a response about disability awareness or what they learned specifically about Autism. They must present a clear understanding and conclusion, to align with common core state standards in writing.

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Author: Cheri J. Meiners

Illustrator: Unknown

Publication date: 2006

Genre: Juvenile Non-Fiction

Approximate interest level: Kindergarten

Approximate text level: c

Brief teaser: This book teaches children the importance of acceptance of everyone. It does not focus on only Autism and includes great encouragement for students to understand differences and to not bully or tease because of them.

Teaching Idea:

There are so many ways that this lesson could be taught, however, with this age group it can be difficult. While researching, I found a simple and fun activity that could engage this young of an age group.

Playdough Diversity Lesson
This lesson includes making playdough and then adding food coloring in front of the students to show we are all the same on the inside. This is great for a Kindergarten level so that it is interesting and engaging.

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Author: Jennifer Veenendall

Illustrator: Jennifer Veenendall

Publication date: 2009

Genre: Fiction

Approximate interest level:
Lower Elementary

Approximate text level: E

Brief teaser: Izzy is a student in first grade who has been diagnosed with Autism and shows many signs of sensory overload with too much noise or a lot going on. This book helps students to understand senses and general sensory issues to better understand their peers.

Teaching Idea:
A teacher could set up different stations to explain the senses and the sensory problems. This could help students better understand why other students may be more sensitive to sounds, tastes, lights, etc. A video could also be shown as a simulation.

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I See Things Differently: A First Look at Autism 

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I See Things Differently: A First Look at Autism 

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Author: Pat Thomas

Illustrator: Claire Keay

Publication date: 2014

Genre: Fiction

Approximate interest level: Preschool - 2nd Grade

Approximate text level: E

Brief teaser: This children's book is very informative illustrated book that is great for young children to learn more about Autism. It is a great way to help young children to be more accepting and open at a young age.

Teaching Idea:
For each page of the book, a group of 2 or 3 students can pair up and make a poster for the page. This can promote awareness of Autism and give students a better understanding. The students can present their posters and "teach" the rest of the class. This lesson would work best with first and second grade students.

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Author: Allison Duncan

Illustrator: Haden and Allison Duncan

Publication date:May 22, 2013

Genre: Non-Fiction

Approximate interest level:
Lower Elementary

Approximate text level: C

Brief teaser: This simple children's book is a great way to help children understand one another. Lilly writes how schedules and reminders make her feel safe and how she feels when things do not go as planned.

Teaching Idea:
Students could make their own book pages (2-3 pages total) like Lilly's life about their own life. For example, if the student's name was Peter, it would be entitled "Peter's Life." They could each share about their own lives and the things they may need extra help in and the things they are good at. This could help promote diversity and understanding.

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Author: Alex J. Packer

Publication date: 1997

Genre: How-to

Approximate interest level: Junior High and Early High School

Approximate text level: U

Brief teaser: This book goes through basic manners and behaviors for students who may struggle with social topics that are easier for some to understand. The book itself is great for a student with Autism or any other disability that makes social interaction hard as well as has the potential of teaching others that the things that they may think are common sense may be harder for some of their peers to understand.

Teaching Idea:

A very interactive and meaningful experiment would be used with this book. Many psychology classes do an experiment with society and doing something that is socially unexceptable to see others' reactions. This would be great to pair with this book and report their findings back to the whole class in the form of a casual class discussion.

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The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

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The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

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Author: Mark Haddon

Publication date: May 2003

Genre: Fiction

Approximate interest level:
9-12th grades

Approximate text level:
Z+ (Guided Reading)
1180L (Lexile)

Brief teaser: Though extremely intelligent and having the ability to list incredible knowledge, Christopher struggles to connect emotionally. This book is a wonderful representation and depiction of an individual with Autism. It brings to how a boy named Chris lives with his disability.

Teaching Idea:
Lesson Plan Idea
For this book it would be easy to do many lessons because of the length. My personal favorites included doing a character map and having a discussion about the main character, Christopher. The character map can show the people in Christopher's life and how his disability affects the people in his life and how they react to his disability. The discussion could be about previous knowledge of Autism and what they learned from the book. The discussion could be facilitated in many different ways.