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Summary:
In this article the author discusses how  important it is to: communicate with your students, build a community, discuss real world  problems and perspectives, and include assessments.

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Teach your students about making positive change in the world by connecting with them, discussing real-world problems and multiple perspectives, creating classroom community, and including authentic assessment.

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Summary:
Study:
In this article a study was conducted on children from ages 3-5.
There was two experiments conducted.
1)The children were given the opportunity to remove items and prevent a puppet from gaining a reward for second- and third-party violations. In experiment 1, 3- and 5-year-old children could intervene when witnessing a third individual similarly affected, and they could also respond when personally affected. The children either witnessed goods being taken away from a puppet (third party [3P]) or had the goods taken away from them (second party [2P])

2)They  gave 3-year olds the opportunity to restore items.

In both experiments 1 and 2, children were tested with large turntable and puppet characters.

Results:
Exp 1) 5-year-olds (p = 0.041), but not 3-year-olds (p = 0.162), moved objects into the cave more often in response to 2P theft than 2P loss.
Both 3-year-olds (p = 0.005) and 5-year-olds (p = 0.015) were significantly more likely to respond to 3P theft than 3P permitted taking, and both groups of children would make objects inaccessible when another individual lost them

Exp 2)There was again no effect of order for 2P and 3P (p = 0.433). Children were more likely to pull objects away from the thief position in the second-party conditions than in the third-party conditions.The only difference was a trend for children to turn the table more in 2P theft than 3P theft.

In conclusion:
The authors suggest that at an early age, children have a sense of restorative justice centered on the welfare of harmed individuals, with implications for the emergence of third party punishment.

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Victim:A person harmed, injured, or killed as a result of a crime, accident, or other event or action.
Offender:an accused defendant in a criminal case or one convicted of a crime.
Justice: The process or result of using laws to fairly judge and punish crimes and criminals.
Treatment: 1. The management and care of a patient 2. The combating of a disease or disorder.
Restoration: 1. The act of restoring; renewal, revival, or reestablishment. 2. The state or fact of being restored. 3. A return of something to a former, original, normal, or unimpaired condition. 4. Restitution of something taken away or lost. 5. Something that is restored, as by renovating.
Inclusivity: An intention or policy of including people who might otherwise be excluded or marginalized, such as the handicapped, learning-disabled, or racial and sexual minorities.

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Welcome to Ms. Martinez's  Padlet! On my Padlet you will find important information about restorative justice and how you can incorporate  it into  your mainstream classroom.
You will find: important vocabulary, multiple strategies, literature, and online resources that can be very useful for you, your mainstream students, and families you interact with on a daily basis.
Enjoy!

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Strategies that can be used in a mainstream classroom.

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Strategies that can be used in a mainstream classroom.

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Cooperative Learning:

A strategy in which small groups, each with students of different levels of ability, use a variety of learning activities to improve their understanding of a subject.

Each member of a team is responsible not only for learning what is taught but also for helping teammates learn, creating an atmosphere of achievement.

Think Pair Share:

Is a collaborative learning strategy in which students work together to solve a problem or answer a question about an assigned reading.

This technique requires students to:

(1) think individually about a topic or answer to a question

(2) share ideas with classmates

Token Economy Reward System:

In this kind of reward system you can use tickets, sticker chart, or points to motivate and reward students for good behavior, effort, being helpful in class, being a good partner, and more.

The token economy reward system can help with behavior management as well.

Assistive Technology (AT):

Assistive  technology is defined as any device, piece of equipment or system that helps bypass, work around or compensate for an individual's specific learning deficits.

AT compensates for a student's skills deficits or area(s) of disability. It can increase a child's self-reliance and sense of independence.

Kids who struggle in school are often overly dependent on parents, siblings, friends and teachers for help with assignments.

By using AT, kids can experience success with working independently.

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Restorative Multi-tiered support systems have the following three tiers:
1.Preventive/ Proactive practices 2.Responsive practices
3.Restorative and  Re-integrative

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Restorative justice (RJ), is an approach to justice in which the response to a crime is to organize a mediation between the victim and the offender, and sometimes with representatives of a wider community as well.

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This link includes a list of many books on Restorative Justice for children ages 3-12. It has many books on different  topics that connect to RJ.

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Teaching about Race: A Resource List of Children's Literature Ages 3-12 All the Colors We Are by: Katie Kissinger Happy in Our Skin by: Fran Manushkin I Love My Hair by: Natasha Tarpley Let's...

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Anti-Bias Education for Young Children and Ourselves by Louise Derman-Sparks and Julie Olsen Edwards

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Anti-Bias Education for Young Children and Ourselves by Louise Derman-Sparks and Julie Olsen Edwards

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A Guide for Parents and Teachers

We share with you here an excerpt from the book Anti-Bias Education for Young Children and Ourselves. The book offers practical guidance to early childhood educators (including parents) for confronting barriers of prejudice, misinformation, and bias about specific aspects of personal and social identity; most importantly, it includes tips for adults and children to respect each other, themselves, and all people.
By Louise Derman-Sparks and Julie Olsen Edwards
Adults sometimes ask: Aren't prejudice, discrimination, and anti-bias adult issues? Why bring children into it? In one sense, these are adult issues. Adults have the power to create, to teach, to maintain bias-and to eliminate it. In another sense, because the realities of prejudice and discrimination begin to affect children's development early, it is developmentally appropriate to address them in our work with young children.

Young children need caring adults to help them construct a positive sense of self and a respectful understanding of others. They need adults to help them begin to navigate and resist the harmful impact of prejudice and discrimination. A person's early childhood years lay the foundation for a developmental and experiential journey that continues into adulthood. With appropriate adult guidance, this foundation will be a strong one, providing the base for the next stages of healthy development and the skills a person needs to thrive and succeed in a complex, diverse world.

Anti-bias education is an integral part of the "bricks and mortar" of emotional well-being and social competence, as well as an emotional foundation upon which children fully develop their cognitive capacities. A healthy sense of self requires that children know and like who they are without feeling superior to others. Understanding and liking one's own personal and social identities open up the possibilities of building caring connections with others. Thinking critically about stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination takes away barriers to comfortable and respectful interactions with a wide range of people and gives children a tool to resist negative messages about their identities. Strong cognitive development is also enhanced when children develop curiosity, openness to multiple perspectives, and critical-thinking skills.

Below are some topics to explore with your children. Anti-Bias Education for Young Children and Ourselves has strategies, activities and ideas to spark discussion on each of these topics.

Strategies for learning about physical differences and similarities

Creating a rich anti-bias learning environment sets the stage for discussion and activities about racial and other physical differences and similarities. The richer the environment, the more likely children will ask questions, even in classrooms where the staff and children come from similar racial backgrounds.

In all activities, highlight that physical diversity among people is desirable, and that all colors, shades, and shapes of people are beautiful. Talk about differences in a tone of delight and interest. Create a vocabulary that encourages children to look at themselves and others and admire their sameness and their uniqueness. Just as we do not wait until a child asks questions about how to read before planning how to provide a range of literacy learning opportunities, anti-bias education is the teacher's responsibility, not the child's, to initiate.

Caution-Never single out one specific child when you do activities about the physical characteristics linked to racial identity. Every activity should be about all of the children, as everyone has a racial identity. Moreover, doing activities about all children reinforces that differences and similarities can be found within each racial identity group as well as across groups.

Exploring skin color, hair, and eyes
Children are active observers of physical characteristics. As they become familiar with some of their own features and those of their classmates, help them to have vocabulary and ideas to understand sameness and difference. There are many ways to involve children in discovering similarities and differences among themselves, their teachers, and their families.

Focus on children's confusion about their own skin color
If, when you invite the children to make self-portraits, a child chooses colors that do not correspond to his actual skin, eye, or hair coloring, consider gently encouraging the child to choose the color closest to his skin color.

Expanding awareness of racial similarities and differences
After helping children become aware that the people within their family are alike and different, it is important to expand their knowledge and awareness to groups of people beyond those in the classroom and neighborhood. As children grow, they move into ever wider and more diverse settings, and we want them to be open to and respectful of all kinds of people they may encounter.

Fostering critical thinking and respectful relationships

Positive and accurate learning experiences about human differences and similarities help to give children a foundation for resisting incorrect and harmful messages about themselves and others. Preschoolers are ready to begin thinking critically about the accuracy and fairness of the information and images they encounter. They also have the capacity to use their developing empathy to understand that unfair behavior hurts people and can learn respectful ways of interacting with others. Teachers can use the following strategies to promote young children's development of these understandings and competencies.

Cultivate children's empathy and ways to deal with the hurt of stereotyping. Read books that depict children experiencing unfair treatment based on their racial identity.

Tell persona doll stories about a discriminatory incident between dolls, engaging children's empathy and problem-solving skills.

Intentionally plan activities to counter potential overgeneralizations or existing stereotypes in the children's general environment.

Support children as they demonstrate awareness of stereotyping.

Engage children in group action. It is empowering when we help children take something that is "unfair" into something "fair." Sometimes this involves addressing personal conflict, helping a child speak up for another child. But it is particularly powerful when children act together.

If we want children to thrive in a diverse world and choose to stand up for themselves and others, then we must choose to help young children make sense out of the confusing and often emotionally charged messages they receive about themselves and others. The commitment to support each child to develop pride and self-confidence and deep connections with others calls on us to foster all children's healthy racial identity. When we give children language to discuss their identities in an atmosphere of interest and delight, and the tools for addressing the unfairness they will inevitably encounter, then we know we have helped children construct a strong foundation for the next phases of their lives.

Early Childhood Books for Teaching about Racial Identity

More titles for young children about racial identity.

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Teaching Young Children about Race - Social Justice Books

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A Guide for Parents and Teachers We share with you here an excerpt from the book Anti-Bias Education for Young Children and Ourselves. The book offers practical guidance to early childhood educators (including parents) for confronting barriers of prejudice, misinformation, and bias about specific aspects of personal and social identity; most importantly, it includes tips ...

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The Little Book of Restorative Justice by Howard Zehr

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The Little Book of Restorative Justice by Howard Zehr

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Howard Zehr is the father of Restorative Justice and is known worldwide for his pioneering work in transforming understandings of justice. Here he proposes workable principles and practices for making Restorative Justice possible in this revised and updated edition of his bestselling, seminal book on the movement. (The original edition has sold more than 110,000 copies.)

Restorative Justice, with its emphasis on identifying the justice needs of everyone involved in a crime, is a worldwide movement of growing influence that is helping victims and communities heal, while holding criminals accountable for their actions.

This is not soft-on-crime, feel-good philosophy, but rather a concrete effort to bring justice and healing to everyone involved in a crime. In The Little Book of Restorative Justice, Zehr first explores how restorative justice is different from criminal justice. Then, before letting those appealing observations drift out of reach into theoretical space, Zehr presents Restorative Justice practices. Zehr undertakes a massive and complex subject and puts it in graspable from, without reducing or trivializing it.

This resource is also suitable for academic classes and workshops, for conferences and trainings, as well as for the layperson interested in understanding this innovative and influential movement.

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Howard Zehr is the father of Restorative Justice and is known worldwide for his pioneering work in transforming understandings of justice. Here he proposes workable principles and practices for making Restorative Justice possible in this revised and updated edition of his bestselling, seminal book on the movement.

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Using Children's Picture Books About Autism as Resources in Inclusive Classrooms

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Using Children's Picture Books About Autism as Resources in Inclusive Classrooms

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Summary:
This article focuses on developing teacher understanding of how to carefully select and use children's picture books about autism as a tool for teaching awareness, empathy, and acceptance in an elementary classroom setting.
The use of books addressing autism could teach empathy while enhancing students' awareness and acceptance of students on the autism spectrum.
They provide a list of books about Autism that can be a resource for teaching about Autism.
They also give the following tips:
Tip 1: Teach Common Characteristics of Autism While Focusing on Unique Qualities of the Individual.
Tip 2: Discuss How Children With Autism Need to Be Accepted, Not Changed.
Tip 3: If Your Student Has Autism, Communicate With Parents About Using These Books in the Classroom.

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Introduction

This article focuses on developing teacher understanding of how to carefully select and use children's picture books about autism as a tool for teaching awareness, empathy, and acceptance in an elementary classroom setting. We describe how the increased rate of autism and growing practice of inclusive educational settings affect classroom practice and provide implementation tips for using specific picture books and activities. Knowing that picture books are often used as a teaching tool for elementary educators, the use of books addressing autism could teach empathy while enhancing students' awareness and acceptance of students on the autism spectrum.

With an increase in the prevalence of children diagnosed with autism and the continuing movement toward inclusion in elementary classrooms, general education teachers must meet the challenge of planning instruction for students with autism and their neurotypical peers. To be effective in the inclusive classroom, teachers need to create inviting and safe environments so that students learn to work together and support one another while respecting neurodiversity. Picture books about autism can be used to teach children understanding, empathy, and acceptance.

The increase of autism and need for inclusion

Currently, one in 59 children is diagnosed with autism, a number that has risen substantially within the last decade (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2015). Autism is a complex neurological disorder. Typically, autism is characterized by limited communication skills, social anxieties, and atypical behaviors (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2015). Autism is described as a spectrum disorder to represent the varying degrees of severity.

For example, some individuals with autism are nonverbal, whereas others can be quite communicative, although their speech is often limited by an extreme focus on a particular topic. Some students with autism may have particular self-stimulating (or "stimming") behaviors, such as rocking back and forth or spinning objects, whereas others may have a heightened sensitivity to the loud ringing of the bell.

Not all individuals have the same types of anxieties or sensory challenges; however, these characteristics can make learning in a traditional classroom environment a challenge for the child with autism, for other students, and for the teacher. While recognizing these challenges, more schools are moving toward inclusion as an instructional model for best meeting the educational needs of students with autism and other disabilities. This inclusive setting allows the growing population of children with autism to work and learn alongside their neurotypical peers.

Students with autism are "increasingly visible in public schools" (Chandler-Olcott & Kluth, 2009, p. 549), but many general education teachers are unaware of evidence-based strategies to meet the needs of their learners with autism (Friedlander, 2009; Rogers, 2000). The increasing number of students with autism affects literacy instruction in the general education classroom (Chandler-Olcott & Kluth, 2009). As such, teachers must be given easily accessible literacy tools to adapt instruction to meet students' learning needs.

This article provides instructional tips for educators and offers suggestions for using children's picture books about autism to encourage positive, inclusive instruction. We believe that all students benefit from increased awareness and identification of the characteristics, strengths, and challenges experienced by students with autism and that children's books about autism provide an accessible tool for modeling and encouraging positive, accepting relationships among students.

These picture books and the characters in them can also serve to enhance the classroom environment by highlighting diversity, social justice, acceptance, and empathy for students with disabilities.

Using Picture Books as a Teaching Tool

Picture books are an essential resource often used as a teaching tool for elementary students (Leininger, Dyches, Prater, & Heath, 2010; Prater, Dyches, & Johnstun, 2006), especially for teaching complex or challenging content. Teachers use picture books to teach such topics as diversity, bullying, and acceptance. Similarly, picture books portraying children with autism provide a viable tool for addressing autism. Using picture books in the classroom provides a nonthreatening way to introduce children to the characteristics of students with disabilities, which can lead to positive impacts on student acceptance (Prater et al., 2006).

Implementation Tips

As part of a larger research study, we identified 35 picture books about autism that met our selection criteria (e.g., narrative picture books for children versus nonfiction informational texts). Thematic messages varied depending on the author's perspective and the book's publication date. Some books, for example, were written from the vantage point of a friend with an overall message of "We're alike but different," whereas other books focused on the experiences of the parents or siblings trying to manage or understand the idiosyncratic behaviors of the child with autism. A sample of book notes from the readings is shown in Table 1.

Table 1. Notes on Selected Children's Books From the Larger Study

Children's Book

Relationship of Main Characters

Character Behaviors Related to Autism

A Friend Like Simon
(Gaynor, 2009)

Child with autism = new student (male)

Other main character = male classmate

Stares off into space

Does not like loud noises

Likes organization

Does not like change

Screams

Makes verbal repetitions

Is easily upset

My Friend Has Autism
(Tourville, 2010)

Child with autism = young male

Other main character = young male friend

Stares off into space

Makes verbal repetitions

Does not like loud noises

Does not like change

Does not like to be touched

Has strong expertise in specific area

Likes control of environment

My Brother Charlie
(Peete & Peete, 2010)

Child with autism = younger brother

Other main character = older sister

Avoids physical interaction

Is adventurous/unaware of danger

Feels trapped

Shows empathy to others

After meeting several times to read, reflect on, and discuss the books, we categorized them based on thematic understandings and how teachers might find them useful. We provide three implementation tips using exemplars from our sample of books. A complete list of all the books is provided in Table 2.

Table 2. Children's Picture Books About Autism

Tip 1: Teach Common Characteristics of Autism While Focusing on Unique Qualities of the Individual

Autism is a spectrum disorder and thus does not have a finite set of characteristics. Two students diagnosed with autism may behave differently: One may be completely nonverbal and may resist physical touch, whereas the other may be talkative and crave hugs and interaction. Teachers should select a variety of books that highlight these differences. These books should center on characters who exhibit many different characteristics across the autism spectrum, and reading several different books will help point out that not all children with autism have the same characteristics and abilities.

For example, stories such as Looking After Louis (Ely, 2004) and Andy and His Yellow Frisbee (Thompson, 1996) provide examples of characters who are nonverbal or who speak very little. By comparison, Say Hello to Me: A Story About a Little Girl on the Autism Spectrum (Charisse, 2012) portrays a character with autism who is outgoing and able to perform daily tasks more consistent with her peers.

Some of the characteristic behaviors of autism (i.e., stimming and increased sensitivity to loud noise) were present in multiple books, including A Friend Like Simon (Gaynor, 2009) and Squirmy Wormy: How I Learned to Help Myself (Wilson, 2009). The main characters in these stories displayed atypical behaviors such as lining up items and watching a ceiling fan spin and exhibited social anxieties about, for example, being on the school playground.

Many of the picture books about autism include general characteristics of children with autism throughout the story as the author develops the characters. By reading multiple books about autism, students may see that, although there are general characteristics, an individual with autism has unique abilities, too. In doing so, we caution teachers not to single out any student with autism as the spokesperson for the disability.

Inclusive classrooms should celebrate diversity but not make students feel self-conscious or alone in their experiences. A major goal of inclusion is acceptance, so it is important that students not generalize from the experiences of one or two classmates. In fact, by using books portraying characters with autism that illustrate the range of the spectrum disorder, students can better understand that, although autism has common characteristics, individuals with autism are still individuals.

Many stories told in the first person, whether told by the individual with autism, a sibling, or a close friend, focused on the characteristics that made the student unique and gravitated toward either the "normal" behaviors the students could exhibit or their special talents and strengths, such as in A Friend Like Simon (Gaynor, 2009). These varied perspectives can give students the background knowledge to identify and understand characteristics of children with autism while teaching that characteristics these differ from student to student.

Finally, teachers may need to address and discuss the context in which labels are used in the picture books. One specific example is the word special, which is sometimes used to describe a child with autism. In Waiting for Benjamin (Altman, 2008), an older brother says, "I don't want a special brother" (n.p.), referring to his younger brother with autism. Although we generally use special as a positive term, the context of this sentence presents "being special" as a negative characteristic. This could serve as an instructional opportunity for discussing with students that some labels can be hurtful. In doing so, the teacher is highlighting why empathy and using influential language is important in creating a community of care.

A strategy for discussing characteristics of autism is to use poster paper to list all of the characteristics of autism introduced in the books (e.g., communication skills, anxieties, lining up pencils, disliking loud noises, various stimming behaviors) and then discuss them with students.

These books also present opportunities for neurotypical students to recognize that they too might have a similar characteristic, like disliking loud noises. Inviting students to safely discuss these similarities and differences builds trust and community in the inclusive classroom.

To focus on the unique qualities of the individual characters with autism, read a different book each week and discuss how the characters are alike and different. This strategy provides opportunities to discuss similarities and differences between students with autism and their neurotypical peers and to celebrate the neurodiversity of inclusive classrooms.

Tip 2: Discuss How Children With Autism Need to Be Accepted, Not Changed

In many of the books, there was a turning point in which the character with autism would overcome a particular challenge, an obstacle, or social anxiety. For example, the child with autism would speak at the end after being nonverbal. This turning point often resulted from one or more characters in the story accepting the child with autism for who he or she is and the child with autism reciprocating by exhibiting a previously unmet social convention. Although inclusive practices and positive social interactions can affect the behaviors of a student with autism, we caution against using books that serve only as examples of celebrating change rather than teaching acceptance.

This reciprocating action occurs in Lewis's (2007) In Jesse's Shoes, when the brother with autism addresses his sister by her real name at the end of the story instead of calling her "Sisser" (np.p.). Another example of this reciprocating act occurs in Lucy's Amazing Friend (Workman, 2014). In this story, the character with autism goes down the big slide at the pool with the other kids at the end of the story, which is a huge accomplishment for the character with autism and is celebrated by the other children. Finally, Waiting for Benjamin (Altman, 2008) includes a sibling relationship that changes throughout the book as the older brother begins to accept, love, and learn to play with his younger brother with autism. This change occurs, however, along with the younger brother making consistent progress with language use and play skills that may not mirror the general timeline of progress for children with autism.

Many other books had similar reciprocating acts toward the end, in which the character with autism overcame a characteristic of autism after being accepted by peers or siblings. Although a student with autism may respond positively to other students' acceptance and interaction, it is important for students to realize that overcoming the social anxieties associated with autism is not likely to happen after one or even a few friendly, accepting encounters in class or on the playground. The big idea is that students should be taught to be accepting without the notion that they will get any validation in return for their efforts, which is sometimes misleading in the books.

Teachers may want to focus on the accepting behaviors of characters in the story regardless of whether or not the child with autism is able to reciprocate appreciation in some way. Following a read-aloud, students could model ways of showing empathy based on characters from the books and then apply them to examples in their school environment.

Tip 3: If Your Student Has Autism, Communicate With Parents About Using These Books in the Classroom

Teacher communication with parents is a vital part of any student's educational experience, but special attention should be given to cultivate the relationship between the teacher, child, and parent of a student with autism. Just as no two students with autism are the same, families view and respond differently to student disabilities (Kluth, 2003). As such, it is important to choose children's picture books whose message aligns with that of the parents.

Within the available books about children with autism, some highlight school settings (e.g., Looking After Louis; Ely, 2004) and some focus more on family connections and everyday situations (e.g., My Brother Charlie; Peete & Peete, 2010). It is important to use a variety of books and to openly communicate with parents about your intentions for their use in the classroom.

Nathan Blows Out the Hanukkah Candles (Lehman-Wilzig & Katzman, 2011) is another story focusing on family and sibling relationships in which the brother's feelings evolve from embarrassment to acceptance of his brother with autism. Similarly, Playing by the Rules (Luchsinger, 2007) also highlights sibling relationships by depicting an older sister who "knows the rules" (n.p.) for taking care of her brother with autism. Both of these stories present siblings who understand the characteristics of a child with autism and have a somewhat supportive and protective relationship because of that understanding. These titles may be helpful for families and can also be discussed in the classroom as models for how students can learn to accept one another.

Be sure to make it clear to parents that your goal in introducing students to these books about autism is to increase students' awareness and acceptance of autism, not to single out their child. Working with parents to create a partnership and to identify your goals to promote an inclusive philosophy is important in the relationship and experiences of students with autism in the general classroom and their families (Kluth, 2003).

One idea for approaching the use of these books with parents is to send the books home ahead of class read-alouds so that the student with autism can read and discuss the story with their parents before hearing it in front of peers. Additionally, teachers can invite parents of students with autism to be guest readers and to answer questions students might have.

Conclusion

Using children's books as a resource is common in elementary classrooms and could address and increase awareness and acceptance of autism among students. We hope this article helps elementary educators feel more comfortable using children's picture books that portray children with autism in their classroom as a teaching tool for learning about and understanding autism.

By acknowledging and openly discussing autism, we hope autism becomes part of a celebration of neurodiversity - and not characterized as tragic (Chandler-Olcott & Kluth, 2009). By incorporating these children's picture books into the classroom through read-alouds and discussions, students are introduced to characters who exhibit empathy and acceptance toward students with autism while also learning to appreciate differences and unique talents in all individuals.

We are hopeful that the use of these children's picture books will help students better understand, empathize with, and accept students with autism in order to advance toward a more positive outlook about differing abilities in a truly inclusive classroom.

Biographies

Miranda L. Sigmon is a doctoral candidate at Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, USA; e-mail [email protected] .

Mary E. Tackett is a doctoral candidate at Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, USA; e-mail [email protected] .

Amy Price Azano is an assistant professor of adolescent literacy in the School of Education at Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, USA; e-mail [email protected] .

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Using Children's Picture Books About Autism as Resources in Inclusive Classrooms

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This article focuses on developing teacher understanding of how to carefully select and use children's picture books about autism as a tool for teaching awareness, empathy, and acceptance in an elementary classroom setting. We describe how the increased rate of autism and growing practice of inclusive educational settings affect classroom practice and provide implementation tips for using specific picture books and activities.

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One of a Kind, Like Me/ Unico Como Yo by Laurin Mayeno (2016)

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One of a Kind, Like Me/ Unico Como Yo by Laurin Mayeno (2016)