You're Going to Love This Kid!: Teaching Students With Autism in the Inclusive Classroom

This work is a guidebook for including students with autism in both primary and secondary school classrooms. Including first-person accounts that give readers insight into the experience of having autism, it shows educators how to adapt their classrooms to support student participation in classwork, school routines, and social activities. It combines relevant research with lessons learned from the author's teaching experience to give readers specific, creative ideas for: understanding the attitudes, values and actions hat support inclusive schooling; connecting, communicating, and collaborating effectively with families; enhancing literacy by adapting reading materials, using visuals, and tapping in to student interests; planning challenging, multidimensional lessons that encourage all students to participate and help students reach their individual goals; support student behaviour in sensitive, positive ways; fostering friendships and social relationships between students with and without autism; and adapting the physical environment for students with autism who may have heightened sensitivity to factors like temperature, sounds, and smells.

"Paula Kluth provides tangible tools that can be easily replicated. Having strategies explained by practitioners and visually demonstrated is an amazing contribution."--Dr. Cathy Pratt, Ph.D."Director, Indiana Resource Center for Autism" (07/20/2011) "Dr. Kluth brings her unique combination of passion, inspiration and practical ideas to life in this exceptional resource . . . Kluth challenges viewers to think critically about their educational practices and find ways to make instruction more meaningful for all students."--Christine Elaine Ashby, Ph.D."Assistant Professor, School of Education, Research Director, Institute on Communication and Inclusion, Syracuse University" (07/20/2011) "This is the kind of professional development experience I would like to have had when I was a classroom teacher! Paula Kluth takes evidence-based practices and puts them into words that support and have meaning for teachers."--Carolyn Hughes, Ph.D."Vanderbilt University" (07/20/2011) "Presents a complex topic in a manner that is clear and comprehensible . . . allows all teachers to examine their practice and make changes that enhance the learning of students with autism--and in the end, all students."--Linda Smetana, Ed.D."California State University, East Bay" (07/20/2011) "Great tools to help teachers as they journey through the process [of inclusion] . . . It doesn't get any better than when we reach ALL children in our classrooms!"--Helen T. Dainty, Ph.D."Assistant Professor, Tennessee Technological University" (07/20/2011) "[Paula Kluth] engages teachers and administrators in ways that position them as active and powerful agents for progressive school reform from within their own schools and classrooms."--Alicia A. Broderick, Ph.D."Teachers College, Columbia University" (07/20/2011) "An essential tool for any educator planning to teach or present on the topic of inclusive schooling . . . I look forward to using these materials in many different ways in university coursework and professional development trainings!"--Dr. Katrina Arndt, Ph.D."Associate Professor, Inclusive Education Department, St. John Fisher College" (07/20/2011) "A must for staff and administrators who are serious about getting inclusion right . . . makes the important point that inclusion is not just about students with disabilities but about recognizing the diverse needs and the value of all students. The only thing that would make this professional development tool better is if Paula Kluth came with it."--Jane Ryan, M.Ed"former (retired) special education administrator, Chicago Public Schools" (07/20/2011) "Our work with Paula Kluth has created an intense focus on presuming competence of all learners . . . Using the lens of presumed competence, we are breaking down barriers and creating a school system that believes, expects, and acts as if all students can and will learn. Principals have expressed how this lens is changing the culture of expectations in their schools and are thankful to have worked with Paula Kluth!"--Patricia A. Daley"Director of Special Education" (07/20/2011) "Thanks to this new DVD, entire teams and faculties will be have the opportunity to experience Paula's inspiring blend of philosophical and ethical commitment to inclusion and practical strategies that teachers can use to benefit ALL kids . . . I can't wait to share this terrific resource with schools!"--Marny Helfrich, M.Ed."Inclusive Education Facilitator, Maryland Coalition for Inclusive Education (MCIE)" (07/20/2011) "Unique, ground-breaking, and much needed . . . shows the commitment Paula Kluth has to increasing the quantity and quality of inclusive experiences for students with autism spectrum disorders across all grade levels. All teacher preparation programs and school districts should make these materials part of their training on inclusive schools."--Dr. Debra Leach, Ed.D."Assistant Professor of Special Education, Winthrop University" (07/20/2011) "Finally! A DVD that not only talks about inclusion, asks the important questions related to the issues of inclusion but also SHOWS us how it is done--in the classroom and in the planning states before the classroom. . . . Paula has made facilitating these workshops fun and easy. . . a MUST HAVE in every school library, college, university, and parent resource centre."