Gina from The Autism Helper shows how to set up a structured work table using Velcro-secured task boxes, visual work mats made in Boardmaker, and a Rocket Board that organizes work stations, behavior visuals, and reinforcers. A separate break board with items like trampolines and weighted balls teaches students to request breaks verbally instead of through problem behavior.
Hi everyone, this is Gina from The Autism Helper. I wanted to show you this neat work system that I've set up in a Pre-K-4 inclusion classroom for a couple of my students. Um, as you can see, there's Velcro all over the table, and these are for work task boxes. I have some friends who kind of tend to swipe things off the table and throw, so once you Velcro them down, they're extremely sturdy and you just have to worry about the little pieces in there. But that has been extremely helpful. So we have spots for 3 students. And then I created these visual work mats through Boardmaker. I printed out separate pieces and glued them onto a larger piece of paper and then laminated them. And the reason why I did this is because a lot of kids needed a lot of different visuals, and it was becoming very cumbersome, and they were getting swiped off the table. We were becoming like very flustered with that. So having them all on one mat really, really, really has helped. They are also Velcroed to the table so we can switch them out for the morning kids versus the afternoon. And then this work Rocket Board is also Velcroed down, and believe it or not, the dots don't really get in way— in the way of other things like snack time or working. There's a place obviously for the work task to be put, behavior visuals, communication visuals, and then what the student is working for, kind gummies for this student. And then we also encourage breaks. And right over here is the visual, um, break board. So we're encouraging the student to use words instead of other maladaptive behavior. So, "I want," and the pieces are not Velcroed on because it was just another thing to throw. So just pointing, "I want trampoline, the weighted ball is really awesome, stretchy band, and structured walks." that has been really, really helpful. So this has been one of the most helpful things that I've done in this classroom this year. And like I said, you can switch out the mats for another student. These kids are in the afternoon, so if I have kids in the morning, we can just put on their mats, and it has been extremely helpful.
