Review by Caitlin Hickey, Special Educator and Hunter College Graduate Student
I came across http://www.iteachautism.com/blog/ in my search of websites for teachers of children with autism. I Teach Autism, which is the format of a blog, pegs itself as a source for autism teaching tools, books and resources. I Teach Autism was founded by a Special Education teacher who felt there was a lack of online resources for teachers of children with ASD. The founder wanted to create a site that catered to teachers, homeschooling parents, professionals and others who teach those with ASD. The site states that it features autism teaching strategies, free autism teaching tools, printouts, worksheets, themes and lesson plans. However, not many of these materials could be found directly on the site. For example, when searching for lesson plans on the site, I was directed to links of other sites that have lesson plans for children with ASD. Being that I Teach Autism, states that these materials can be found on their site, I would have liked to have found these items directly on the site, instead of being directed to other sites.
The site also features reviews and recommendations of books on autism. One of my favorite parts of this feature, is the recommendations of story and picture books that can be used in classrooms. There some great children books recommendations that feature characters with ASD, which can not only be used to teach typically developing children about autism, but also help children with ASD feel more accepted. Another great feature of the site is guest authors and contributors. Some of the best blog pieces were contributed by parents of children with ASD, writing about their experiences with school and homework.
The site could definitely benefit from some organization. In order to find the different categories of resources on the site, you have to scroll all the way down to the bottom of the web page. It can be difficult finding what you are looking for due the current way things are organized on the site. The visual layout of the site can also be confusing. The visual layout needs to be streamlined and made more visually appealing. Furthermore, the site needs some updating. For example, some links and files do not work. Also the last blog was posted about 5 months ago, so it hasn’t been updated in awhile.
Although, the site is not perfect, it does have some great features such as book reviews and recommendations, guest bloggers, and featured articles. The site also provides users with numerous links to others ASD resources. I Teach Autism is a good website to gain some basic knowledge about strategies and techniques for teaching children with ASD, however you would have to use the provided links to gain more in depth insight on teaching children with ASD. While http://www.iteachautism.com/blog/ should not be a person’s only source for information on teaching children with autism, it is a good starting point.
