11 HANDS Activities Templates and Methods
HANDS in Autism® has a number of activities that you can work on at home with your child or assign/send home to your students. The various activities type will give you an idea of the type of activities and skills you will be working on. Our website features a search function for you to be able to search by type and find the activities that are of most interest. New activities are being added and old activities are updated regularly so be sure to check back.
Kid’s Corner activities are fun activities that can be completed and allow you to still work on skills at the same time! With a variety of activities from cooking, art and games kids (young and old alike!) are able to work on skills such as following directions, find motor, social skills, measurement and more while having fun and working towards independence. Each activity is set up to promote independence and allow for successful throughout. While activities are set up with words and pictures to help a greater understanding, some individualization may be necessary for your child or student.
Academia activities are structured tasks that are set up to work on a specific skill or set of skills. These structured activities allow initial teaching in a one-on-one context and then moved to an individual workstation to ensure students are able to master and retain skills. With visual instructions and direction for set up, activities are ready with minimal prep time. Additionally, new activities and updated activities have instructions for non-print options and suggestions for scaling up if too easy or scaling down if too difficult to allow for a larger range of activities.
Life with ASD activities are set up with transitioning into adulthood in mind. Focusing on suggestions for employment, independent living and having successful social interactions with others these activities are a great way to help older students be able to start to take more control of various aspects of their lives. Life with ASD activities are set up to allow for more flexibility in how they are able to be used (in a teaching context, independent work set up or completely on one’s own) allowing to success and use at all skill levels whether just starting or a seasoned pro.
- Adding pre-planned and differentiated activities – whether academic, functional or structured leisure – can be great additional that are ready to go
- HANDS has a number of free downloadable resources including communication forms to facilitate between and among, educators, families and service providers
Not seeing what you are looking for? Email us at hands@iu.edu and share your ideas so we can work to create the materials you need!