Many students have the summer off from school, but students with autism in our special educational day program work year round, both inside and outside their classrooms. This week, we traveled to Newcastle Commons to explore the rocky shore and tidal pools, play in the sand and water, and enjoy a picnic lunch.
At the beach, students learned hands-on about topics ranging from personal safety to marine biology. Students also had the opportunity to practice their functional communication, behavioral self-regulation, and other skills in a new, unfamiliar environment.
Our clinical instructors and special educators prepared students for the trip with pre-teaching materials including seashore objects, photos, stories about the sea, and sequential pictures describing the day’s planned activities. Now students are reviewing what they learned back in their classrooms and creating artwork inspired by the excursion.
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