Push to Open: A Teacher’s QuickGuide to Universal Design for Teaching Students on the Autism Spectrum in the General Education Classroom

Push to Open: A Teacher’s QuickGuide to Universal Design for Teaching Students on the Autism Spectrum in the General Education Classroom is a practical and simple guide to strategies which will help remove common barriers success for students with autism, while also benefiting many other students in the general education classroom. Instead of being a reactive, “first aid” approach to fixing problems after they occur, “Push To Open” offers a proactive planning guide to help general education teachers understand some of the most critical characteristics of autism, and plan their classroom environment and teaching methods to avoid pitfalls that can occur around sensory, communication, social and instructional issues. The “universal design” perspective of “Push to Open” helps teachers understand which simple strategies can have the “biggest bang for the buck” in terms of energy and effort required for implementation and broadest impact on the most students, including those with autism. In this age of accountability for every student to access, make progress, and show value added through their learning in the general curriculum, “Push to Open” provides no-nonsense, practical guidance to make life easier and outcomes better for teachers and students.