5 Tips to Create a Calm Classroom for Special Needs Students

Are you a teacher looking to make your classroom more of a calming environment for your students? You’ve come to the right place! Here are 5 tips to help you make your classroom more calming for your students with special needs and autism.

Tip 1: Good lighting 💡- fluorescent lights can cause your students to break down and become over stimulated! Lamps, twinkly lights, and blue light filters can help your students with special needs and autism stay calm and not get overstimulated.

Tip 2: Fidget box 📦 - Have a box of a variety of fidgets accessible for your students! Allow your students to use the fidgets when they need to self-regulate and calm down! See more details about how to use fidgets in the video!

Tip 3:  Headphones  🎧 - Noises in the classroom can be extremely distracting for students with special needs and autism. They may get distracted and overstimulated if they don’t have access to headphones. Make sure to provide your students with the option of over-the-ear headphones so that they can concentrate and not get over stimulated.

Tip 4: Practice Mindfulness 🙏 Practice mindfulness exercises throughout the day! In my class I turn off the lights and practice short mindfulness activities before transitioning to each new subject. This gives the students an opportunity to re-center, calm down, and get focused before learning something new. We have visual autism meditations available on our Youtube channel! 

Tip 5: Social Stories 💬 Social stories are an amazing way to help students 

understand how to cope with frustration, anger, and anxiety. For engaging animated social stories, check out our site!

Animated social stories designed for kids with autism here 👉 

http://www.diverselearninghub.com