The classroom environment is purposefully planned to support student IEP learning goals through large group, purposeful learning centers, space for individualized instructional learning activities, as well as areas for peer-to-peer interaction. In this video, Kelly Crenshaw will introduce you to the “why, what, and how” she organizes her classroom for young children with autism spectrum disorder and how she designs it to be student-centered to maximize student emotional safety and purposeful play. The classroom’s centers facilitate the learning application through adult-supported/individual learning as well as peer-to-peer investigation, exploration, and seizes on opportunities to enhance the “fun” of learning. Pay special attention to how the classroom’s environment and learning activities are organized to support functional language, independence for completing routines and structures, and “how to do school” (2e-Organizing Physical Environment: There is total alignment between the learning activities and the physical environment; Distinguished).
