Frankie Kietzman, Ed.S.

Equity for Serving Our Rural Students

I’m from a small town in rural Kansas with no stoplights and the nearest Walmart is 30 minutes away. My father was a rancher with 200 head of cattle and my mom was a teacher at the nearby—and only—school.

Applying Brene Brown’s Rising Strong to Autism

Building Awareness and Theory of Mind Brene Brown’s illuminating 2015 book, Rising Strong , shows how part of life is handling unexpected situations and dealing with expectations, failures, or disappointments—and finding ways to adjust and cope in spite of struggles. But the goa

What Disney’s Encanto Teaches Us About Families, Autism, and Managing Expectations

Let’s talk about the family Madrigal from Disney’s Encanto to see what we can learn as parents and families with both neurotypicals and members with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). I’ll try to be as spoiler-free as possible, but if you haven’t yet checked out Encanto , you shoul

Using Task Analysis to Develop Independent Living Skills

Life is filled with routines. When you’re a student, you have years of repetition in a school setting to learn where to go when you arrive, how to get your lunch, transition in the hallways, and dress out for the gym. You’ve had the support of teachers and family to learn how to

The ARIS Lessons: An Insider Look

A Special Ed Teacher and New Stages Learning Staffer Takes a Peek Under the Hood of Our New ARIS Early Autism Curriculum I’m not a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA), but I know “just enough to be dangerous.”

Teaching Tools for Making Friends and Developing Online Relationships for Autistic Individuals

Learning social media skills and dating etiquette can be especially challenging for young autistic adults. This article provides tools for helping to learn new digital social skills for autistic individuals.

Herramientas de enseñanza para hacer amigos y desarrollar amistades en línea para personas con TEA

Aprender habilidades en las redes sociales y la etiqueta de citas puede ser desafiante especialmente para los jóvenes adultos con autismo. Este artículo proporciona herramientas para ayudar a aprender nuevas habilidades sociales digitales para las personas con TEA.

How to Teach Zero to Autistic Children

This resource was created as a supplement for the Language Builder: ARIS® Academic Readiness Intervention System complete early autism curriculum, Lesson #175, Receptive Numbers 11+. Download a free copy of the lesson and learn more about ARIS here . Teaching concepts to autisti

Using Task Analysis for Arrival and Dismissal Routines

Getting ready to go somewhere and transitioning once you arrive just might be the hardest part of the day for your autistic child or student, and in turn, for you. Fortunately, tools like task analysis (TA) can help take the stress out of coming and going, to let you and yours t

Teaching Multi-Step Skills Through Task Analysis for Autistic Students

Life is filled with constant multi-step directions and processes. That’s why a common elementary project is to have students write exact directions to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Their peers are then told to only do exactly what the directions say. As you might imag

What Research Has Shown About School Closures Impact on Autistic Students

As schools started up again for the 2021-2022 school year, there were a lot of questions. The previous year’s fluctuations between remote, hybrid, and in-person models left everyone’s heads spinning, perhaps none more than autistic students.

“Opportunities to Respond” in the Classroom for Autistic Students

Strategies for Active Engagement in the Classroom and on Zoom f or Autistic Children You’ve likely heard the phrase “Busy hands are happy hands,” but the same is true for our brains. One of the hardest skills for autistic students is what to do in the classroom when they’re expe

Autism and Teletherapy: It’s Working!

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So You Want to Be a Speech Language Pathologist (SLP)?

Everything You Need to Know About Starting a Career as an SLP There is a growing need for SLPs in the U.S. SLPs work in a variety of settings including private practice, public and private schools, hospitals, specialist offices, and nursing and residential care facilities. New o

Can ARIS Work for an Autistic 29-Year-Old?

Using t he ARIS® Academic Readiness Intervention System With My Brother, Tommy. With ARIS, Skill Development Can Happen at Any Age Early intervention is the prime advice for education and life skills in the autism community, but should intervention ever truly stop? Although clin

So You Want to Be a BCBA?

Maybe you’ve been working with an autistic child or adult and you’ve decided to make a career out of it. There are plenty of related jobs in fields like education and speech, but one of the most sought-after positions for supporting autistic people is that of a Board Certified B

Opening My ARIS Autism Curriculum Kit for the First time

Christmas came early this year!

Facing a Critical Shortage of ABA Therapists? Teletherapy Can Help

Growing Up in a Deaf and Autism Household

The Story of My Brother Tommy Growing up is never easy. Growing up in a hearing household with a brother who is deaf and autistic brings unexpected challenges, to say the least. Picture a rural family in the 1990s with no past interactions with people who are deaf or autistic an

Who's Who on the IEP Team?

Learn What Each Specialist Does in Order to Make the Most of Your Child’s IEP Team When you show up to your child’s IEP meeting for the first time you may be wondering, “Who are all of these people?” You probably know the classroom teacher and the special education teacher, but

Proactive Strategies for Reducing Problem Behaviors Before They Happen

Using Routines and Pre-Correction in the Classroom for Autistic Students What is the best way to address a problem behavior? Before it happens! Procedures and routines paired with pre-correction strategies are evidence-based interventions for supporting autistic students. Instea

Building a Social Network for Autistic Students

How to Create a Peer-Mediated Intervention to Support Social Skills for Autistic Children We all need a social network; a group of people who are there for us in good times and in bad. But how can we help autistic children develop their network?

Using Peers to Support Autistic Children in the Classroom

Could Peers Be the Solution to Support Autistic Children in the Classroom? “Put a para with the student” seems to be a quick solution that many school teams jump to when looking for ways to support autistic students. While there are some positives to adult support—including more