I've been where you are with a classroom that sometimes feels out of control. It seems like there is no possible way to meet each of your student's needs. There are things you can't control, like how many students are placed in your classroom or not having enough paraprofessionals. But, it is possible to work on building connections and increasing engagement despite those barriers! By implementing consistent systems, a less chaotic classroom is possible. I can't wait to share the foundational strategies with you. The Preschool Autism Essentials Coaching Week is perfect for:

✅ special education teachers

✅ speech/language pathologists

✅ parents or caregivers

You are going to love this deep dive into the 4 foundational elements that will give you a new outlook on the most important aspects of a special education classroom for young autistic children.

Join the Preschool Autism Essentials Coaching Week and make the transformation from feeling chaotic and defeated to serving your students better by feeling calm and in control!

During Coaching Week, I will share the 4 foundational elements for a preschool special education classroom that serves young autistic students. These elements are neurodiversity-affirming and create consistent systems that children and adults in the classroom understand.

✅ How To Create Systems That Improve Engagement

✅ Ways To Support Student's Regulation

✅ Building Predictable Routines In The Classroom

During this Coaching Week, we'll take a deep dive into the "why" and "how" of each of these elements that will lay the foundation for a classroom that runs smoothly.

What Do I Get When I Purchase The Preschool Autism Essentials Coaching Week?

⭐ Coaching Week is February 4th-7th, 2024

⭐ You will get access to a private, pop-up Facebook Group. Coaching Week takes place inside of this Facebook Group.

⭐ I will go live in the Facebook Group every day at 7 pm CT for 4 days. You can watch live or watch the replay at a time that works for you. You will be able to ask questions in the comments.

⭐ You will get a Coaching Week Workbook with an overview of the 4 foundational elements.

⭐ There will be daily prizes during Coaching Week!

I'm a speech/language pathologist, and I've run a communication-based classroom for young autistic children for 2 decades.

During that time I've seen the way we teach young autistic students change and evolve. I love keeping up with the newest research and strategies. My top priority is always to build positive relationships with my students.

Not only do I have a passion for teaching young autistic children, but I am also devoted to sharing strategies with parents and educators around the world.

I founded Autism Little Learners in 2019 after my dad passed away from leukemia. I had a lot of dark days filled with deep grief in the aftermath and needed something else to think about. That's when I started creating resources for other educators and parents. Doing this helped me climb out of the darkness. I absolutely love connecting with educators and parents to help reduce their overwhelm and help them experience progress and small successes that build upon each other!

The strategies you learn will ensure that you can meet your students where they are at. The foundational elements lead to a compassionate approach that will reduce resistance and increase active engagement.

🧘‍♂️ Regulate: Regulation involves helping children recognize and manage their emotions. You will learn about co-regulation and self-regulation.

🤗 Connect: Connection focuses on building positive relationships by following the child's lead and learning about the things they are passionate about.

🔄 Routines: Creating predictable routines and structure will help autistic children develop independence.

📚 Teach: Learning effective teaching strategies for young autistic children is a must. It's not just what you teach, but how you teach it. This creates active engagement with your students!

By using a neurodiversity-affirming approach in the classroom, you will not only reduce YOUR stress but will also lessen the child's stress level. This opens the doors to meaningful learning!
When you identify each child's sensory needs, you will be able to support those needs through co-regulation and self-regulation.
Building a positive relationship with all students (even those hard to reach students) will pay off tenfold. I will share ideas for how to do that!
Creating predictable routines and systems in the classroom will not only foster independence but will also increase active engagement.
Once you've focused on regulation, connection, and routines, you can move on to building "skills".
Teaching skills is not only about the specific skill you are teaching but also about HOW you are teaching.
Instead of not knowing where to start, you will walk away with ideas that feel doable in a busy preschool special education classroom setting.

"I teach in northwest Florida, and I am a new ESE (SPED) PreK teacher, my background is teaching music. I needed HELP leaping into the ESE world and taking the coaching week with Tara is JUST what I needed to jump-start this new part of my life. My current favorite item to use from the Visual Support Starter Set is the Star Chart. It works with EVERY transition, including my students who are slow to start eating. Once they see how much "time" they have left to eat, they get going! I can't wait to join the next coaching week!

- Jessica D.

"Autism Little Learners is an easy way to get very practical ideas and implement next day knowledge. Not many trainings out there are designed to help our youngest autistic learners, but Tara’s coaching style is user-friendly and understands the individual unique qualities when working with early childhood students. One of the best parts of the coaching week is that Tara speaks to the autistic voice and always chooses a “compassion over compliance” outlook. I highly recommend this coaching week for anyone who works with early childhood special needs students!"

- Danny C.

"I can’t thank you enough for this coaching week experience. It’s been such a gift to spend time learning with others who understand the intense joys and challenges of working with autistic children. I had used some of your tools prior to coaching week, but after listening and watching each session, I was able to modify my approach just slightly the next day at school and see immediate results. I love that you bring on-the-ground experience, that you have “been there” just like all of us, and that you so generously share your tried and true strategies. It’s one thing to talk about routines and visuals - but your stories, examples, and videos gave clear and simple examples - things we could easily replicate right away. Coaching week felt like being part of an extended family of people who understand, see the gifts in our youngest autistic children, and want to soak up all they can to make learning and playing more joyful. Coaching week creates a community that we caregivers desperately need and results in less stress, and more happiness for our kids."

- Jill T.

"The Autism Visual Supports Coaching Week has to be one of the best professional development workshops I have taken in my journey to learning more about supporting Autism in the classroom. As an Inclusion Consultant. I am often having discussions with Early Childhood Educators about the importance of using classroom visual supports and always on the search for webinars/workshops I can suggest to help educators learn the “how to’s” of using visual supports. Not only did the coaching week show how to use the visuals, but explained some of the skills the children are learning through the use of the visual supports, and even provided the visual supports! I can’t wait for more of these opportunities to become available so I can continue to encourage the educators I support, along with my colleagues to participate! Thank you Tara for sharing all your expertise with us! It is truly a blessing!"

- Nerissa H.

A Word From Your Instructor

I want to help you feel more confident with implementing strategies that actually work in the context of a busy special education classroom. Early childhood special education is a whole different beast than other levels. If you know, you know. 😳

We are often the "forgotten ones" in early childhood. The professional development training never seems to apply to us. We spend more time collaborating with parents than at other levels. Plus our job can be very physical. Because our students are so young, they are often dysregulated and many times don't have an effective communication system. I'm here to help because I "get it".

Thank you for letting me be part of your journey with your autistic students and/or child. It is my greatest honor.

All my best,

❤️ Tara Phillips

A Classroom With Consistent Systems Fosters Engagement And Independence!