Teaching · Special Education

Change the room before asking students to change.

Walk the classroom with sixteen concrete items in four domains. The checklist scores each domain and turns every gap into a change you can make this week.

Check a roomWhat you get
$5one-time · every device you sign in on
Buy · $5

Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Or get it in the Special Education toolkit, $99 for 100 items.

The room check

One check per room and date. The example is made up.

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What you get

Teaching · Special Education$5 · included with Classroom and Whole-school licenses

What you finish with
A score for each domain and the room, the weakest domain, the first five changes and the partial items to finish, with what students said helps.
Who it is for
Special education and general education teachers, autism support teams and school psychologists.
Format
Browser checklist completed in the room. Saved checks; printed with the summary or as a blank form; CSV; export and import a file.
Access
$5 one-time, yours on every device you sign in on; the tool opens once you are signed in with it. Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Also in the Special Education toolkit ($99) and the Teaching Suite pass ($199), and 1 more bundle. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The Special Education space in Caveat Teaching.
Support
Questions about an order, access or a correction: team@caveatacademic.com.
a calm wall, a soft seat, headphones within reach
Drawn for this page. Small changes to the room make learning possible for students who take in more of it than others do.

How to use it

  1. Start a check with a room code and the date.
  2. Walk the room at a busy time and mark each item.
  3. Add what specific students say helps, by code or initials.
  4. Make the first changes on the list.
  5. Copy the check to a new date in a month and mark it again.

Check a room

How to use the check

Why the room first

Many autistic students take in sound, light and visual detail more intensely, and lean on predictability and clear language. Changes to the room help them without singling anyone out, and usually help other students too.

Ask the students

The same room can be calming for one student and overwhelming for another. Ask what helps, and believe the answer.

What this is not

A sensory assessment of any one student. Individual needs belong in that student’s plan.

Sources

  1. National Clearinghouse on Autism Evidence and Practice (2020). Evidence-Based Practices for Children, Youth, and Young Adults with Autism: visual supports, antecedent-based interventions.
  2. CAST (2018). Universal Design for Learning Guidelines version 2.2: options for perception and for recruiting interest.
  3. Kinnealey, M., et al. (2012). Effect of classroom modification on attention and engagement of students with autism or dyspraxia. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 66(5).
  4. Individuals with Disabilities Education Act regulations, 34 CFR 300.324(a)(2): considering special factors, including communication needs.

The example room is made up. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.