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In her popular TED Talk, Temple Grandin, a person born with autism who succeeded in life, presents her learning experience with autism. We’ll spend this article learning about her central beliefs on teaching children with autism and how to apply them to your own kids.

First and foremost, it is empowering to truly understand your student. Grasping how your child thinks and learns will revolutionize your approach to teaching them. This goes beyond just their social skills. It’s about being attuned to any sensory issues they may have, as this will shape their learning environment. For instance, they might be sensitive to certain lighting or sounds. But most importantly, what kind of thinker are they? Temple Grandin’s insights on the three thinking styles prevalent in children with autism can be a powerful tool in your hands.

1. Visual Thinkers

Photo-realistic visual thinkers, as Temple calls them, are learners who can think in detailed pictures. Temple recounts her own experience of being asked to picture a church steeple. While most people would picture a fairly standard generic steeple, she sees a specific steeple on a particular church and has a detailed image in her head. These kinds of thinkers place sensory-based information into specific categories.

2. Pattern Thinkers

Although Grandin talks extensively about visual thinkers, she points out that “not every autistic kid is going to be a visual thinker” (5:01 of TED Talk). Pattern thinkers are those who have minds geared toward Math or Music. They may have trouble reading or writing but excel in seeing patterns of numbers. One thing Grandin noticed is their ability to create intricate origami.

3. Verbal Thinkers

Finally, there are the minds that are word-based. These thinkers can memorize facts about nearly anything and often make excellent journalists. In addition, Temple mentions that many children with autism who are verbal thinkers are good actors, due to their learning social skills like being in a play.

Once you’ve gained a deeper understanding of your learner’s thinking style, you can guide them to develop their interests. For instance, a pattern thinker with a passion for planes can be taught math through the lens of aviation. Harness their interests or fixations to motivate their learning. And don’t forget the power of mentors, tutors, or experts in their field of interest. These individuals can ignite the spark of curiosity and passion in your students, making learning a truly inspiring journey.

We’ve written about examples on this blog, including:

Teaching kids math with cars

Teaching kids math with baseball

Teaching kids math with bowling

Teaching kids math and meteorology with barometers

Teaching kids history and science with tea

When different, specific minds like these work together, they can complement each other’s abilities to solve a problem in a thorough way. But it all starts with understanding your learner and how they think. This knowledge can be the key to sparking their interest and guiding them towards their potential.

Tired of the same old Valentine’s Day for your kids? Create magical memories for your children with these Valentine’s Day literacy activities that make hearts and minds grow!

Homemade Valentine’s

Instead of buying pre-made Valentine’s Day cards, have your children write their own. Encourage them to write a thoughtful Valentine to a parent or grandparent that uses more descriptive adjectives and complex words to explain why they love them. These also extend to their classmates, siblings, and friends! Even if the cards are a little messy, the effort and personal touch will mean the world to grandparents, siblings, and friends.

Writing Poetry for Valentine’s Day

The classic poem “roses are red, violets are blue, sugar is sweet and so are you” can be easily adapted to teach kids about rhyming. The last two phrases can be re-written with just about anything that rhymes with blue. Try helping your kids write their own Valentine’s Day poetry to give to their friends and family.

Secret Message Decoder

Turn your little ones into detectives with this Valentine’s Day literacy activity that introduces them to entertaining secret messages! They’ll love cracking the code while learning new problem-solving skills!

Start by assigning each letter a unique symbol, such as a heart for “A,” an arrow for “B,” and so on. Write a secret Valentine’s Day message for your child to decode, like “You are loved!” or “Be my Valentine!” Hand them a “key” showing what each symbol stands for and let them crack the code.

Once they’ve mastered decoding, let them create their own secret messages for friends or family to decipher. This activity is perfect for sparking creativity while also practicing problem-solving and literacy skills.

Love-Themed Word Games

Get creative with letter tiles: Grab some Scrabble tiles (or make your own!) and see who can spell the most heartfelt words before the timer runs out. Making up your own rules adds a personal twist and keeps the game lively for everyone. Set a timer and try to assemble 5 words that begin with the letter “L” for “love” or “V” for valentine within the allotted time. Or work together to use all of the letters to build a crossword of words that are all connected.

I “LOVE” the Alphabet

Begin with a word that begins with the letter “A.” For a Valentine’s Day theme you could start the game with the word “adore.” The next person chooses a Valentine’s Day word that starts with a “B” like “beautiful.” Then next  “cute,” “darling,” “envelope,” “friends,” etc. until you cover the entire alphabet.

If you need to get inventive and stretch the rules a bit, that’s okay! The letter “x” can be a difficult one, so use the symbol for hugs and kisses “xoxo,” which is perfect for Valentine’s Day! Want to level up the game? Challenge everyone to remember the full list of words—it’s a memory test with a Valentine’s twist!

Love Languages Dictionary

One of our favorite Valentine’s Day literacy activities will have your kids learning about the many ways to express love while boosting their vocabulary!

Build a “Love Languages Dictionary” that features words for love in different languages, such as “amour” (French), “amor” (Spanish), and “爱” (Chinese). For added fun, encourage your kids to draw pictures or use stickers to illustrate each word. Try this: Next to “amour,” they could draw a heart or a couple holding hands.

Your kids watch their dictionary come alive filled with love—and they’ll pick up a few new words along the way!

First Letter, Last Letter (Valentine’s Day-Themed)

Perfect for spontaneous fun and it does not require any props or pieces. The game starts when someone says a word related to Valentine’s Day. The next person has to say a love related word that begins with the last letter of that word. If the game begins with the word “kiss,” then next word could be “swoon” and then next word could be “nice” and so on. Perfect for kids in grade 3 and up, or who can read and are comfortable spelling words on their own.

Beyond the candy and cards, Valentine’s Day opens doors to word play and vocabulary building. Ready to make learning an adventure?

Ready to spark your child’s love of learning? Connect with School is Easy today to discover more creative educational activities tailored to your child’s needs.