• Home
  • Shop
    • Shop Now
    • Gift Cards
    • Cart
    • Purchase Orders
    • School Licenses
    • My Account
  • Blog
    • Academics
      • Adapted Books
      • Comprehension
      • Cooking
      • Crafts
      • ELA
      • Fine Motor
      • Life Skills
      • Math
      • Occupational Therapy
      • Science
      • Sensory Bins
      • Social Emotional Learning
      • Social Skills
      • Social Studies
      • Speech Therapy
      • Task Boxes
      • Vocabulary
      • Writing
    • At Home Learning
      • Digital
      • Remote Learning
    • Behavior
      • ABA
      • Communication
        • AAC
      • Data
      • Schedules
      • Visuals
    • Simple Classroom
      • Back to School
      • Book Recommendations
      • Classroom Setup
      • Freebies
      • IEP
      • Inclusion
      • Inspiration
      • Organization
      • Paraprofessional
      • Remote Learning
      • Seasonal
        • Fall
        • Winter
        • Spring
        • Summer
    • Tot School
  • Classroom Tours
    • Self-Contained
    • Speech
    • Preschool
    • Elementary Autistic Support
    • K-2
    • K-2 (Socially Distanced)
    • K-4 (Tiny Room)
    • 1-4 (Life Skills)
    • 2-3 (ABA)
    • Middle School
    • High School
    • High School (Life Skills)
    • Multiple Disabilities
  • New Teachers
    • Join My Online Course
    • First Year
    • Interviews
    • Job Search
  • Grade Level
    • Preschool
    • Primary
    • Elementary
    • Middle School
    • High School
  • Simple Self-Contained Setup 101®
    • Join Now!
    • Success Stories
    • Log In
  • Free Resources
    • Log In
  • More…
    • Meet Alyssa
    • Meet Our Bloggers
    • Collaborate
    • Contact Me
    • Disclosures
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest

Simply Special Ed

Resource Downloads & Teaching Advice

Blog Classroom Setup Elementary Life Skills Simple Classroom

Top 5 Adaptive Tools For Special Education

One of the coolest things about being in special education is all of the interesting tools we can find and create for our students. Today I’m going to talk about my top 5 adaptive school tools for special education. Even better, I’m going to talk about my absolute favorite tools.

Adaptive Grips

Adaptive grips help students grasp things they may otherwise not be able to. My favorites are the  Eazyhold brand. They come in different sizes and can be used with anything from a spoon to a cup. I often use this for everything from markers and crayons to holding a spoon for lunch time. They are amazing and make many everyday items accessible to students with fine motor needs.

Image showing different colored silicon grips around various household items.
You can get the EazyHold grips here.

Table Top Scissors

Table top scissors have been a game changer for my students! They are easy to use and make cutting accessible to all of my students. I velcro my set of scissors to the table, so it’s more stable, and then my students can cut whatever we need too using just one hand and a pushing motion.

Image of a pair of green table top scissors with a blue handle.
Like just about everything else I got my sets on amazon.

Switches: Wired and Unwired

You may have noticed, but I love using switches with my students. Wired switches are amazing for allowing access to switch adaptive activities like toys, a pourer, and anything you can plug into a powerlink! Recordable switches like the BigMack give students a voice, and bluetooth switches like the blue2 switch allow access to technology. Recordable switches can seem cost prohibitive, but I want to share this inexpensive and sturdy alternative I’ve found with you. The Learning Resources Talking Buzzers are a fantastic low cost solution. I find these are the absolute best to take out into the community.

Image of learning resources recordable button 4 button set.
These buzzers are great for recording options for students to choose.

The switch below is a good alternative for a wired switch. I have one of these and it works really well. It’s essentially a learning resources buzzer fitted with a battery interruptor. I love that this switch is much cheaper than an Ablenet switch and has the same functionality. It’s really neat!

You can learn more about using Switches in the classroom in this blog post.

Green wired switch button.
You can pick one of these up here.

Dycem

Dycem is a grippy blue material that is great for creating a no slip surface. I put activities, bowls, plates, cups, and bottoms on squares of dycem to reduce slipping and movement. It works so well with the wooden rifton chairs. Dycem is one of my most favorite adaptive school tools because it has so many different applications. It’s incredibly versatile!

blue materials on a roll.
You can get an entire roll of Dycem here.

Foam Tubing

I love foam tubing! It allows me to build up items for my students. Some of my students could grip an item better if the handle was wider or longer. The foam tubing allows me to do that with just about anything. It’s great for pencils, markers, spoons, forks, paintbrushes and even switches! I use it all the time on joystick switches. Sometimes the handle just needs to be thicker or longer and I can easily do that with the foam tubing. I personally really love the Vive brand. It’s durable and comes in different sizes. I’ve washed it many times in the dishwasher and it holds up well.

multi colored foam tubes.
You can get this set here!

These tools are my favorite tools because they are very relevant to my classroom and students’ needs and in the end that’s what is most important. 

Make sure to check out these different classroom set-ups for the beginning of the year. I talk about how I use several of these things in my classroom.

Related Posts:

  • 10 Tools for Special Education Online Teaching
    10 Tools for Special Education Online Teaching
  • How To Use Switches In Special Education
    How To Use Switches In Special Education
  • The Best Places to Look for a Job in Special Education
    The Best Places to Look for a Job in Special Education
Share
Pin


« How to Get to Know Your Students
5 Back to School Tips for an ABA Practitioner »
Hi amazing teachers!
I'm Alyssa Shanahan -- a former Elementary Special Ed & Life Skills teacher. My classroom focus was always to keep things simple, increase communication, and build independence. Simply Special Ed's goal is to help teachers and students reach their full potential in and out of the classroom!

Sign up to receive exclusive tips,
free resources, and more!

Recent Posts

4 Tips for a Special Needs Class FIeld Trip

The Best 10 Cause and Effect Toys

End of Year Checklist for Your Classroom

Creating an ESY Schedule

10 Almost Free OT Materials

New to Special Ed? Start here!

Copyright © Simply Special Ed 2023 · Design by Fancy Girl Design Studio

Copyright © 2023 · Simply Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in