Utilizing the AIM Curriculum to Improve Job Performance in an Educational Setting for Children With Autism and Related Disabilities

Three classroom aides spent five quiet minutes each morning doing simple breathing and noticing exercises from the AIM Curriculum.

Researchers then watched if the aides talked more to students and took better data during class.

The team used a multiple-baseline design so each aide started the practice on a different day.

All three aides began chatting and gesturing more with students after they started the daily pause.

Their session notes also became more accurate.

The gains were large enough that the data lines barely overlapped with baseline.

The result lines up with Weissman-Fogel et al. (2015) and McGarty et al. (2018), who also saw social and emotion benefits when people with autism practiced mindfulness.

Those studies used nine-week groups or full therapy hours; Issen shows a five-minute solo version still helps when staff do it.

Sawyer et al. (2014) and Bradford et al. (2018) used the same multiple-baseline design to coach aides and saw student engagement rise, so the method is not new, but the mindfulness twist is.

Thompson-Hodgetts et al. (2024) also got big gains from a five-minute day-camp script, proving tiny doses can work when they are daily and clear.

You can add the AIM five-minute script to any morning routine without pulling staff from kids.

No extra cost, no extra staff, just a short breathing space that sharpens attention and data quality.

Try it with one aide tomorrow and track student interactions for a week; if the line rises, roll it out team-wide.