News and Knowledge

For parents in the autism community, managing transitions and change seems to be a constant focus. Anticipating, preparing for, and coping with the potential unpleasantries of the unknown and the unexpected can require a lot of energy. While school typically provides a great deal of structure and predictability, each fall brings new teachers, classrooms, and schedules. As the school team strives to balance coordinating the logistics and familiarizing themselves with each student in their care, your parental insight and support is invaluable.

How can you use your expertise regarding your child to help build bridges for a successful transition back to school?  Here are some strategies recommended by the dedicated parents, educators, and therapists in my community.

Build Routine

One of the perks of summer break is that non-preferred activities can be significantly reduced and schedules can be more flexible to your child’s natural sleep rhythms. However, getting back into the swing of the school schedule can be a shock to the system without a little preparation.

• Morning and evening routines: Two weeks before school, begin to slowly move your child’s bedtime and wake-up times earlier each day. Incorporate steps into the routine that will help make getting ready easier once school is in session (e.g. picking out clothes the night before, cutting down on TV/electronics access in the morning, etc.).
• Scheduling “work”: Providing short, low-demand opportunities to practice academic tasks not only helps your child to retain skills, but also to maintain learning/study habits. Consider incorporating activities such as reading for 20 minutes, reviewing math fact/sight words flash cards, keeping an illustrated or written journal of summer activities, or completing a workbook page each day.

Build Familiarity

While there will be specific details that the school may not be able to work out or communicate in advance of the first day, ensuring your child has opportunities to form a general understanding of the important people and places she or he will encounter can help to ease anxiety.

• Schedule a visit: Campus-wide activities like “Meet the Teacher” night can be overwhelming for some children on the spectrum. Often, teachers are open to arranging a brief, scheduled visit to meet your child and show him or her around the classroom. It is important, however, to be considerate of the many responsibilities and the limited timelines teachers have in preparing for the school year.
• Identify key people: Whenever possible, help your child to learn the names and faces of teachers, paraprofessionals, case managers, and other staff that she or he will likely look to for support. Yearbooks, staff directories, and the school’s Web site can be helpful resources or you can ask to take your own photos.
• Map it out: Use photos to help your child to visualize the different places he or she will visit throughout the day. With secondary school students, practicing walking through the class schedule and providing a color-coded or numbered campus map can help to prepare him or her for navigating the busy campus once school starts.

Build Relationships

The most important resources available to you and your child are the people with whom she or he will spend the day. The steps you take to establish a positive, collaborative partnership now will likely have valuable pay-offs later.

• Reach out: Contact the general and special education teacher to introduce yourself and your child. Provide a general summary of her strengths, needs, preferences, and triggers. Start the discussion about regular communications that would be helpful for you (e.g. format, types of information, and frequency).
• Show appreciation: The beginning of the year is a very demanding and overwhelming time for teachers. A word of thanks, a thoughtful gesture, even a little bit of patience goes a long way.

Build Excitement

As you try to prepare for some of the challenges of transitioning back to school, make sure to also connect to the excitement and anticipation of a new year.

• Talk up the positives: Discussions and visuals/social narratives should highlight the elements of school that are enjoyable and interesting or that can be new areas of growth and success.
• Provide a visual countdown: Help your child anticipate when he or she gets to go to school using paper chains, calendars, countdown timers/clocks, etc.
• Shop for supplies: Incorporate his interests into school supplies by allowing him to select or decorate items with preferred characters or topics. Keep these items novel by making them accessible exclusively for school.

Even with the best efforts to support a smooth back-to-school transition, there are bound to be bumps in the road. That’s how life is and those bumps give you a chance to teach your child the meaning of resiliency. Committing too much attention to establishing predictability and avoiding anxiety can result in missed opportunities to build resiliency. Don’t forget to acknowledge for yourself, as well as your child, her or his growing ability to handle challenges and persevere.