Parents across the land (in North Texas, anyhow) are slowly starting to take a collective deep breath. The kind of deep breath we take in anticipation of a busy season which, in this case, is the soon-to-be new 2019-2020 school year. SEE – I caught you holding your breath just now!!
Combining our own experiences with having young school children with autism, along with the input from our expert therapists, PediaPlex compiled these suggestions to help you stay connected and informed about your kiddos’ school year.
- Organize Everything! This goes for your kiddo’s work, as well as your school documents. Grab a binder and find a way to organize all the documents you will need for meetings and events.
- Attend School Events. Make sure you go to all the events your school offers! Open Houses, parent-teacher conferences, etc. It’s important for you to have a good relationship with their teachers & staff so you can update them on any changes and be in the loop about your child’s progress.
- Prep Your Kiddo! School can be very overwhelming for anyone so make a point to set realistic expectations with your son or daughter. Talk to your child about his/her new schedule and what types of things to expect in school. Take them on a tour of their new school and classrooms. Plan to take some photos of the rooms to use in social stories as you prepare for the big day.
- Have Before & After School Routines. Discuss this and plan it with your child. Start the routine before school starts to build some familiarity. This way when school does start, you child isn’t so overwhelmed!
- Dress For Success. A lot of children can be irritated by clothing, which will be a huge distraction for them at school. Look for tagless shirts or compression sleeves- whatever your child needs to help them be comfortable all day!
We know it seems daunting but planning and managing expectations REALLY DOES HELP. But maybe more importantly, remember you and your family are not alone and not the only ones going through ASD-related challenges. You have a family at PediaPlex and we want to encourage and support your shining stars at school this year however we can!
PediaPlex Family
