Back to School Tips for Children With Autism

As the new school year approaches, many parents are faced with the challenge of sending their autistic child back to school. Going back to school is filled with a lot of uncertainty and change and is a huge transition for autistic children. Here is a list of ideas to help prepare a child with autism for the new school year and to make the transition easier. You can adapt these ideas for verbal and non-verbal children.

Start talking about school a few weeks before school starts and talk about it everyday. After being out of school for a few months children with autism have adapted to the new routine of being at home or at a care provider. You need to reintroduce them to the concept of school again. They may have a meltdown when you first do this, but that will slowly decrease the more you talk about it.

If you have any books about school or movies about school or a social story this would be a good time to use them. Talk to them about their teachers or friends they had this past school year if they are a returning student. This is an idea to use even with non-verbal children. You can still talk to them about their friends. Another idea is to show them pictures from the last school year. The idea is for them to remember the positive experiences about going to school which will help relieve their frustration when they go back.

Put a picture or a visual of their school or any school on the calendar. For some children just the words school may work. Put it on the date that school will start. This will help them understand the concept of when school will start visually. It will also allow them the time to process the idea that they will be going back to school soon and on a specific date.

Driving by the school is another good idea. Again, it may cause a meltdown in some, but it gets the school reintroduced in their mind again. You may want to drive them on the first day as well if they ride a bus to school. For many children with autism, riding a bus to school on the first day may just be too much stimulus for them to handle along with the first school day. Slowly working them into the routine will be beneficial for both of you.

Back to school shopping is a huge deal for many autistic kids. If you know what they like to wear it may be easier to go without them if that is an option. Most of these kids only like a certain texture, fabric, color, only short sleeves, no tags etc. Pick your battles and clothes are probably not one of them. Make sure to keep your receipts, you don't want to buy something that you are sure they will wear only to have them not want anything to do with it. Another good option is eBay if they don't care about specifically picking out new clothes. It's a heck of a lot easier than taking them to the store.

Hair cuts are another big production in many kids with autism. I suggest you do this several days or more before school starts. Or if they can't tolerate a hair cut in one sitting you will have several days to get the mission accomplished.

Lastly, set up a picture schedule even if you don't regularly use one. Use this the night before the first day of school so they know what to expect the next day. Include pictures such as put on clothes, brush teeth, take medicine, use toilet, get backpack and so on. Then use more pictures to walk them through the first day of school such as pictures of the bus, school, lunch, bus again and back home. This should give them a clearer idea of what to expect and the structure they need to cope with the situation.

Raising a child with autism is not an easy task, but these tips should help the back to school transition be a bit easier.