We hope you’ve had a good summer holiday! But now it’s only a couple of weeks until schools restart for the autumn term. This will mean another change of routine for your child. Sue Evans, from our Therapy and Specialist Support Team, says :
“With a different pace and way of life during the holidays, autistic children often adopt different routines and patterns of behaviour in the home environment. So, advance preparations for returning to school should help them adapt to its requirements more easily.”
Here are some simple things you can do to prepare your child for the new academic year.
Preparations
- Mark on the calendar when they’ll be going back to school. Cross off the days leading up to this.
- Try to establish a regular routine a least a week before, especially with bedtimes.
- Look over the transition booklet your child may have been given by their school; a week beforehand.
- Look at photos from the previous year and at the school’s website, Twitter account, etc.
- Drive past the school when you’re out and about.
- Go uniform shopping or, if you’ve already done this, check they can do their tie, laces, etc. Ask them to put away items of uniform to encourage them to get familiar with it again.
The day before
- Have a relaxing day. Talk to your child about returning to school and discuss any anxieties they may have about this.
- Remind them that first day nerves are normal, but they’ve done this before and can do it again.
- Talk through the timetable for the first day (if you know it). This may provide reassurance that school will be in the same place as it was, even though there’s between a holiday.
- Plan a nice after-school activity for the first day back. Nothing major, small and low key but enjoyable, works best e.g. time on the computer or a trip to a café for a cake.
- Follow your usual school-night bedtime routine. Getting in routine will help in the morning.
Thanks to our Therapy and Specialist Support Team for their top tips on ‘Making the most of the summer holidays’.
Their other suggestions on structuring time away from school and planning for holidays and holiday-related travel can be found here and here.
We hope they’ve helped you to have a good break!
