What can you do at home to prepare?
By Deborah Jeanne Sergeant
Is your child on the autism spectrum? You can improve his chances of succeeding at school. Begin by following any recommendations from the school.
“Parents and caregivers play an essential role in their child’s educational success, not only by supporting learning at home, but by serving as their child’s primary advocate and champion,” said Kristyn Roth, chief marketing officer at Autism Society of America based in Rockville, Maryland. “Ensuring a child’s needs are understood and met within the school system often requires persistence, collaboration and strong communication with educators and support staff.”
With parents and school staff involved, schools typically develop an individualized education program for children with disabilities to promote their education.
“It outlines the student’s strengths, needs, educational goals and the services and accommodations required,” Roth said. “When parents and teachers work together to reinforce strategies and share insights, children are more likely to thrive academically, socially and emotionally.”
In addition to working with your child’s school, you can help your child succeed by planning for school at home. Roth said that this begins with consistency and using tools common in special education settings, like visual schedules, token boards and power cards. These can “help establish structure, ease transitions and reinforce expectations,” Roth said. “Practicing skills through interest-based learning, supporting executive functioning and building self-advocacy also boost a child’s confidence and school readiness.”
These tools can help children understand that they can develop coping mechanisms that help them succeed, both at school and in life.
For some children, taking a tour of the school during an open house can help them mentally prepare for their first day, along with meeting or becoming reacquainted with teachers. Have them try on any new clothing and shoes and check out their new backpack and supplies. Begin sticking with a sleeping schedule consistent with schooldays if you’ve let the sleeping schedule slip during the summer. Any means of building familiarity with their upcoming school life can make that transition into schooldays a little easier.
Anne Saleh, licensed clinical social worker who provides school-based therapy through Rochester Regional Health, encourages parents to deeply understand their children’s challenges, which can help them build skills at home that can translate to the classroom.
“Help them develop the skills to advocate for themselves,” Saleh said. “They can speak in their neurodiversity from a place of strength. Do good preparation with structure at home with a consistent schedule. It smoothes the path, so it doesn’t feel like as big a change to go back to school.”
She also encourages parents to engage in self-care, which can help them remain better regulated and better able to respond when their children’s behavior becomes challenging.
Helping their children who have disabilities can place parents in numerous different roles, some of which may not be ones they’re well equipped to fill. Heather M. Burroughs, advocacy and education director at AutismUp in Rochester, encourages parents to seek help.
“Parents are often made to feel like they have to be the expert on everything: communication, behavior, sensory regulation, academics, executive functioning,” Burroughs said. “That’s a lot to carry alone — and that’s exactly why we’ve built a wide range of classes and experiences that families can pick and choose from based on their needs.”
Listed at https://autismup.org/classes, the classes provide an opportunity to build skills in a variety of areas, from social development and emotional regulation to adaptive life skills, recreation and tech fluency. In addition, Burroughs believes that the website also helps parents of children on the spectrum “feel less alone. Autism may be more prevalent than ever with rates now estimated at one in 31, but this journey can still feel incredibly isolating,” she said. “Having a neurodivergent-affirming campus where families feel embraced and supported — especially when school systems are strained — makes a huge difference.”