Back to School for Special Needs Kids

So I looked at my calendar today and realized that tomorrow is August!  Here in Oklahoma, that means that school will be back in session for all of our students in a few short weeks!  In addition to the challenges every kid faces in getting back into the groove, special needs kids have a whole other set of challenges.  

New teachers, new classmates, new routines, and even new schools can be really tough for our kids. This post focuses on some things can do to make those first days back at school go smoothly.

Team up with school staff.  You know your child better than any me class time.  Reach out to your child's classroom teacher and make sure they know about your child's services and accommodations.  Give teachers and administrators some insight as to how to react in certain situations.  Make sure they know your child's strengths and challenge areas.  Also reach out to your child's special education providers (resource teachers, speech therapist, occupational therapist, physical therapist, etc).  As a former public school SLP, I can tell you that information from parents is a precious commodity, and helps a lot when it comes to getting our special kids off to a great start.

Get your child involved in back to school prep.  Take your child shopping with you for back to school supplies, let them choose their first day outfit.  Remember that you will not be in the classroom with your child all the time.  Let them take the reins on as many school preparation activities as possible.  For kids on the spectrum and kids who need routines, it might be wise to do a dry run or two before the actual first day.  That might include going through the morning routine and driving to school, or reading through a social story to get kids prepared.

Listen to your child's feelings.  If and when your child shows anxiety about going back to school, the worst thing you can do is brush it off.  Telling your special needs child, "Don't worry about it" may let those insecurities and anxieties grow into fears about going back to school.  This can cause problems.  My best advice is to slowly bring up the idea of going back to school a few weeks in advance.  Talk about any worries and anxieties as they come up, and help your child work through them.  

Ease Into Routines. Providing some structure to your child's summer days is a good thing.  The closer it gets to the first day of school, the more important having some of those routines in place becomes.  Start really enforcing that bed time, and helping your kids wake up around the same time every day.  Getting these things in place before the "big day" can help that first day of school go off without a hitch.  

Back to school is a big time of transition for kids of all ages, and especially for special needs kids.  With a little bit of prep work and some consistency, we can make it that much easier for our kids on the first day and beyond.