The first day of school is a stressful experience for everyone. For autistic children it can be even anxiety provoking. Both for children and their parents. The preparation really starts well before the first day.  

Plan a tour 

Prior to the end of the school year, it would be helpful to actually take a visit to the school that your child will be attending. Reach out to the principal or to a teacher and ask if you can come in for a tour of showing your child some of the areas they'll be most likely to be spending time in, like the bathrooms and the gym. 

If you're able to know ahead of time what class your child would be in, then that would be a great place to go visit as well and meet the teacher that your child will be working with.  

Take some photos throughout your tour and when you get home you can print them out and make a book of all the different places in the school and some of the routines that your child will follow. Use this book to review throughout the summer so that there are really well prepared for what they're going to be doing on that first day. You can role play throughout the summer some of the routines that they're most likely to experience. 

Over the summer, if you can spend some time visiting the school, whether it be outside in the playground and on the field, or inside when the school reopens, taking a tour of the hallways so that your child is familiar with the school, knows where some of the important places are, and has some experience walking those halls. It certainly could be beneficial to ease the anxiety and know what to expect on that first day. 

Practice school routines and expectations 

During school, things like waiting in line, dressing and undressing, unpacking their bag, lots of different kind of daily routines. You may also want to look for resources like books and videos. There's no shortage of those available online and in your local bookstore. And a lot of these books also do a really good job of acknowledging the feelings that are associated with that first day. It's important to take time to validate your child's feelings. Let them know that it's normal and expected, that they might feel anxious, nervous, jittery, butterflies in the stomach. Think about your child's communication skills and their developmental level to try to think about the language that would be most appropriate to use to help put words to these feelings. Giving your child language for these feelings will really help them, even if they aren't able to articulate that themselves. To understand why they're feeling this way and to know that it's OK.  

Start a visual countdown 

Have a calendar and cross the days out as you lead up to that first day. It can be hard to understand the passage of time, so really making it tangible and having a visual representation of each day can help the child to ease some of the anxiety of the unknown of knowing when that first day is going to happen.  

Start conversations with the school team about your child  

Reach out to the principal or to the teacher, and if possible, ask for a meeting ahead of the first day of school. You could share some helpful information about your child's strengths and about their needs and if they do have certain sensory sensitivities or behavioral challenges or triggers, along with strategies that can be helpful to mitigate these kinds of triggers or to help the child if things do become difficult at school. Any information that you can provide, whether that be through a meeting, through an e-mail, or even a sort of All About Me booklet would be beneficial to prepare the teacher and the principal for the first day of school as well.  

 Tips: 

Preparing for Back to School for Kids with Autism or Other Developmental Delays 

• Plan a Tour 
  • Prior to the end of the school year, visit the school your child will be attending. Reach out to the principal or a teacher to arrange a tour of key areas like bathrooms and the gym. 
  • If possible, visit the classroom your child will be in and meet the teacher. 
  • Take photos and create a book of the different places and routines. Review this book throughout the summer. 
  • Spend time visiting the school over the summer, both outside and inside, to familiarize your child with the environment. 

• Practice School Routines and Expectations 
  • Practice daily school routines such as waiting in line, dressing and undressing, and unpacking their bag. 
  • Use resources like books and videos to help your child understand and articulate their feelings about the first day. 

• Start a Visual Countdown 
  • Use a calendar to cross off the days leading up to the first day of school. This visual representation can help ease anxiety about the unknown. 

• Start Conversations with the School Staff 
  • Reach out to the principal or teacher for a meeting before the first day of school. Share information about your child's strengths, needs, sensory sensitivities, behavioral challenges, and strategies to mitigate triggers.