( Everyday Life with Autism )

Dear Parents,

This message is not aiming to burden you further with more efforts or worries. It is rather a call for co-operation with school to get the best out of the time your child spends in school.
Here are some simple tips that can save you and the educators a huge amount of time and effort, that would alternatively be invested in learning.

1- Make sure your child gets enough sound night sleep and is ready to start the morning on the right foot.
Some kids arrive in the classroom and collapse on the their desks or in a corner in the classroom for hours. Others are too tired to be in a good shape for more than 2 to 3 hours. How can a student benefit from any teaching if the basic need (sleep and rest) is not met? Or she/he is not even attending?

2- Make sure your child eats breakfast before going to school.
Some kids come to school on an empty stomach and start complaining of hunger and turn irritable and grumpy before snack time. How can we teach a student in a bad mood not ready to listen to anything but his tummy cry out? Some of them who cannot wait for recess get up and grab their snack and start eating creating chaos in the classroom. The classmates start asking for the same thing even if they were not hungry.

3- Make sure your child has enough time to use the restroom and get all his biological needs met.
Some kids get dropped off in school and go straight to the restroom to spend a good 15 to 20 minutes to respond to nature’s call. Can we stop them? Of course not. It would be inhumane and too messy too. If your child has naturally his bowel movement in the morning, please allow her/him enough time in the morning to do so. It is very stressful for anybody to hold on to such a need for a long bus ride, and then been asked to go straight to the classroom to start another learning day.

4- Make sure your child has enough time to get dressed, put shoes on, prepare backpack, lunch box, musical instrument, sports gear,…
If you are training your child to learn how to dress and put her/his shoes on by her/himself, allow enough time for that so nobody is stressed out in the morning. It might be also a good idea to practice at other times when the clock is not ticking.
Prepare clothes, and lunch and snack the night before. Leave the backpack and coat by the door. In the morning you just have to pick them up and go.

5- Please arrive on time. Late arrival means disruption for the entire class, in addition to missing instruction time.
Some parents like to feed their kids big breakfast. No problem, wake them up a little bit earlier, to allow them to eat their meal in peace and arrive on time to school.
I can tell you kids who arrive late are usually in a very bad mood because they feel that they are different and it breaks their routine and become derailed for the rest of the day.

These simple tips simply require some organization and discipline on your part as a parent. On the other hand this discipline will bring a lot of peace and smooth start of the day. Help your child get the homework and shower done early enough. Watching TV should be earned and regulated.
Use schedules and timers throughout the day it will help you get the job done.
I am not trying to put any pressure on parents, it is the exact opposite, discipline will relieve you from stress you do not need.

nadia shanab

Tags: asperger's syndrome, autism, communication, consequences, discipline, flexibility, health, independence, organization, parenting, schedule, sensory, techniques, tips