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| /August 24, 2007/ Back-To-School: Ideas for Difficult-To-Transition Kids and Children with Special Needs |
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Most children make the transition back to school with a minimum of worry and are ready and excited to begin a new school year. Children with special needs; learning, developmental or behavioral issues often greet the beginning of school with high anxiety. This anxiety can often exhibit itself in increased behaviors that can leave parents frustrated and bewildered. Read on for more information from Donna Shea, Director of the Peter Pan Center and Nadine Briggs, Founder of Social Smart Kids.
To greet with the school year in a more positive and successful light, Donna Shea, Director of the Peter Pan Center suggest that parents may want to explore the following:
- Resist the urge (especially with a behavioral child) to give into the desire to believe that the "fresh" start and enough time over the summer to grow a little more will have magically made school behaviors disappear. More often than not, those calls from a teacher regarding behaviors will occur. A more pro-active approach in finding out the "why" of the behaviors and working with the teacher toward the common goal of addressing those behaviors is often helpful. There are many "whys" of behavior, including but not limited to: anxiety in many forms, sensory integration issues and attention issues.
- Prior to school beginning, most teachers are in their classrooms preparing for the upcoming year. If your child is anxious about starting school or his new classroom, try to arrange a time to stop in and have your child meet his/her teacher early, visit his classroom; find her cubby and the cafeteria etc. Previewing the school can go a long way towards alleviating anxiety.
- If you are not intending to drive your child to school and he/she is concerned about riding the bus and finding the right teacher or classroom when they arrive at school, offer to follow the bus over on the first day or two of school and meet your child on the other end to help if needed once he or she arrives at school.
- Resist the automatic response if minimizing your child's anxiety and tell them he or she shouldn't worry and that everything will be fine….Even though as adults we know that is true, he or she IS worrying and needs to have that worry acknowledged and listened to.
- Provide the new teacher with a copy of your child's IEP or 504 Plan. Although these documents are required to be transferred from one classroom teacher to the next, omissions happen.
- You may also consider providing the new teacher with a detailed profile of your child including behaviors, strategies and quirks. A perfect version of this type of document can be downloaded onto your computer and edited specifically for your child - just click here.
- If your child dislikes school intensely, appears overly anxious and worried about school, or performance does not seem up to abilities or at the same level of his or her peers and you have not yet had a full learning evaluation by the school, scheduling one earlier in the year rather than later can save a lot of time and heartache for your child. A written letter to the Special Education Director requesting a TEAM evaluation will start the process.
- From personal experience with my own son, any child who is having difficulty writing and is told he or she is simply not willing to put pen to paper and could do it if he or she wanted to, may have a hidden visual-spatial learning difficulty. Another form of evaluation that can uncover learning difficulties and hidden disabilities is something called a neuropsychological exam. Make sure to check and see if it is covered by your insurance carrier - they can be quite costly.
- If your child is misbehaving more often as school approaches, chances are his or her anxiety is increasing. A great question to ask a child who is acting out is "are you worried about something?" before heading straight to disciplining the behavior. You may hear answers that surprise you, issues that can be talked about and dealt with and experience behaviors decrease.
Additional tips from Nadine Briggs, Founder of Social Smart Kids - Plan a get-together with new classmates to give the chance to socialize shortly after school begins or an end-of-summer party with old friends. Involve your child with the preparations and game-planning so they have something positive to focus on (unless, of course, this type of socializing is even more anxiety-producing for your child).
- Contact the teacher to find out how he/she helps children get acquainted with one another so you can share that information with your child.
- Help them to understand that all children are anxious at this time of year. Discuss a time when you were anxious and explain how you handled it.
- Find older children who have had the teacher that your child is assigned to so they can discuss the teacher's personality and how the classroom is run.
- Let your child know that if they are feeling extremely anxious once they are in the school that they can always discuss their feelings with the guidance counselors and teachers who are there to help them.
- If the level of anxiety seems extreme so that the child has repeated issues with eating, sleeping, etc. you may want to consider professional counseling. Contact your child’s pediatrician for a recommendation.
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