Help Your Neurodivergent Child Have a Great New School Year by Dr. Emily Levy, Founder & Director, EBL Coaching
For some children, transitioning to a new school year is seamless. They look forward to seeing their friends, meeting their new teacher, and starting afternoon activities. Yet for other students, especially those who are neurodivergent, the transition to the new school year can feel stressful and overwhelming. Help your neurodivergent child have a great start to the school year with the ideas detailed below.
Set Routines
Your neurodivergent child may have gotten used to a more relaxed, laissez-faire summer. They likely enjoyed less structured days filled with play and outdoor fun. Yet the new school year calls for more structure and less free time. To help your child adjust to their new school year schedule, set up daily routines for them. Have them set an alarm for the same time each morning. Once they wake up, they should brush their teeth, get dressed, and have breakfast. Then they should check their backpacks to make sure they put away all of the correct materials they need for school. When they get home from school, they should head to their study space, take out their assignment book (which they should use regularly), and look at the homework they need to complete. They should come up with an order in which they plan to complete their assignments, and maybe even estimate how much time they think each one will take to complete. Once they are done with their homework, they should either turn it in electronically or put in their backpack to be turned in the next day – then have dinner and get ready for bed. With that said, work with your child’s preferences; if they prefer a snack or physical activity right after school before starting their homework, that’s fine! They might also like doing some homework before dinner and some after, and some kids may have sports practice or after school activities that need to be accounted for in their schedule. Their routine can be flexible but it should be consistent and they should try to follow it on a daily basis.
Create Visual Schedules
Neurodivergent children tend to respond well to visual schedules. Help your child create a visual schedule using the routine above that you created with them. For example, you might use a large poster board and write at the top “wake up” with a picture of an alarm clock next to it. Underneath that you might write brush teeth (with a picture of a child brushing their teeth), then get dressed (with a picture of a child getting dressed), eat breakfast (with a picture of a breakfast item), and so on. You may want to create a similar visual schedule for their after school routine, including checking their assignment book, working on their homework, going to an activity, eating dinner, etc. Creating a visual schedule with images can help your child have a better understanding of their plan for the day and week.
Dedicated Work Space
Help your child create a study space where they will complete their homework on a regular basis. You don’t want them wandering around your home each day trying to figure out where to work. They might prefer to work in their bedroom; if so, set up a desk in their room with all supplies they need for completing their homework. If they prefer working in a common area, like a kitchen or dining room table, that works too – just make sure it’s a designated spot and help them create a portable supplies bin that they will take to and from their room with all the supplies they need. If they plan to work in a common area, you may want to consider having them wear headphones when doing their homework to avoid any distractions.
Teacher Communication
Once your child settles into the new school year, you should set up a time to meet with their teachers, ideally in person, but a virtual meeting or phone conversation could work too. Tell them about your neurodivergent child, including strategies that have or have not worked for them in the past. If your child has an IEP or 504 plan, make sure their teacher receives a copy of it and reviews it to learn more about your child. Also try to set up a plan for communicating on a regular basis – perhaps once per month check-ins or regular emails, and make sure they know to contact you if your child is having any particular struggles. If your child works with other service providers, like a speech therapist, occupational therapist, or specialized tutor at school, you may want to set up similar meetings and methods of regular communication.
The transition to the new school year can be challenging for neurodivergent students. Try using these strategies with your child to help ease this transition and help them have a stellar new year.
EBL Coaching specializes in one-on-one in person and virtual tutoring for students in grades pre-K-12 with specialized learning needs. They use research-based, multi-sensory techniques, including the Orton Gillingham method, to develop students’ reading, writing, math, note taking, test taking, and executive functioning skills. Each student is evaluated and then receives an individualized learning plan to address their specific academic needs. Learn more at http://www.eblcoaching.com/. Dr. Emily Levy, Founder & Director, is happy to hear from anyone who is in need for their child. You may reach her thru her website, and mention you heard of her thru MotherhoodLater.
