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Back To School Essentials
Can you believe that we are almost at the end of the summer holidays? Blink and before you know it, that school alarm clock goes off and it's a mad panic trying to remember how you ever fit everything you needed to do into that pre-school drop-off.
Transitioning back to school can be a difficult time for any child, but it can be even more anxious for autistic children. Changes in routine, new teachers, surroundings and even just the thought of putting on a school uniform can heighten emotions and cause anxiety.
As my son is now well into his 20's the days of school alarms are well gone, but I do have vivid memories of the challenges we faced. To help ease the transition for you and your child, i've pulled together a list of the best back to school products that helped ease our anxieties and made mornings a little less fretful for the whole family.
Morning Preparation
The key here is plan ahead! Try and get as much done as you can the night before. This gives you more time to deal with anything thrown at you.
We really benefitted from the following;
- Visual Timetables & Transition Boards - showing the morning routine with clear symbols helped my son prepare for the day and manage expectations. Keeping a consistent routine can be a great comfort for autistic children, the familiarity can really help reduce anxiety.
- Timers - a multi-use product that can be used for almost anything! We found it particularly helpful in setting the time for key activities e.g. brushing teeth, getting dressed, putting shoes and coat on.
- Communication fans - great for helping non verbal children and adults convey emotions and feelings. It helped my son show us how he was feeling, giving us a understanding of how to help him, and to predict any meltdowns.
- Sensory Hug Shirts - these are brilliant for children (and adults) who really benefit from deep pressure touch. Wear them on their own or under school uniform. The gentle pressure provides a comforting hug, great for calming.
- Sensory Chews - absolute MUST-HAVE product. We made sure we had a variety of chews to hand; tags on his school bag, stickman on a safety lanyard around the neck, tubes on his hoody toggles.
The School Journey
Getting a good home-to-school routine takes careful planning, consistent routines and a calm supportive environment. Our blog 'mastering the home to school routine' offers some simple but effective steps to consider when forming your own home to school routine. They’ve been a great help to us over the years, and we hope they do the same for you.
Top products that helped us on the school journey were;
- Home to school routine fan; with clear, easy to read symbols it helped show my son how we would be getting to school and the steps involved. We did test runs of the journey beforehand, using this fan as a support and this really helped reduce anxiety and unpredictability.
- Ear Defenders; our school journey involved walking by busy roads. The loud, unpredictable nature of the traffic was very distressing for my son, so wearing his ear defenders helped reduce these sounds, making the journey more comfortable. For older children or teens, you could also try sensory ear plugs.
- Quality Fidget Toys; if you're anything like us then you have fidget toys all around the house! Popping a tangle in the school bag or holding a marble maze fidget whilst on the walk to school helped improve my sons concentration and focus.
- Weighted Hoody or Jacket; these are fantastic discreet weighted solutions, perfect for fashion conscious teens and young people. They're great to wear on the school run, the deep pressure has a calming and organising effect on the body.
After School Wind down
This stage of the day was by far the hardest for us to navigate. My son often came home over stimulated with endless energy and a desperate need for a safe release.This was largely brought on by the new school day routine, the expectation to behave in a certain way and in-frequent sensory breaks to alleviate built up energy. It's a lot easier to introduce more breaks when you're at home!
Coming home in this state often meant that we felt the brunt of his frustration. However with plenty of support (and lots of trial and error) we were able to create an after school wind down with some key tools to help him release his frustration and feel more grounded.
Product Suggestions
Key products we used were:
- Weighted Lap Pads; if you're travelling by car, bus or train then a weighted lap pad can be a great comfort. Designed to apply calming deep pressure across the lap, they're safe and portable. We found these particularly helpful at the end of the day to reduce anxiety. As soon as we got in the car, I put the lap pad across my sons lap and it helped him relax. You could also try a weighted animal for the same calming effect.
- Body Socks - great for whole body movement. My son could jump in his body sock and push and pull against the fabric providing resistance and sensory feedback. This helped reduce his frustration. On warm days he could do this outside for additional sensory feedback (smells, sounds) but could easily be used to the same effect inside when it's wet.
- Bean Bags - fantastic for flopping into after a long day. Comfortable and supportive it meant my son could sit and look at a book or play on his tablet to help him de-stress. If he was particularly over-stimulated we added a weighted midi blanket. The deep pressure therapy provided extra comfort, like a reassuring hug.
- Sensory Dens & Lights; The dark surroundings of a den and soft sensory lights provide a safe, comfortable space to unwind in. I found dens particularly helpful when my son was over-stimulated or needed help grounding.
Hopefully this article gives you some different products to try with your child. If there's anything else you've tried with your child we'd love to hear from you. Please get in touch via our facebook or instagram pages.
By Andrew Caws
Managing Director of Sensory Direct & Parent of an Autistic Adult
July 2024