Transitions

Transitions, big and small, are something that parents of kids with autism think about a lot! Transitions are hard for our kids (as a general rule).  Here are some ways we help Mikey.  Maybe some of these ideas will help your child as well.

Timers

For transitions in daily life, we often use timers.  We let Mikey know that he’ll need to go up to bed in ten minutes. He sets a timer on his iPad and then he is prepared for this transition in his day.

Social Stories

For bigger events, like a vacation or a business trip for a parent, we use social stories. We let Mikey know that he will have a babysitter or that our family will be going away and staying at a hotel. It lets him know what to expect and better prepare himself for the change in expectations.

Visits

For bigger transitions, like moving from elementary to middle school, more is needed. We worked with Mikey’s school team to schedule the middle school staff to come meet him in the elementary school environment. Then he got to go visit the middle school a couple of times in June. We wrote him a social story as well.

Lastly, his school had Mikey start middle school during the summer session (the extended school year or ESY) so that the building and teachers were new to him, but the environment was much less crowded and more quiet.  We let him acclimate in stages…first the building, teachers and routines, then the crowded hallways of 5^th-8^thgraders. I’d want some time to build up to that chaos myself. Wink.