Is Your Child Ready for School? 5 Signs to Consider
September 20, 2022
September 20, 2022
It should be a fun time of year. Many children just entered preschool or kindergarten and are settling into new routines with backpacks and lunch boxes in tow, connecting with new friends and teachers, and already planning after-school activities. Unfortunately for some families, it is not always this simple.
All children will encounter new challenges when heading to school, especially if it is the first time, but some students may experience extra obstacles for which they need a little more help to overcome. Beyond academics, school presents social, emotional and behavioral situations, and some kids may not be developmentally ready to handle them without the proper supports in place.
If there seem to be challenges that are holding your child back from being more successful in school, we advise looking into them immediately. While it’s true some children just have a tougher time adjusting than others, it could be something deeper, like a developmental delay or autism spectrum disorder (ASD), which could highly benefit from interventions like applied behavior analysis (ABA therapy). Think of ABA as the training wheels on a new bicycle.
To help guide parents in the right direction, we created a list of five signs to watch out for that could suggest setting up a diagnostic evaluation. As with all signs of autism, none of these alone mean your child is on the spectrum. However, all are worth discussing with your pediatrician so you can work together to find the solution that gives your child his or her best shot at success in school and life in general.
For children with autism, new school routines can be intimidating and trigger anxiety.
Starting school is a big deal for kids and autism doesn’t have to slow them down. Let us help get your child off on the right foot!
Bottom line: challenges in school are not always stemmed from someone “just” learning a little more slowly, being an introvert, or acting more immaturely than peers. There could be a reason behind it all that you can find to help lift them up to their full potential!
You have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Arm yourself with the information you need to make the next decision. A screening or assessment can help you determine strengths and weaknesses, whether or not the result is autism. Once you have the knowledge, you can decide whether to add academic or behavioral supports in school, or try out an ABA therapy or speech therapy program for a while so your child can get extra attention around building the proper skills for a transition to school.
Give your kiddo the tools to help him or her thrive in school. By discovering and advancing their skills in an autism therapy center like Hopebridge, it can ultimately lead to more success inside the classroom. Therapists can work on skills like joining circle time, sitting in a chair for long periods of time, eating independently at lunch time, following a schedule and connecting more fully with friends. While seemingly small, these goals can add up to a stronger education now and over a lifetime.
Ready to take the next steps? We want to help your kiddo succeed in the classroom. Reach out to us so we can help with school preparation.
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