How to help your Aspergers child at mainstream school

In this article I want to give some basic and easy to
follow tips to help parents when their child is starting
at school. As with so much in life preparation is the key and
so you want to be taking action long before the first bell
on the first day. Before the school year starts, you
should take your child to the school for a trial run.
Just so he or she can meet their teacher and learn
what their day may look like.

This is also an excellent opportunity for you to “scout”
around the school and look for potential challenges and
positives. Pay attention to things like physical room sizes,
the number of pupils per class, color and light issues around
the school. You know best your child’s issues and
mannerisms so bear them in mind when you walk
around the school. But don’t overwhelm yourself trying
to look out for EVERYTHING on the first visit. Just think
about 1 or 2 particularly important issues for your child
and keep an eye out for things related to them (e.g.
if your child hates crowds look at the classroom and break
time set-up if you can). If you aren’t sure then ask your
child before you go “what are the 2 most annoying things
about school? or “is there anything you are afraid about the
new school?”

When you visit it is a good time for you to introduce
yourself to the teacher and let them know that you are
there to help; providing just a basic overview of your
child and what works best for them, as far as you know.
Recognize that the teacher will have a number of children
to deal with and that they want to help your child, but
they may need to do things differently than you have at home.
Let the teacher know that you are willing to support your
child with homework assignments or any other projects
that may come up. Be an advocate for your child but
don’t overwhelm the school or make demands on them
that make it impossible for them to care for other children
as well.

Also try to set up a practical means of communication
with the teacher for when your child starts. For younger
children this can be a “communication book” going back
and forth between home and school. For older children
it may mean swapping email addresses or mobile phone
numbers with the various teachers that your child may be
taught by. In my experience email is the best way as
it’s instant and does not rely on people remembering to
pass phone messages to teachers – or teachers
remembering to read and act on those messages!

Simple and effective communication systems are essential
particularly at High School age. If you don’t do this you
can spend days trying to get hold of the teacher by
leaving phone messages at the school. In the mean time
behaviors may have got worse and also it becomes more
difficult to understand and resolve problems the longer
they are left for.

If your child is to be mainstreamed, they are likely going
to need an aid with them throughout most of their
mainstreamed classes. This person will be there to help
them with difficult work and also monitor your child for
overload; allowing them the opportunity to remove your
child from the classroom prior to them displaying
inappropriate behavior. Inappropriate behavior in the
classroom is only going to make them a target for other
children and it will serve them well to avoid that possibility.

So to summarize this article you should arrange to
visit the school in plenty of time before the school
year starts. When you visit remember to look for
potential issues for your child and communicate with
the teacher your willingness to work with them (and
exchange contact details).

Copyright © 2007 Dave Angel