Supporting Your Child with Autism to Transition to School

Part 2: Choosing a School

Welcome to part two in our three part series on supporting your child with autism during their transition to school. In this series, we’ll be sharing insights from our insights from our teaching staff who have helped dozens of parents and children during this exciting and challenging time.

Our second post in this series will focus on how to choose the right school for your child, with insights from Lisa Rabie from our Bray Park Campus:

• What schools are there in your area? In the lead up to transition, we recommend you visit http://education.qld.gov.au/directory/schools/, enter in their postcode and get an idea of all of the local schools.
• When choosing a school for your child, you need to consider what type of school will suit your child’s needs best. There are a number of factors to consider, including:
  • The size and layout of the school,
  • Whether the school has a teacher’s aide or unit within the school that will be able to support the child’s needs,
  • How willing the school is to engage to support your child,
  • How easy the drop off and pick up logistics will be for you and your family
  • Playground supervision policies and security – is there a fence, if your child is prone to running?
• Advocate for your child – nothing is a silly question, and don’t be afraid to ask for extra support.
• Allow time to plan. Note, some schools will be happy to develop a transition program while others will prefer a child to commence full-time
• Take advantage of AEIOU support. We offer 2 x 2-3 hour visits to the schools of your choice, to help you make an informed decision, and we also encourage the school to visit us! Be sure to connect your child’s new teacher with their teacher at AEIOU. We can discuss transition plans with teachers and support staff, and are always available to offer continued phone and email contact with the school.

Remember, different years may present different challenges and as a family, your experience may change from year to year, or term to term.

 If you’d like more information about the transition from AEIOU to school, be sure to talk to your local centre manager or teacher, or download a free booklet prepared by AEIOU Foundation, in conjunction with Autism Queensland and the Queensland Government at http://education.qld.gov.au/asd-online-resource-kit/transition/transition_booklet.html

 This is our second post in our ‘Supporting Your Child with Autism to Transition to School’ series. You can also read Part 1: How do you know if your child is ready? Check in with us next week for the final post in our series, Helping Your Child Prepare for the Transition to School.