Knowledge when choosing….schools
I planned the timing of this buzz blog for a very specific reason. Depending on where you live, there may be a lot of young children with a diagnosis of Autism who receive Early Intervention Services that will be ending before the new school year starts. With this being said, you are probably having meetings with your school district about options and openings in various schools, hearing a lot of information and being encouraged to tour different schools as soon as possible because openings for specific school programs can be limited. I have experienced this time of year with many parents for years and know this chapter all too well. This can be EXTREMELY OVERWHELMING and frankly REALLY SCARY for parents who have children with special needs.
Right now, there are many parents trying to plan and get ready for this next chapter in their child’s educational journey. Questions about whether or not to have your child take a bus to school, what kind of communication will the school have with me about how my child does each day, the set up and ratio of adults per children, etc., are just some of the MANY questions and wonders that parents have both when choosing a school and when the time to have their child transition to a school approaches.
I know I have said this a lot recently, but this is truly another reason why I have created Aut 2 Bee Learning for parents. I have witnessed many times over the years, the pain and struggles that parents go through when they have this decision come their way. The emotions that move like a roller coaster up and down regarding the fears that they have for their child who may not communicate well, have difficulties with social exchanges and perhaps engage in maladaptive behaviors that interfere with learning, be sent to a place that’s totally unfamiliar to them and to people that do not know them very well yet. As a parent myself, I felt concern about the unknown when my own children went off to school for the first time, but for a parent that has a child with special needs, it is hard to imagine, nor would I claim to know, the level and intensity of worry and how deep their fears go given the variables I just mentioned.
It is because I have had the privilege of working with so many wonderful parents and their children, that I wanted to show you that I have listened to YOU and that I am here to show you support for when choosing a school for your child comes your way. I have created something to help you if suddenly you find it hard to think or speak because of the different emotions you are feeling when choosing a school for your little or even older child. It’s something I created to help you when you interview and tour schools that will provide you with questions you can ask so that if you get stuck, you can refer to this to help keep you on track and gather information, even when you forget what to ask. This is a resource that can be used over and over again for however many schools you look at, so that you can make the best informed decision possible, because you have all the information you could think of to help you when it’s time to make a decision about what school you will choose for your child. Subscribe and click below to receive this free resource that I created specifically for parents to use.
Best—Sue
***Aut 2 Bee Learning is a new parent resource for anyone that knows and loves someone with Autism and related Developmental Disabilities. It provides resources, helpful tips and suggestions from my over 20 years experience teaching parents and their children. It will offer you useful resources and tools that I created especially for parents and caregivers in mind, that could be used over and over again.
***If you haven’t subscribed, please remember to do so and pass along the word about us to others that you feel would be interested and want to learn more. Also if you have any questions or suggestions about topics of interest that you would like me to write about, please email me at susan@aut2beelearningllc.com. I would love to hear from you!