Autism Disorders and Transition To and Through School: A Small Suggestion

Conor visiting and preparing for his transition from middle school to high school by visiting the grounds of the school and seeing the Leo Hayes High School building. I have commented on transition planning in the school system before and I don't know if what we did with our severely autistic, profoundly developmentally delayed son can be done under the new Department of Education and Early Childhood Development   policies   or the collective agreement negotiated by Finance Minister Higgs with CUPE Local 2745, the union representing aides.  The essence of what we did though was to show Conor what his next year would look like in advance of the changes.  When we were transitioning Conor to high school we took him for visits to Leo Hayes High School while he was still in middle school.  The aide who worked with him at middle school went with Conor for these meetings where he met his aides who would start with him at LHHS and faded out during some of the visits.  On weekends we simply took him to the school grounds to get used to seeing the school he would be at the next year.   We had done the same thing when Conor transitioned from Nashwaaksis Memorial (grade) School to Nashwaaksis Middle School.   For some students with autism visits to their next school may, as it did with Conor, help reduce their anxiety about the transition.  
Source: Facing Autism in New Brunswick - Category: Autism Authors: Source Type: blogs