Preparing for school

Back to school is an especially hard time of year for parents of children with special needs. That is not to diminish the anxiety of parents of neuro- typical children. Many parents worry about the first days of a new school year.

In our house we have a lot to think about and prepare for before that first day. This is Jayce’s first year in preschool. We had to have two meetings with the preschool before the first day.

First meeting was with supported child development and his Behavioral interventionist who will be with him full time while he is at preschool. We had to talk about the routine of preschool. I wrote a list of signs and PECS (Picture exchange communication system) that I needed to prepare over the summer. It was also for me to see if the preschool felt like a right fit for him. It was the third preschool I had talked to, and it was the first time I heard, “we are so happy to have Jayce in our school. We are so excited about all the new things we are going to learn from having him in our classroom.” It felt so great to know they wanted him there.

Second meeting was a week before school started. That was so good for Jayce, gave him a chance to explore the space. He cry’s if you drive somewhere he’s not used too, so he did cry when we went there for the meeting. But this morning when I dropped him off for his first day, there were no tears, only giggles, because he remembered where we were going.

Our second meeting was with his local SLP and our early interventionist from BC family hearing in Vancouver. She was able to go into detail about his cochlear implants. There are two components of a cochlear implant. The external sound processor and the implant that is surgically placed underneath the skin and attached to an electrode that’s inserted in the inner ear (cochlea). She even brought the internal implant to show them what it looks like. We talked about how when his CI is off he is completely deaf. How if there is a lot of background noise he will not be picking up individual voices well or at all. We talked about how we can reduce the background noise the best we can. He’s in a class with eighteen kids so it’s going to be loud, but it’s nice for the adults to be aware that the louder it is the less he is going to hear and understand.

You spend your meeting’s with your child’s school trying to explain your child’s profile, is basically one way to put it. You will talk about your child’s learning styles. Your child’s characteristics, what is motivating for him. What is hard for him. There is the deaf part and the ASD part. How does one influence the other. You prepare the teachers the best you can so that their expectations are meeting his abilities. We explained that it is very important to use sign, PECS, and spoken language, consistently when communicating with jayce. Always communicate with him even if you don’t see a response. Always include him.

A parent with a child with special needs has a lot to do, and a lot to think about to give them their best chance at a successful school year. You are your child’s voice, their therapist, an advocate, and educator, the list goes on. I don’t talk about autism for sympathy or pity. I talk about it to open a door into our lives. You truly have no idea, until your living it. I sure didn’t. Hopefully talking about it will help others understand. I just want acceptance for children with disabilities. All of us parents are working hard to raise amazing kids. So, let’s just all be kind to each other and hold the judgment. ✌️