Preparing an autistic child for a new school year: a four-week plan

A new session changes almost everything at once: the class teacher, the classroom, sometimes the floor or the building, often some classmates when sections are reshuffled, the timetable, the books, the uniform size, the bus route or timing, and sometimes the shadow teacher. After a long holiday, sleep and screen routines have loosened too. Many autistic children rely on knowing what comes next, and a first morning that changes ten things at once asks a great deal. The plan below spreads those changes over four weeks.

Timing depends on the school. In many Indian schools where the session starts in April, the new class runs for only a few weeks before the summer holiday, so it helps to plan a shorter second round before school reopens. Where the session starts in June, the long holiday comes first, and the four weeks fall at the end of it.

Start by asking the school for what you need to prepare the child: the class teacher's name and a photograph, the classroom and section, the first week's timetable, the uniform list, the bus details, the date of the first day and any orientation or half days. Ask for a visit before term. Schools are busy at this time of year, so ask early, ask the inclusion coordinator rather than the office, and put the request in writing.

At home, put a calendar where the child will see it, with the first day marked and each day crossed off, so the start is expected rather than sudden. Begin moving bedtime and waking earlier in small steps every few days, with breakfast and lights-out moving too; one big change the night before rarely works. Bring screen time back towards term-time rules at the same pace. If sleep has been difficult for a long time, talk to the child's developmental paediatrician rather than trying to solve it in a month.

A visit when the building is quiet turns the new classroom from an idea into a place. Walk the route the child will take on the first day: the gate, the stairs, the classroom, the toilet, the water point, the place the bag and bottle go, and where they will line up for the bus or meet the car. If the child is moving to a new building within the same school, walk that route too. Keep the visit short and end it before the child is tired.

With the school's permission, take photographs of each of these places and of the class teacher, and make a small photo book or a folder on a tablet. Look at it together for a few minutes each day at a calm time, naming the places and the people. If a visit is not possible, ask the school to send photographs or a short video, and walk or drive past the building so that at least the outside is familiar.

A social story is a short, true description of what will happen and what the child can do, often written in the child's own voice and read together beforehand. For a new class it might cover arriving at the gate, meeting the new teacher, finding the seat, the bell, lunch, and what the child can do if things feel too loud. Keep it to a few pages with the photographs from the visit, say what usually happens rather than promising what always will, and read it daily. Visual schedules and social stories at home explains how to write one.

Then practise the physical parts. Wear the new shoes and uniform around the house for short periods, then longer; wash new clothes several times and cut out labels if they bother the child. Pack and unpack the new bag. Open and close the new lunchbox and water bottle at the table, and eat a school-sized lunch in the time the school allows. Cover and label the new books together, as many families do anyway, so the books are familiar before the first lesson.

The new class teacher will have a whole class to meet in the first week. A one-page profile, handed over with the coordinator before term, gives them what they need to know about your child in the time they have. Keep it to a single page with a photograph, and give copies to the specialist teachers and the bus attendant too.

• The name the child likes to be called, and how they communicate.
• What they love, which the teacher can use to connect with them.
• What is hard, and the early signs that they are becoming overwhelmed.
• What helps: the seat, headphones, breaks, the signal and the safe place.
• How instructions work best, for example short, visual and with their name first.
• Anything in the IEP the teacher should apply from the first day.
• Who to call, and how the family prefers to hear about the day.

In the same week, rehearse a full school morning once or twice at real speed: waking, dressing in the uniform, breakfast, the bag, the walk to the bus stop or the car. Keep the rest of the week calm, without new outings or visitors. If the school holds a meeting before term, preparing for a school meeting covers what to bring and what to ask.

Where a child's shadow teacher is changing, the handover is the part of the plan most often skipped. It needs a meeting, in person or by video call, and a written note: what works, what does not, the triggers and early signs, the prompts the child currently needs and the ones they have outgrown, the daily note format, and the relationships with teachers and classmates that took a year to build. Where the school agrees, a few days of overlap with both adults present is better still.

The most common loss in a handover is independence. A new shadow teacher who does not know that the child now walks to the computer lab alone will walk beside them, and the child will let them. The note should list what the child now manages alone, so the new person starts there; when a shadow teacher should step back describes the levels of help. If the same shadow teacher is continuing, they should meet the new class teacher before the first day. If there is a gap between one leaving and the next starting, temporary shadow teacher cover can bridge it.

The first week is about settling, not catching up. Plan it in advance with the school and the shadow teacher, and keep everything outside school as quiet and predictable as possible.

1. The night before: the bag packed, the uniform laid out, the social story read, an early bedtime.
2. Day one: arrive at a quieter time if the school allows, keep the goodbye short and familiar, and hand over to the shadow teacher or class teacher.
3. Days two to five: the same drop-off each day, a visual schedule for the school day, and support raised a little for the week, with a date for bringing it down.
4. Afternoons: no tuition or new activities; a snack, rest and something familiar.
5. End of the week: a short conversation with the class teacher and the shadow teacher about what went well and what to adjust.

Ask for the shadow teacher's daily note from the first day, and read it for patterns rather than single incidents. If a new shadow teacher is starting through Special Minds, the school will have been contacted before the placement, and the first review falls at the end of the first week.

A difficult start is common and does not mean the year will go badly. Children often hold themselves together at school and let go at home, so the hardest signs may appear in the evening: tiredness, tears, more meltdowns, refusing to go in the next morning, sleeping or eating less well, or talking constantly about the old teacher. Keep the routine steady, keep goodbyes short, and change one thing at a time rather than something new every day.

Look at the pattern with the shadow teacher and the class teacher each week. A trigger that recurs, such as a seat near the door, the corridor at lunch or a particular lesson, can usually be adjusted. Plan ahead for the first unit tests and sports day practice. If distress grows rather than eases after the first few weeks, if sleep or eating change markedly, or if your child says something about school that worries you, raise it with the school and with the child's psychologist or developmental paediatrician. Meltdowns at school covers the plan for the hardest moments.