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Transitions and anxiety

ParentingAutism

Hiya, hope you are all well. I just need a bit of advice on how to make changes easier...

My daughter is Year 10 and after half term, she is moving class to go into Year 11. As well as this, she will have a different timetable and different teachers teaching her. Are there any tips/advice on how to help her? 

My main worry is the first morning back, because she has previously expressed her anxiety by throwing knives and kicking off. But this time it's a bigger change. She has frequent meltdowns and shutdowns when things get too much in school. What do I do if it happens with the new teachers because majority of the time no-one realises she's in a shut down. 

What do I do to calm her and what help school can give her? 

  • in reply to Pikl

    Thank you. She just got a copy today and her senco went through it with her during their session. She said it seems alright and she can meet the new teachers before it happens and the school just ordered fidget toys for the pupils in her class, which should arrive soon. 

  • Do you have a copy of the new timetable, if not then ask the school for it. Go through it with your daughter so that the changes are expected. Ask her what she will need for each day, give her a sense of control. 

    Does she use fidget toys? There are lots of different types depending on which sensory feedback she prefers. This could help your daughter to self soothe when she is beginning to feel overwhelmed. 

    Hope this helps.

  • in reply to ParentingAutism

    ParentingAutism,

    The first thing you want to do is give your daughter an advanced notice about what's going to change, then she can be more prepared and ready when the change comes.

    Concerning meltdowns, once someone's gone into a meltdown there's no stopping it, they are letting everything that's overloading them out and need to shut down and turn the world off to cool down.

    All you can do with meltdowns is try to figure out what's triggering them so she can avoid triggering environments and situations. On a documentary I watched an ASD specialist said I quote, "the more overwhelmed and overstimulated they are, the more they try to control." end quote. 

    You need to find out what overwhelms and overstimulates her and help avoid it.

  • What do I do about the shutdowns and meltdowns in school as well as the change? Any ideas are appreciated