By Adrienne Cornwall and Abigail Dempsey
COLUMBIA, Mo. (July 1, 2015) — School is out, but summer’s break in routine can also come with challenges. For children with autism or special needs, changes to their daily schedules can mean a loss of social they may have gained during school or introduce anxiety and problem behaviors.
To make your family’s summer more successful, Thompson Center occupational therapist Brittney Stevenson suggests developing a continuation of your child’s school routine adapted to your home environment.
Is your child used to gross motor activities in the morning with a transition to quiet work in the afternoon? Or is your child accustomed to focused, independent tasks first things and getting moving after lunch? Are daily living skills incorporated into each task or in segments throughout the day?
Keeping in mind what has been successful for your child at school, you can follow a similar pattern of activity while adjusting the activities to ones easily done at home.
Click here for 4 types of summer activities to build into your schedule for children with autism and special needs.
Making a weekly plan, including a visual schedule your child can follow, can help decrease anxiety and give children a sense of order despite the school break, Stevenson said. Maintaining a regular schedule is also a great way to ease the transition back to school in the fall.
Perhaps you can take a daily walk around the neighborhood in the morning, playing a game of I Spy as you go, then return to complete some housework together before lunch and an afternoon of more structured activities. Or, start the morning completing a set chore list before setting off for an afternoon adventure, like a treasure hunt in the yard or transforming your sidewalk or driveway with colored chalk.
A balance of activities is ideal along with setting the expectation of what happens next.
“We all feel better when we know what’s coming,” Stevenson said. “It also keeps kids up with skills they’ve gained during the school year.”
Stevenson suggests offering simple choices for different categories of activity in your schedule, such as gross motor or sensory play, to help build your child’s sense of autonomy.
Since summer break can also mean an opportunity to visit far-flung families or places of interest on vacation, consider bringing your summer routine with you. The same neighborhood walk in a new location can be a more familiar route to exploring a new environment and give you a chance to meet your (temporary) neighbors.
For more tips on travel and vacation safety, click here.