I’ve read a couple of good articles with ideas to prepare younger kids with EBD and/or ASD to come back to school. This article focuses on social stories, which are great for elementary kids and lower-functioning secondary kids: https://www.iidc.indiana.edu/pages/How-to-get-your-child-with-asd-ready-for-a-new-school-year. But what about those higher-functioning teens? My students would poop their pants laughing if I tried to give them a social story about coming back to high school (an entirely different sort of social problem).

Here’s a short list of things you can do with higher-functioning teens who still need some extra help preparing to come back to school. This is stuff that my students are actually doing, and are telling me is reducing anxiety.

Tips For Students, By Students

1. Print out (or download to phone) the new class schedule. Identify teachers you already know (if any).
2. Even if you know the building, come up to school and “walk” your schedule daily between now and the start of classes. If teachers are around and receptive, stop and chat for a few minutes. Discuss any accommodations or needs with them yourself (self-advocacy!).
3. Find your locker and practice your combination until you have a it down cold.
4. Have a family meeting with your parent and your case manager to address goals and concerns for the coming year.
5. Identify appropriate places to go if you need to decompress during the school day (counseling office, behavior support room, etc.) and make sure you talk to your case manager about what the procedures are for using those spaces before the first day.
6. Even if you aren’t a freshman, come to Freshman Day if your school has one. It’s a good review of procedures for passing period, lunch, etc. and is a chance to come up to school on a less-academically-focused day to get used to being around crowds again.
7. Get together–in person, not via video game headset–with friends at least once before the first day so you can revive social connections you may have let slide over the summer.
8. Take your supplies up to school early and put them in your locker. Less to haul in on the first day back.
9. If you already have computer logins from a previous year, review them. If you’ve forgotten them, get them reset before the first day so you can log in to the grade book or Google classroom on the first try when school starts again.
10. Review your hygiene practices and get back in the habit of brushing teeth, wearing deodorant, making sure your clothes are clean, etc. before the first day of school.
11. An obvious one. Start going to bed a little earlier so the first morning won’t feel so hard.