Back to school means new routines

So a new school year begins and we find ourselves getting up early in the morning and scrambling to get all things ready. Or do we? Well, I get up fine in the morning, Denver on the other hand, not so well. Even though I started getting up earlier and waking him up, the routine isn’t fully instilled yet. So, it will take some more work. Our first item of business in the morning is to get dressed. I meet with some resistance here but I set a timer to challenge him. It’s worked once so far, but we’re only two days in right?

Next we need to get our breakfast. Denver get’s to pick what he wants for breakfast so long as he gets moving in the morning and doesn’t create a crunch for time. We have plenty of Cheerios and that’s the fall back. So if he wants something else, he gets up and gets moving.

The only major challenge we’ve had with getting the new school year started, I could have avoided if I thought about it. Shoes. Denver has been wearing sandals for most of the summer. That became his routine, much like not wearing a coat or jacket. So when I brought out his shoes, we had a near meltdown. Oops. I slowly explained between protests that we weren’t wearing sandals to school and it’s time for us to wear our shoes. That means no more sandals for me either, until after school. Offering him the chance to wear his sandals after school seemed to help the situation and we were rolling once again.

New classes and new teachers are always a possibility for angst with autistic students. Denver get’s full props. He met his new teacher with a smile and friendly talk. He tackled his first day with flying colors. But this was just the beginning and I felt pretty nervous. Is it just the parents that get really nervous about these things? Maybe I worry too much.

When the time came to pick my lil man up from school. I waited outside the class room for the bell to ring. When he came out, the report was of a good day. I asked him what he thought of his first day. He used the word awesome with major exclamation. So we are off to a fine start for the school year. He likes his class and he’s with kids he knows.

Denver has been through a lot of heavy duty changes for an autistic child, but at least this didn’t have to change. With the school year off to such a great start, I find myself looking forward to the rest. I hope it’s just as good for the rest of you.