5 Things Parents Of Neurodiverse Children Want To Do Now & This Summer.
With June approaching, I remember so well the feeling that the end of the school year was within reach.
No more homework. No more deadlines. No more math class. No more bus rides in the heat. Life was good.
No question the same holds true for kids today. And with almost 9+ months of school under their belts, many are simply out-of-steam. Ready to sleep late, relax, and unwind. They’ve earned it for sure. Teachers are counting the days too. And parents? They’re also about out-of-steam but are facing another tsunami of issues.
Childcare. The crisis continues.
Camp. Not as easy for many as an application and deposit aren’t always enough.
Cobbling together programs, day trips, vacations, time with family. Let’s not forget about after camp care. And yes, young teens need it too.
But then there are millions of parents facing “other” issues that all too often are neither seen nor supported, particularly when it comes to employers and especially with so many “return to office” mandates in effect.
These are the parents raising neurodiverse children and teens. Think autism, ADHD, mental health struggles, academic and learning issues. Just a handful of the questions and concerns these parents grapple with…
Will my child’s Extended School Year services meet their needs?
Will calls to school happen during these summer services because they’re struggling? Again.
Will the speech therapist or occupational therapist be there as expected?
Will my child’s aide, if your district has secured one, know about my child’s needs and how to support them?
But that’s not all. There’s another layer too. Like a multi-layer cake only these things lack the sweetness.
Private tutoring. Private therapies. Specialized camp programs. Doctor visits. Scheduling issues. Costs. Availability. Juggling work. Vacation. And often continued issues with depression, anxiety, social media concerns, and more.
And as if all of this wasn’t enough, we can’t forget about the needed preparation for the end of the school year and the start of summer programs and activities. New schedules, new people, new expectations, new transitions…a bevy of things that can upend life in a matter of days if not hours.
I remember thinking that when the last day of school arrived, I’d finally be able to take a break and a breath from the school year chaos. Yet these approaching summer months came with a combination of relief that school was over and knowledge that new challenges were about to define the “new normal” from June through early September. The stressors and worries were very real.
So with the end of school a few weeks away, there are some things you want to do before the last report card is issued…before cubbies and lockers are cleaned out…and before backpacks are emptied, many likely containing sandwiches from weeks ago and papers never returned.
If you’re the parent of a child with an IEP, the book isn’t closed when June arrives. It just has a bookmark in it and is turned over on your beach blanket awaiting your return from taking a walk or a swim, only to be turned back over again for the story to continue.
A few things to consider over the next month and during the summer:
- If you have an end-of-school year IEP meeting approaching, be sure to ask for and receive progress reports against your child’s IEP goals. More parents are telling me that they haven’t received them this year and along with this being non-compliant in terms of IDEA, you need to know if your child has made measurable progress based upon their goals. Progress reports need to be presented when report cards are.
- If you recently had the “final” IEP meeting of the year (and remember to convene your team again well before the annual date particularly if changes are needed or issues have emerged), review the document carefully, cross-referencing it against the prior one. You want to clearly understand, for example, what changes were made, if IEP goals are repeated, and what to prepare for when September arrives.
- Be sure you have reports from the therapists who have worked with your child this year — e.g. speech, OT. While these reports should be included even in an abbreviated fashion in the IEP, you want more details about your child’s progress to fully understand what they were working on this school year, what progress was made, and what will continue in the upcoming school year.
- If your child received social skills/social thinking services and support, you want to ask the speech therapist for the specific areas/topics that were covered if you don’t already have this information. The goal of these services is for the skills and learning to be generalized; i.e. to carryover to other environments; e.g. home, family gatherings, vacations. This means if a skill has been the focus this year, you want to be practicing it and providing opportunities for your child to use it over the summer. And take your own notes/data as well.
- And…be sure you receive progress reports both from ESY and your child’s summer private therapies and programs. You’ll want to share this information with school in your fall IEP meeting to document if progress was made, for example, with private reading support when little perhaps was made during the school year, or if new issues emerged during the summer as well.
Summer is great. But in reality, it’s often anything but a picnic for parents, particularly working parents, of children with special needs. Take a little time to decompress, but keep “that book” nearby and at the ready too.
Like the frigid wind hitting your face in the winter, September will be here before you know it.
And a quick side note.
If you’re the parent of a child from K-12, summer is a perfect time to “shore up” on your knowledge and parent advocacy skills related to school. I’ll soon be launching a new program with an accelerated masterclass which might be a fit.
And if you’re an HR leader or ERG facilitator, the masterclass would be an ideal session over the summer. Not only will it help your working parents learn or refresh the critical information they need to know to help their children who are struggling in school, but by strengthening their skills and competence, it will also help address the increasing mental health issues facing parents raising neurodiverse children.
If you’d like some details before the launch, please do e-mail me: Debra@debraischafer.com.
