The Journey before Primary School Part 2
The year leading up to school was intense for the Spartan. So if you read part one of our Journey before primary you would know that Leo attended two Early Childhood Services, one Autism specific while the other mainstream. He also attended Early Intervention 2x a week as well as Speech Therapy.
With such an insanely busy schedule I knew Leo would struggle in understanding his week as his comprehensive language was still very much delayed. To make it easier for the little guy I created a weekly visual schedule of his routine that outlined where he was going and who he would be seeing (pic below). This schedule worked beyond school transition and into his school schedule with bus pick ups and before and after school care. It was hard work to create but definitely beneficial!
When my eldest started school, I only had to worry about him adjusting to a large play area, where the toilets were and who to go to for help. With Leo however it was a lot more different.
The Spartan had the same challenges as any Kindergarten starting school, he just had to face them along with his Autism. The neurotypical child that attended an Early Childhood service before school, would have been supported to develop the necessary social, cognitive and self help skills to thrive in a school setting.
Leo enrolled in two services, was working on being able to communicate verbally and comprehend language to be able to follow instructions. He had very limited social skills and often demonstrated difficult behaviours (which was normal since he couldn’t understand anyone and no one could understand him). On top of this his fine and gross motor capabilities were under developed meaning he had some challenges in completing self help tasks like dressing himself, opening and closing containers etc. Can you see, the gap between my child and every other child that would be starting Kindergarten?
Like every mother I wanted my son to have a positive experience in school, to feel safe and included. So I knew I had to fill in the gap where I could.
So we created ‘Mummy and Leo picnic day’. This was my favourite day within our hustle. We got to spend time together and do fun things and give him the opportunity to breathe during it all. Picnic day was to help work on some of his underdeveloped self help skills. I know it’s supposed to be a breather day but it fit perfectly with our goals. On our picnic Leo was packed for a day of school. He had his bag, hat, drink bottle and lunch box.
As we relaxed under the sun we worked on building Leo’s self help skills. We had to work on a number of basic skills - zipping and unzipping his bag, opening his lunch box, opening food packets and containers.
We also had to work on remembering the process of keeping his belongings safe: take something out - close the bag, put something in - close the bag.
Being able to take yourself to the toilet, removing and placing on shoes and clothing were also crucial skills to develop before school. The Spartan had challenges in all these areas as it required more than 1 step instructions, which he often struggled with because of his severe language delay. So we worked on all these skills on a daily basis. Everyday and every moment was a teaching moment and we worked tirelessly around the clock to improve our Spartans development.
I remember thinking if all this extra effort would even work. And I can say with confidence that everything we have done up until now, even the little things has made massive impacts in Leo’s everyday life. Everyday I feared his future even until now, so I strive to always keep moving, keep fighting and give 100% of myself to being the best carer and advocate for my son.
We’ve come a long way ... and our journey continues!
