For many educators, students, and families, August brings major transitions as a new school year begins. While it’s an exciting time, the frequency and intensity of change can increase stress for many autistic students. In this month’s newsletter, we’re sharing our top tips for navigating change.

With evidence-based tools and resources ready, you’ll help students grow as they move through even the most unpredictable elements of major transitions like the start of a new school year. Check out our strategies and resources for preparing your students, your team, and your environment!

Prepare With Your Students

• Use social stories to introduce key transitions. Themes First! units now feature two leveled introduction stories with animated videos to kick off each monthly theme! Read our "Back to School: Vincent's Learning Adventure" introduction story (English | Español) with students, and/or watch the animated video to see an example of a character's successful transition back to schools.
• Encourage students to observe and monitor their emotions during daily routines like morning meeting. Our Emotion Check-In Chart (English | Español) offers a simple and routine-based system to prompt students to reflect on how they feel at school, helping you know how to approach change throughout the day.
• Be intentional about normalizing difficulty with change—it can be tough for all of us! Use the "When Things Change" discussion story (English | Español) from our SOLER curriculum to encourage the conversation.

Prepare With Your Team

• Consistency is key: Create staff schedules to help all adults and students experience the benefits of predictable timing in roations and other essential routines.
• Spend some time reviewing examples of best practices in transition support. We know your time is limited—Media Center subscribers will find short demonstrations of leveled interventions for functional routines in our training video library.
• Our rotating content can help you keep rotations and group time running smoothly. Save time in planning: Differentiation is already provided in Themes First! units and Links Academic Teaching Units!

Prepare Your Environment

• Establish and share clear expectations for daily routines like transitioning between activities, snack, and mealtime, circle, and arrival and departure. Implementing strong functional routines creates a predictable structure in the classroom from the beginning of the year.
• Use visual supports like sequence strips to introduce and practice expectations during functional routines and group activites at school. Our sequence strip template for going to and leaving school (English | Español) allows you to customize the arrival and departure steps your students need to practice most!
• Post schedules in accessible locations for students in your classroom. Some students will benefit from a picture schedule (English | Español), and some will be ready for a written schedule (English | Español). Adjust the schedule template used to match each student's level, and consider allowing students to participate in creating it.

A new school year is just the start—there are transitions to navigate every day and every week throughout the year. Meaningful support through each change helps students adapt to new systems, people, and environments so they have access to the learning opporunities each transition introduces!