Back-to-school transitions bring a lot of sudden change for students. They may face new routines, new teachers, new classmates, new expectations, and unfamiliar environments. For some students, especially those with autism, uncertainty like this makes the transition back to school particularly anxiety-inducing.
The good news? You don’t have to wait for challenging behavior to occur before offering support. Proactive strategies can go a long way in helping students know what to expect and building the confidence they need to navigate the day.
We asked our community of clinicians which strategies work best and paired their answers with five expert-backed strategies to try with your own students.
What Clinicians Say Works Best
Based on a poll of 2,000+ CentralReach clinicians
27.6%
Practicing routines ahead of time
26.5%
Giving a preview of school
20.4%
Letting them make choices
14.8%
Keeping communication open
10.7%
Turning transitions into a game
The takeaway: Preparation beats reaction. The top two strategies alone account for over half of all responses (54.1%) showing that clinicians are clearly leaning into "prep before it happens."
1. Connect With The Family
Connecting with families in advance gives educators and support staff an opportunity to gather valuable information and plan individualized supports for a smoother transition.
Caregivers can share information about areas of the day when the student is more likely to struggle, as well as insights about what types of support have worked in the past or may be worth trying. This information can help the team anticipate potential challenges and identify environmental changes that could serve as antecedent strategies. For example, if a caregiver shares that their child typically struggles with unexpected changes to their routine, the team can prepare a visual schedule or other supports to increase predictability.
2. Preview It First
Students may experience more anxiety when they don’t know what to expect. One of the most effective ways to reduce uncertainty is to give them a preview of what’s coming. Priming involves exposing students to the people, environments, materials, routines, and expectations they’ll encounter before they experience them in the moment.
"I always got my child to meet the principal and one security officer at the new school. This way, it gave my child the feeling of comfort to reach out to someone they had met in case of an emergency. This created the courage and ability for my child to feel safe." - CentralReach community member
If possible, consider offering an in-person tour before the first day. Walking through the building, seeing the classroom, locating the bathroom, or practicing the route to the classroom can make the environment feel less unfamiliar on the first day.
3. Practice the Routine
Knowing what will happen isn’t always enough to ease back-to-school anxiety. Many students also benefit from rehearsal or practicing what they’ll actually do. Encourage families to practice school routines through role-play at home or at school, if that’s an option. Students might rehearse arriving at school and entering the classroom, lining up, transitioning between activities, asking for help, or requesting a break.
Rehearse 5 summer highlights (favorite thing, new experience, movie, trip) so kids have answers ready for "what did you do this summer?" - Ben Knebel, M.A., NCSP
Priming and rehearsal work well together to add predictability. For example, a student might first look at photos of their classroom and review a visual schedule. Then, they can practice walking into the classroom and following the first few steps of the routine.
4. Offer Meaningful Choices
There are plenty of things in their day-to-day life that students don’t get to choose. Finding opportunities for students to make choices that are both meaningful to them and realistic within the classroom routine can help them feel more in control of their day.
Meaningful choices could be as simple as letting a student choose which task to complete first, selecting between two activities, or deciding where to sit. Consider using visual supports, such as a choice board or visual schedule, to help students understand their options and participate in decisions about their day.
"Letting kids express themselves and be who they want to be is the best way to instill confidence. They are already worried about meeting new kids, learning new things, and fitting in so allowing them to have that freedom of choice gives them one less thing to worry about." - RBT, CentralReach community member
Giving students some control doesn’t mean allowing them to avoid expectations altogether. Instead, it gives them an appropriate way to communicate their preferences and participate in decisions that affect them. This can be especially helpful when students are experiencing uncertainty or anxiety. Rather than feeling like everything is happening to them, students have opportunities to exercise some control over what happens next.
5. Look Beyond the Behavior
Even with proactive preparation, students may still experience some anxiety during the first weeks of school as they acclimate to new expectations. Anxiety can manifest in different ways, from crying and avoidance to asking repetitive questions or zoning out.
When challenging behavior occurs, it’s important to look beyond the behavior itself and consider what may be contributing to it. As Autumn Bailey explained, “Instead of simply asking, ‘How do I stop this behavior?’ consider asking, ‘What is this behavior telling me?’”
Pay attention to what’s happening before the behavior. Maybe the classroom got particularly noisy, there was an unexpected change to the schedule, or the student was expected to transition to a non-preferred activity. Identifying those antecedents can help you pinpoint where additional support is needed.
Don’t forget, behavior is communication. The key is to determine what the behavior is communicating and identify strategies that not only help the student feel more comfortable, but also give them an effective way to communicate their needs and how they’re feeling.
Empower Your Students With the Confidence to Transition Back to the Classroom
Back-to-school anxiety can’t always be prevented, but proactive preparation can help make the transition more manageable. Most importantly, remember that these strategies should be individualized. What helps one student feel prepared and confident may look very different for another.
"When you are prepared you feel confident, when you feel confident you show up and when you show up you Rock out!!!" - CR community member
Watch Combating Back-to-School Anxiety: ABA Strategies for Calm & Confidence for a deeper dive into practical tips for reducing uncertainty and helping students navigate the return to school.
Posted in Review
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