Holiday SOS

My ADHD for the Holidays got a nice response from Shirley, one of my readers, who suggested that parents could also use some suggestions for how to be proactive when their special ed students or ADHD children head out to school.  I'll give you a few, and then recommend that you send your parents to the sites of a couple of my colleagues and fellow guides at About.com, who write specifically for parents.

1. Prepare the night before.  Have you child choose their clothing for school, especially the program, the night before.  If the night before the program is a busy one with dance or karate classes, gather the program clothes ahead of time, and put a bag over the top of the hanger with a big festive "Christmas Program Clothing" tag taped to the front.
2. Put the present for the gift exchange in a bag and hang it by the book bags with a paper tag that labels what it is and the day it is to go to school.  Be sure it goes in the book bag the night before:  (John's School Gift.  December 22.)
3. Check in with the teacher to find if there is a way you can volunteer on one of the days before Christmas.  Instead of tears being the lasting memory of the day, maybe it would be worthwhile to take that vacation day from work.
4. Rehearse.  With children on the Autistic Spectrum, we might make a book with pictures, (a "Social Narrative") telling what will happen.  It might be as simple as telling Johnny a story at bed time: "It was Tuesday, December 22, and Johnny was excited about going to school.  Why was Johnny excited?" Johnny: "It's the day of the Christmas Party in Mrs. Jones' third grade!!"  "Johnny came down for breakfast, two steps at a time, he was so excited!  He ate his cereal and drank his juice, and after he brushed his teeth, he put on his jacket.  Wait!! What is hanging by the back door?  It is a Clifford Book bag, and what's inside?"  Johnny: "It's the gift for the gift exchange!."  You get the drift.

For sure, send parents to see some of the articles by  Terri Mauro, at  Special Needs Children, and Lisa Jo Rudy at Autism, for some great suggestions for success over the holidays.  Hey, it might not hurt to read them yourself, so you remember the kinds of challenges our parents face at the holidays!