In this video, I'm sharing 5 hacks for autism and school refusal.
We've all been there.
Buckle up.
Hey guys, welcome back to the aspie world.
My name is Dan I have autism ADHD, OCD, and dyslexia, and I make weekly
videos on this type of content.
So if you're new around here and you'd like to learn more, remember
to subscribe by hitting the notification bell and follow this
page to see more videos like this.
Hey guys, just want to give a shout out to today's video sponsor, which is
Brillia , now Brillia are super awesome.
They got in touch with me and said that they have this
super awesome thing for ADHD.
And I was like, I'm all ears.
Right?
So anyway, um, yeah, they sent me a bunch of these things.
It's a non-prescription homeopathic medicine that you can take to like
low stress and kind of like help with ADHD symptoms and things like that.
And this is why I wanted to try it.
So my idea is that I'm going to take these.
Awesome little, um, I'll show you exactly what they look like.
These little kind of like discs, they just dissolve into your tongue.
Right.
And I'll be taking these.
I've had like a week's worth already or more than that.
And these are really, really cool.
So I'm going to take these four to five weeks to see if they can
help reduce my kind of anxiety, my ADHD symptoms and things like that.
Uh, brilliant is really, really cool.
They all seem really nice.
And they do a version for adults and children.
So this one is obviously for asults cause I'm taking it.
Um, but it's really, really, really cool.
So this is again like a non prescription homeopathic medicine and you know,
there's no real harmful side effects.
This thing is really, really interesting.
So I was like, Hey, let's give it a shot and see how it works.
So join me on my journey.
I'll be checking in with you guys every like week or so to let you
know how I'm getting on with this and see what the results are and
if it can benefit you in your life.
In the meantime, if you want to check out.
Brillia then do so with the link in the description down below.
Super awesome.
All right.
On with the video.
Okay guys, what is going on?
I I'm really, really excited to do this video because I've seen a lot of parents
and kind of like caregivers who take the kids to school and the kids room on
the, you know, on the autism spectrum.
And they have a school phobia.
Right.
I had a school phobia when I was a kid.
Um, it was really difficult for me to, to go to school and stay in school.
And so I was, uh, I was just like completely agitated, irritated,
triggered the whole time.
And.
This didn't work well, my mental health wasn't good.
And for my condition, if I think Asperger's syndrome and
ADHD, it just didn't go well.
Okay.
So I'm sharing we five hacks and these are gonna be life-changing for people as well.
So hopefully this will help you to no end and yeah.
Leave me a comment and a thumbs up on this video.
If you think this video is awesome.
Okay, cool.
So the first one is understanding the triggers.
First thing to do is create a list of all the scary versus non-scary
tasks that take place in the school.
So ask the child say, Hey, can you help me make.
Can you help me make a list of all of the, um, you know, the, the scary things versus
the non-scary things that you do in school could be walking down the hallway, going
to class, sitting next to other kids, doing certain activities, PE whatever,
by doing this, you're understanding what their triggers actually are.
The second thing is to color, um, subjects on a chart.
Well, you, you write out all the subjects that they're doing in school or all
the things that they do in school, and then you get them to color in like
green for the ones they enjoy and then red for the ones that are bad, which
is basically meaning that what they experience when they're in that lesson.
And maybe if you pinpoint why those lessons are bad, not just because
the fact that some people just don't like certain lessons, it could be
more of a detailed fact that maybe there's a certain kind of issue of
that room, you know, can we sensory.
That is the best way to do it.
Another way is to create a worry book.
Now, writing down all of the issues in one book, and you can also try and
personalize the book by like, you know, putting stickers and stuff on it and
making it kind of like there's, you know, if they're really into Pokemon and
Minecraft, we'll get Pokemon Minecraft stickers, stick them all over the book.
And then they'll kind of want to write in that book and write, although
worries down in there, this does.
A few things.
The first thing is that it gets rid of all the worries from their heads.
They stop kind of thinking about it and getting anxious about with things
in their head, but also allows you to detailed go through the things that
they are struggling with in the school.
Super super dope.
Okay.
The next thing I want to talk about, the next hack I'm going to talk
about is creating strategies for home use to calm anxiety and relaxation.
Right?
So we need to do is, um, you know, use things that help relax,
like go for a walk or playing in the park or riding your bike.
Something that creates, um, more of a, an exercise thing, which
helps move oxygen around the body and helps create calm, but calm.
At home because we don't want isms coming home and having that stress that they
had in school at home, because then it makes it home an uncomfortable place.
And there's no relaxation at all.
And all of the time when we relax, we get chance to reset step back and just
kind of really assess the situation.
Calm down and start again.
The next thing I would say is maybe why not build Legos or play Minecraft, you
know, doing something that really helps you relax, but also gives you focus to
key in the fact that you are relaxing, but you're also focusing your energy.
These are really good.
Um, another one is to schedule quiet time, um, into your day.
So they can go in their room where they know they're safe
and they know that they are.
Calm and collective and then go in the room and chill and play.
And that is their space.
But you need to kind of like, you know, you think about it.
Bedrooms are one of the places where we kind of spend the least amount of time
awake because you know, you've got your bedroom when you go to try and sleep.
But when you're, you know, suffering anxiety and you're having issues with
going to school, one of the things you really want is somewhere at
home, which is just your Haven, your safe Haven, where you can just go.
And chill out and just have that you time.
Right.
So I make sure that they do schedule in time to go in that room to chill out.
Could it could even be like a teepee tent in the living room with like some
cushions in that room, whatever works.
Do it, but schedule it and don't, don't forget about this.
It's important.
Okay.
So the next hack is to communicate with the school directly.
So you could contact the SENco, which is a special educational needs coordinator
at the school and make them aware of all the issues that you've collected from.
Hack number one, we talk about the issues.
Now you also need to find out what has been done so far to accommodate the
needs of the child within the school, because then you'll have like a, a
detailed outline of what has currently been done, where the issues lie and
where you should go forward from this is how you create a plan of action.
We'll consult with the direct line of staff.
Who deals with your child on a day-to-day basis and discuss what strategies they've
used, because you never know, because that person is dealing with your child in an
environment that your not familiar with, or have never been in with your child.
This person may have strategies that they've developed with your
kid, that you could use somewhere else, but also that you could make
a note of so that if the teachers do change, then you could replace the.
Personal learning plan with the one you now have with the person who has
worked with them on these strategies.
And the other one is to literally simply ask your child what support they feel they
need when in school, by asking the child directly, they may be able to, if they
are verbal, be able to tell you exactly what the issues are that they're having.
And maybe also say like, Hey, look, I have an issue with the hall I
have an issue with the assembly.
I have an issue with lining up and going into class.
It could be anything right.
But they will tell you that directly, if they are able
to, or they could draw it out.
And this is a really good one.
A lot of people just don't seem to want to ask children because it may just
slip their mind because they're so busy worrying about the situation at hand.
Okay.
So the next hack is adjustments.
Now.
Um, you could look at having a quiet time during the school day in a quiet room.
So ask the school, if they can accommodate, um, a piece of the classroom
or a, a room off to the side of a corridor where your child could have.
Just a few minutes of just complete calm and relaxation
so they can reset themselves.
Like I was saying before and the other hack just to kind of ground
them a little bit so they can go, ah, breathe a little bit, not
everything is go, go, go all the time.
Then it can come around, get back into the classes and, you know,
see if it makes any difference.
I think it's worth a try.
The next one is use ear defenders outside in the playground.
A lot of kids get triggered.
When I was in school, I was triggered so much by the playground.
I had to stay indoors and play on the computers to get me to a calm position.
So I can go back into the class and then learn.
But you know, I, I didn't have any defendants in it.
My parents didn't know how to fix it back then.
So now they do, I would have wanted defenders.
So check that one out.
Another tip is later start and early finish time to avoid busy school traffic.
Now school traffic is crazy.
There's parents, there's kids, there's traffic, there's dogs,
or sometimes there's bicycles.
There's scooters.
There's everything you could possibly think of dropping their kids off.
And it's hectic.
So if you can try and create a later start time and a bit of an early finish time,
you'll avoid those places of craziness.
Like I did this when I was a kid, it actually really worked well
for me um, the other one is using reward systems to help meet targets.
So, um, I have a link for this.
So if you check out the link down below, I'll leave a link for my charts.
I actually have a link where you can download.
Um, charts, which are like work for tar charts, where you have like
three things that you work for.
And once you've completed all three of them, you can then, uh, get the
reward or the thing that you want.
It's a good way of creating, um, you know, task success, uh, in
a more structured visual format.
And then the other thing is older students may like to use apps for
dealing with like anxiety and stuff.
So making sure that the school are aware of that.
You know your child, if they're a little bit older and they're using like a tablet
or smartphone, they may want to use an app when they're feeling stressed.
And that's okay.
Because I know what, like phones and stuff are a bit of a no, no in schools,
but if you're using it for your mental health and your wellbeing, then why not?
You know?
Okay.
So the last one is a no-brainer.
I thought I'd add this in here.
Now this is number five.
This hack is homeschooling.
It's maybe a choice for some people, depending on your level of comfort,
but a lot of the time it's a very good one because a lot of the
triggers that are happening in school.
I happen to because it's in the school environment, it's not at home in the
environment where the person, uh, it feels they're most comfortable, you know?
So if you're trying, you know, if you think about this, if your result is to
get your kid to feel as comfortable and learn as best as possible, well, the
best environment is going to be at home with their mom or dad, or whoever's.
Abel, if so to stay at home and teach them.
I know this is not possible for everybody, but I feel like the COVID thing has
taught us a lot about homeschooling and how we could potentially work from
home and teach our kids from home.
So if this is something that you could do it and as a stretch, and it
would take away the stress from the school and the strain from the school,
you could always implement this.
And homeschooling is a really good idea.
If you're thinking, Hmm.
Maybe I could try.
So my kid, so always remember guys, if you're homeschooling, but
then you want to reintegrate your child back into mainstream school.
Um, you know, at a later date always remember that you need
a period of reintegration.
So prepare well for this.
And don't forget because a lot of people do forget and it
doesn't work out really well.
Guys, if you liked this video, give it a thumbs up, share it on
Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
If you think someone could get value from it and I'll see you
in the next one, guys, peace.