COVID-19

Returning to School after Lockdown for Young People with a Learning Disability or Autism

For many young people going back to school may be an added source of anxiety in already uncertain times. There are many reasons why returning to school may feel difficult right now and young people may experience a range of emotions including anxiety, worry, sadness, irritability and fear.  It can be hard to just recognise one thing contributing to these feelings and there are likely a number of factors.  Some of these may include:

• They may feel overwhelmed by all that is happening in the world and due to their learning disability may find this difficult to understand

• They may feel settled at home and safe with their family

• Being at home may have relieved some of the pressures of the school environment that they find difficult; e.g. difficulties with learning, relationships with peers, sensory difficulties in the classroom.

• Having spent a significant period of time at home with parents/carers may mean young people are fearful or confused about leaving their family. 

• They may have heard of Coronavirus but feel confused or worried about what that means and whether they will be safe.

How to help:

All of these strategies will need adapting to individual needs. All young people with a learning disability are different and some will need more communication and visual supports than others to aid understanding.  Use clear and simple language.  Examples of visual resources that can be used and adapted are included below.

• Where possible, take the time to try to understand the anxiety.  It might help to keep a diary of changes in behaviours to look for patterns of what might trigger behaviour. This will help you to know how to respond to behaviours and how to proactively support them and remove triggers in advance where possible.

• Keep life predictable - As returning to school will be a big change, try to keep as many other things the same in their day to day life so your child is not adjusting to multiple life changes all at once.  Keep life as calm and predictable as possible to allow them to feel settled and secure.

• Normalise and validate that everyone has feelings and that’s ok. Anxiety is a normal response to feeling threat or danger which can be heightened during a pandemic. Feelings can be complicated to understand. For young people with a learning disability, visual symbols and social stories may help them to know what to do when they feel certain feelings. Use simple and concrete language that gives the message that everyone feels worried sometimes, that is ok and sets out some clear examples of what they can do. These messages will need to be repeated several times and your child will need someone to support them to manage their feelings. 

Signs that a young person with a learning disability is struggling:

You may be able to discuss the feelings together but for many young people, this will not be as easy for them to do.  A few things to look out for include:

• Increase in behaviours that can be challenging (self-injury like head banging or biting, hitting out at others, throwing objects, shouting and screaming)

• Feeling unwell (always rule out physical reasons for this)

• Increase in repetitive behaviours, sounds or questioning

• Not sleeping well

• Becoming upset or distressed with anything school related included related objects like school clothes or when needing to leave the house

• Prepare young people as much as possible for going back to school to increase feelings of predictability and security. This is likely to include some practical supports to help your child to know what the school day might look like.  For example:

  • Look together on the school website if this has been updated.  Some schools will have sent families information or will have images or video clips that can be viewed online.  It may also help to arrange to talk with a teacher to talk about what will happen when they get to school to help your preparations.

  • When they are ready to get back to school, take practical steps to increase the likelihood of things running smoothly (e.g. making sure clothes and things they need are ready, communication aids are available).  It might help to use a social story like this to help them to see what to expect when going back to school and to support them to feel safe and secure. This could be adapted to include real pictures and images of their own school.

  • Make a clear plan with school that can help if they do feel too anxious when in school.  Try not to encourage this to be instantly coming home as this will reinforce the feeling that they were only safe because they came home.  However, it might be helpful to discuss with school what they can do (e.g. having a dedicated person who can support them at school and how they will know your child needs this)

  • Your child may not be able to take any objects into school due to COVID-19 guidelines, but they may take comfort in having some reminder of home such as an item of parents clothing like a hair bobble or a certain smell on their clothes.  If they are able to take things (check with school), extra comforting examples may include some pictures of the family or their pets. 

  • Other ways to prepare for returning to school include using visual timetables and countdowns which include ‘school/no school’ symbols.  Examples of all of these resources can be found here:

    • Introducing routines

    • School/no school symbols

    • Weekly timetable (1 row)

    • Weekly timetable (2 rows)

    • Weekly timetable (3 rows)

• When they are going back to school, be supportive and reassuring but don’t spend too long saying goodbye in order to allow their anxiety to build up. 

• On the journey to school, think about what will make that easier and both fun and distracting if they are worried.  For example, play games like looking for certain coloured cars or trees. Or prepare some toys or things they can have in the car to play with or look at.  If they are going in a taxi or with a taxi escort, you may want to discuss this with the taxi service in advance.

• Be aware that initially, your child may have found the school day very hard and may need to do something enjoyable or relaxing at the end of the school day

• For you as parents, it is perfectly normal if you also feel anxious about your child’s return to school.  Try to show them that going back to school is ok and think proactively about how to cope yourselves as they return, for example, what will you do that can help you during the day if you are at home. This might be something fun and distracting like catching up with friends or you might want to do some specific activities to support you.  Some resources that may be useful are:

  • Frantic World have a wide selection of guided meditations among other resources which can be found here.

  • Headspace is a guided meditation and mindfulness app which has a free 14-day trial and then subscription is required once the free trial ends. Click here to find out more and start your free trial if you are interested. Please be aware that you will need to cancel your subscription at the end of your trial to avoid being charged.