Preparations for the Transition to High School

28 January 2016


In a previous article, I mentioned that there was a lot of hard work put in by the Special Unit Team to help transition Lauren from primary to secondary school. For a typical child, the move from little to big school is already an overwhelming one. For students with special needs, multiply those emotions.

• More than double the students
• New school grounds: new labs, new library, new washrooms, new classroom settings
• Almost 80% new faces

The special unit teams from both primary and secondary schools worked extra hard to arrange for a pre-transition day for Lauren. Maybe it is because of the potential they see in Lauren. Maybe it is because Kevin and I triggered questions on how else we could make the transition to high school a great one. Maybe it is just what they do. Maybe a bit of everything! The teachers did a fantastic job! Did I tell you I love teachers? My sister knows that:-)

Here is a run-down of what took place which we felt made Lauren's transition to high school better than just good:

1. Consider a pre-transition day
There was already a Transition Day arranged to introduce typical primary school students to secondary schools around the region. These typically involve at least a few bus loads of students.

A special transition day was arranged just for Lauren to be able to sit in on one of the classes for the day and observe how teaching and students manage themselves in high school.


2. Start discussions early and with people who are involved in your child’s education
We started with discussions in October with Lauren’s class teacher and Head of Special Education. Kevin and I penned down in detail Lauren’s history – assessments, therapies received, progress, strengths, fears, how we manage Lauren during meltdowns – to help them have as much information about Lauren on one sheet of paper.

All the time, always keeping communication lines open with our Clinical Psychologist to get his feedback and guidance as well.


3. Cross school learning is useful
The Special Unit Teacher from High School visited Buderim to observe Lauren in her current classroom and also to have a face to face discussion with the Head of Special Ed in Buderim.

Likewise, the Special Unit Teacher from Buderim visited the new High School with Lauren on both the pre-transition and actual transition day to also support Lauren.


4. Keep communication open
A meeting was organized for Kevin and I, along with many email exchanges, to meet with the High School Head of Special Unit and the Special Unit Teacher assigned to manage Lauren’s transition. We talked more about Lauren’s strengths and weaknesses, areas of opportunity and how they could best support Lauren’s transition.

We also received feedback on Lauren’s transition day, her reactions (positives and negatives) to changes and instructions.

All the meetings and emails were always focused on how to help Lauren, never about “what are you saying about my parenting, or what are you saying about my school and teachers etc.” Kevin and I continually remind ourselves to keep our body language open to receive and encourage feedback.


5. Preparations for classroom setting
This is important because this forms the foundation of where Lauren will go to every single day for Grade 7 in school. Thought was put into structural settings eg. the most suitable classroom location which would encounter less human traffic, a nearby place to go to for emergency time out, ideal sitting location (less visual distractions, near the exit, close visual contact with class teacher etc) and of course suitable class teacher characteristics.


6. Pre-1st Day of School: meet the class teacher
A final pre-meeting was arranged. This time for Lauren to meet with her assigned class teacher.

The Special Unit Team felt it was important to give Lauren a sneak peek introduction to her teacher to lessen her first day of school anxiety as much as possible.

Lauren’s class teacher listened to Lauren share her anxiety about high school and bullies. She assured Lauren as much as she could that it was her priority to see Lauren enjoy high school, in a safe environment.


I find it hard to express it - Kevin and I felt so cared for.


Note: this is our experience. Not every child will need the same exposure. What we can advice is to keep communications open. Be open to receive feedback. It is not about you or your child’s weakness. This is very much a team effort always with one goal of helping children with special needs go further.

As parents, go into a discussion to discuss how to support your child’s teachers so that they can better support your child.


I hope you found this useful.

I'm in High School

27 January 2016

Lauren is now a teenager. I look back and sometimes cannot believe we have lived with autism for ten years. Why not 13 years? Simply because I had no idea Lauren had autism the first three years of her life. I suspected when she was 2+ but confirmation came much later. Anyways, we can talk about that in another article.

No-so-little Ms Sim started Grade 7 (equivalent to Secondary 1 Singapore, Form 1 in Malaysia) yesterday. A lot of preparation had gone into making Day 1 a good memory. And it was a great day, according to Lauren.


Here is an excerpt of what she wrote about her day.

My First Day at Chancellor, by Lauren Sim

The first day, in Chancellor, has turned out great. My class is 7F and my class teacher (who I met during the holidays) is Ms. Rogers. … I sat at a desk, next to a desk, which belonged to a girl named Maria. She came from Chancellor Primary. ABC's desk was next to another desk belonging to a girl too. Her name is Lilley. She came from Chevallum Primary and I made friends with her…At the very end of school, we had our first Japanese lesson with a teacher called Miss Swift. I must say, she speaks good Japanese! …I had a very good first day at Chancellor.

*Names have been changed.


PostScript: Alone

I know that Lauren had lunch break on her own because I was there. It breaks my heart to see her sit all alone, nose between her book. And then I remind myself that how I think she might enjoy lunch breaks ie. playing, talking, being with friends may not be how Lauren thinks a good break should be.

I cannot imagine what Lauren goes through with her sensitive ears for hours in the morning only to continue having all that noise around her during break time. Lauren must get tremendous peace from just being on her own, hearing her own thoughts, laughing at her imaginary stories of favourite story-book, movie and singing personalities.

Yes, I must remember that everyone deserves the opportunity to enjoy their own space. Some need it less than others. Some more than others.

I pray Lauren always gets to have the me-time she needs in school, while also getting out of that space sometimes to make one or two friends - who will be true and love her for the unique character she is.