When your child with autism goes to school, working closely with his or her teacher on a behavior plan can be an important factor in his or her success. By making your child’s teacher a partner, you can ensure that your child’s experience at school is as positive as possible. Starting the conversation about your child’s needs with his or her teacher is not always easy, but these tips will help establish a good working relationship so you can create a mutually beneficial school behavior plan .
Open the Door for Communication
Sometimes, parents send their children into school without providing any information to teachers because they do not want their children to be singled out. In reality, the teacher can’t give your child the support he or she needs without being armed with all of the necessary information. Reach out to your child’s teacher as soon as possible to provide him or her with information about your child that he or she may need. Be upfront, honest, and direct, and tell the teacher that you want an open dialogue. Encourage your child’s teacher to communicate with you frequently about things that happen in the classroom, and do the same when new information that is relevant to your child’s life at school emerges.
Get It in Writing
It will be helpful to both you and your child’s teacher to have a behavior plan in writing. This plan can be part of your child’s individual education plan (IEP) or it can stand alone. The behavior plan should be designed to give your child’s teacher the tools he or she needs to manage classroom behavior and to ensure that your child can learn.
Use Your Resources
The Behavior Exchange can work with you and your child’s school on identifying behaviors that can be modified and on creating a plan your child’s teacher can put into action. Use the input of experts to design the right plan for your child.
At The Behavior Exchange, our school support and school consulting services help create accessible classrooms for children with autism in the DFW area. Get the support you need from one of our board-certified behavior analysts by calling (888) 716-8084.