Beginning preschool and daycare is a special stage for your child and family. Here are tips and ideas to help your child have a smooth start.

Preparing for Preschool or Daycare

Help your child begin learning the skills they will need in a typical daycare or preschool setting such as sitting in circle time or being quiet laying down for nap time.

They will need to understand the idea that there are different activities like art, story time, lunch, outside play, nap time and snack time that all the children do at certain times of the day and that they need to stay with their class to go to each activity. They will line up to do certain activities and need to stop doing one activity to start doing the next.

Social stories or picture schedules that show them visually the steps in a process or the day’s schedule may help them. You can teach your child the first - then concept with a visual. This is the idea that if first something happens, then something else happens. The Milestones Visual Supports Toolkit has information and tips.

Start involving your child in picking and making their lunch and snack and checking the preschool or daycare food schedule if they have one. If your child attends a public preschool, public schools often provide reduced or free lunches or breakfasts.

Make sure there are food choices that work for your child’s sensory issues. Ask the daycare or preschool staff for help with what your child’s dietary restrictions and needs are ahead of your child starting there. Otherwise the preschool may just put whatever snack they have for everyone on your child’s plate without realizing your child won’t eat or drink it.

Ask the preschool how they handle behavior issues, their expectations for toileting including if children are expected to be toilet trained and food needs. It is common for autistic children to struggle with toileting so this is a crucial issue. You may find the Milestones Toileting Tool Kit useful if you're having toileting challenges.

If your child isn’t verbal, share how you communicate and what approaches and tools you use such as a communication device, visual supports or sign language.

Visit the daycare or school ahead of starting there if possible to meet the teacher and staff and show your child the classroom, where the bathroom is, where main activities are held and the playground. Encourage your child to spend some time playing on the playground.

Impact of Sensory Issues on Daycare or Preschool

Discuss your child’s sensory issues and other needs with the care provider or teacher and staff and what strategies might help. For example you could ask if there are things they could do like taking a break to walk down the hall when they are overwhelmed. Or could they be given an activity like pushing a cart with something heavy in it. If your child is in a preschool intervention program they will usually be very in tune with these issues.

Think about how daycare or preschool routines might be impacted by their sensory needs. For example if sitting in circle time is hard for them, a cozy chair or beanbag chair may give them sensory input and calming to help them. Many children resist nap time but are supposed to behave. Could they curl up with a picture book or do a quiet activity while the other children are napping?

In typical classes there are so many colors and decorations on the wall it is a very distracting and overwhelming environment that may impact how children behave.

Things to consider:

• Are children talking and other background sounds distracting them?
• Will you bring or do they have food options that work for your child’s sensory needs?
• Are there things in the eating, free play or recess environment that are harder for your child because of sensory issues that you can work with the daycare or preschool to help with? Such as children screaming and running around during free play outside.