School’s Out
for Warmer Days
Shifting Gears
and Adjusting
to Summer
S
ummer. The very thought
of it makes kids worldwide
excited for a three-month
break from school without
homework, studying, peers,
tests, academics, lunchroom
dynamics, and other activities
that happen inside and outside
of the classroom. But for students on the autism spectrum,
it could be a shift in household
dynamics and routine. There is
typically less structure, fewer
places to be shuttled off to, or
a disconnect. Sometimes there
are options like camp, which
require making friends, leaving home, or interacting with
new people for the first time.
What Happens in
the Summer
By Haley Moss
40
ZOOM Autism through Many Lenses
At least in my experience,
summer is always a time of
growing and learning. Before
I left for college, and before
I left for law school, summer
was the time I learned my
life and adult skills. I learned
how to do laundry, clean my
apartment, cook chicken, and
manage my schedule best in
the summer months when I
was at home with some guidance and help. In high school,
it was when I learned how to
drive. Maybe it was also being a bit of a typical teenager
as well at those points, but I
always made a point to sleep
in if I was able to. I was able
to when I took online summer
classes in college, and I tried to
while I was in high school and
younger, too, because having
the option to get up later than
6 A.M. always sounded like a
smart plan to me.
Try to set up some form of
a routine. If you are used to
waking up at a certain time
before the adolescence bug hits
and there is a need to sleep
in, try to get up at the same
time each day and go to bed at
the same time. It keeps some
predictability in your schedule
to start and end the same way
each day, especially if you are
a morning person. I knew, for
instance, that my family would
want to do things on Fridays,
so we would work around that,
and Fridays were part of the
routine. Set up a family meeting to discuss family outings/
activity plans, vacations, and
other disruptions such as outof-town visitors so they aren’t
surprises.
I also think a great routine to
set is a time to get ready for
back to school, which usually
is at the end of July or midAugust. In that time, carve out
a plan to go supply shopping,
uniform or clothes shopping,
and see what the fall schedule
looks like. You can make it a
fun family outing. I still like
getting to pick out a new colorful backpack every few years
and pretty notebooks. I found
it helpful to know who my
teachers were, when I would
have classes, and if there was
ever anything that had to be
done before the first day or an
orientation period. It just eases
the transition back to the old
routine that once again is another transition out of the nowestablished summer routine.
Adventures at
Camp Sherry
When I was a kid, the summers
were a great time to learn,
ZOOM Autism through Many Lenses
41