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Today is guest post day at Being Savvy:  Chicago!  Today, Marcie Pickelsimer is joining us to share the perspective of a parent of a special needs child.  Marcie is tackling the timely issue of after school meltdowns (who among us hasn't been dealing with this as our little ones get adjusted to the new school schedule?).  Marcie writes about adoption and special needs at A Child Chosen and about reading and children's books at One Book Two Book.

Starting school can be overwhelming. It can even be difficult for teachers and for seniors in high school (and they are supposedly the veterans). It's all about transitions and the ability to cope with them. However, when you have a special needs child, all of this can be compounded because many special needs children don't deal with transitions well in the first place and many of them don't have the language to express themselves.

So, how can families deal with after school meltdowns?

We are currently dealing with after school meltdowns because my son recently started an all day kindergarten program and is exhausted when he gets home. He is, of course, tired during the day and is having some anxiety issues as well so we know the transition has been very difficult on him. So, the place to start is not after school but actually the day and the night before.

1. Is your child getting enough sleep at night and is he overtired? If your child is over-stimulated so that he has trouble sleeping at night? Try to keep the afternoons low stimulation so that the bedtime routine is calm enough for him to fall asleep. Additionally, if you have not adjusted the bed time from summer now is the time to do so.
2. If she is really tired she may need a sensory break or actually need quiet/nap time at school. Because of IEP's it is possible to have this worked into the school day for her.
3. Is she eating enough at breakfast, at snack time, and at lunch? Is she drinking enough liquid? I recently had to modify my son's lunch and snack because he was not eating enough protein to keep his hypoglycemia in check. Ask the teacher to keep an eye on snack and lunch if this is the case. If she needs an afternoon snack, request that she be able to leave the room for five minutes to have one in the main office.
4. Is there an emotional trigger to the meltdowns (like anxiety or PTSD)? I know that my son is not comfortable with the transition even though on the surface he seems just fine. The signal? He complains of tummy aches (and is actually having them). We have put him back on Prevacid to prevent acid build-up and ulcers.
5. When he comes off the bus or in from the car establish the same routine everyday.
6. Feed her immediately while talking about the school day and going through the backpack (if she can handle this, as some kids can not handle talking about school right away).
7. Establish quiet time for a required amount of time. In our house it is one hour. He watches television, goes to the bathroom, has his snack, and reads books. This is also the time that he would do any homework that he has.
8. Create a social story to read about what an after school day should look like.
9. Use Board Maker schedule cards to outline the schedule for after school.

Any other suggestions?