Adjusting to change in routine during breaks.

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It is very hard to believe we are living today in unprecedented times. The coronavirus pandemic is going on all around the world and nobody is immune to it. It is crazy how things have changed rapidly over the past few days and it is hitting us at hard at home. This all started in China a couple of months ago. I don't think anyone of us thought it will get so bad as we all are in it together.

The events started rolling since last week when schools called for extended breaks as many of the schools are in March break now. This change of routine is hard for all of us but especially hard for our kids with special needs as we know our kids with autism thrive on a routine. They are calling for all of us to practice social distancing by staying indoors and do our part to stop spreading the virus.

The reason I wanted to do this post is to provide parents with some of the resources and strategies which are available today for us to help our kids get through these difficult times.

For starters there are lots of special education teachers who have gone out of the way to provide resources for our kids. There are lots of social stories available online about COVID -19 wherein we can talk about the current events going on with our kids in the simplest terms as it is very important we keep our kids informed about it. Secondly as we all know our kids thrive on a routine there are different kinds of visual schedule templates available to help us, parents, to use in order to maintain some kind of normalcy for our kids which in turn can reduce anxiety which is very common for our kids with autism.

There are lots of free resources available on Teachers pay Teachers which you can download for free just by creating a free account. Lots of educational companies like Starfall, Brain pop, and many more are offering free subscriptions for a limited time to help kids through this difficult time. 

Lastly it is very important for us to take all the precautions so we can do our part in keeping ourselves and our communities safe. For starters if you are sick avoid going out or if you kids are sick keep them home. Hand washing is very important at this time to reduce the spread of the virus. There are lots of handwashing visuals available online for our kids which can be very helpful for them. Try to stay home as much as possible to avoid spreading of the virus.

It is also very important to us as parents we take every day as it comes. It is not required that we fill every waking hour of our kids with academics activities. They can be done everyday staggered throughout the day but take this time to connect with your kids. Family games can be a great activity to indulge in. Teach your kids some life skills. Try to have some fun every day. Try to keep some kind of routine by providing your child with a simple schedule. If you cannot do any academics its okay. 

Hopefully things will get better with time and we all will return to our routine soon. Till then everyone stays safe.

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