Daycare, school and the transitions between
Daycare, school and transitions bring different demands. Clear agreements should take your child’s communication, needs and strengths into account.
Children on the autism spectrum often manage better at daycare and school than parents fear — as long as the conditions are right. It almost always becomes difficult in the same places: at transitions.
The move from daycare to primary school. The change to secondary school. A change of teacher, a new class composition, a house move. In these phases what was painstakingly built up falls away: familiar people, familiar routines, familiar rooms.
The good news: transitions can be planned. Unlike a meltdown in the supermarket, they announce themselves months in advance — and that time is exactly the lever.
School in the UK runs on different words. In England the statutory plan is the EHC plan; you ask the local authority, not the school, and the deadlines are fixed: 6 weeks for the decision whether to assess, 16 weeks for the decision whether to issue a plan, 20 weeks for the final plan. A refusal can be appealed to the SEND Tribunal, and in 2024/25 roughly 99 % of decided appeals went at least partly in the family’s favour.
Scotland works differently again: the framework is additional support needs, and the only statutory plan, the Co-ordinated Support Plan, has a high threshold — most autistic children there are supported without one, which does not remove the right to support or the route to the ASN Tribunal. Wales and Northern Ireland have their own systems once more. The school route in the UK, nation by nation →
Four things that make transitions easier
Early helps — late is not too late. A year of lead time gives you a choice. But many families only learn of the diagnosis shortly before the move — and even then a good deal is still possible: ask for a visiting appointment, hand over the profile, register a Nachteilsausgleich (compensation for disadvantages). A Nachteilsausgleich can be applied for at any time, including in the middle of the school year.
Begin a year ahead
Choice of school, visits, conversations with the receiving institution: those who start a year in advance have a choice.
Pass on the profile
One page with the essentials — what calms, what overwhelms, how your child communicates. It saves the new institution weeks of finding out.
Clarify compensation for disadvantage
Extra time, breaks, a place to withdraw to, different examination formats: these do not require a diagnosis on the report card, but an agreement. Ask early.
Get to know the rooms beforehand
Visit the new building during the holidays, walk the route to school, look at the classroom. What is familiar costs no energy on the first day.
Read on in the Mika Guide
In the Mika Guide you will find preparation aids for conversations with daycare and school as well as the profile to fill in.
Preparing the parent meeting
What to write down beforehand so nothing gets lost in the appointment.
The profile for the institution
One page that explains your child — for teachers and support staff.
Applying for school assistance
The route via integration assistance: youth welfare office (§ 35a SGB VIII) or integration assistance provider under SGB IX.
Understanding Nachteilsausgleich
Fair conditions, not special treatment — what Nachteilsausgleich (compensation for disadvantages) means and how to request it informally.
Transitions and Changes
It’s rarely the destination that’s the problem — it’s the leap in between. Transitions are often the hardest part of the day.
The app is free; the first section of this module is free to read, the deeper content belongs to Mika+ (one-time €19.99, £19.99 in the UK).
When things are not going well at the institution
If conversations repeatedly lead nowhere, if your child is excluded or the situation escalates, there are routes outside the institution: the state school authority, school psychology services, the youth welfare office, autism advice centers. You do not have to wait until it becomes unbearable.
Changing institution is not a failure. Sometimes it is the decision that changes everything.
On the legal information on this page
I compile this information to the best of my knowledge and keep it as current as I can. Even so: laws change, amounts are adjusted, procedures differ from one federal state to the next — and every family has its own situation.
What you read here is therefore orientation and expressly not legal advice. Only the applicable law and the decision of the responsible authority are binding. For decisions you take on the basis of this page I cannot accept liability.
When a lot depends on it — a refusal, an appeal, a court case — please get support. The independent participation counseling (EUTB) is free and available throughout Germany; social welfare associations such as VdK or SoVD and lawyers specializing in social law can also help.
Status: August 2026. Law, amounts and procedures change — in the UK, benefit rates are normally uprated every April. What applies at the time of your application is what counts; please check it with the office responsible.
Would you like to talk about it?
School support is now part of my self-employed work. If you have questions about school or an upcoming meeting, we can discuss your needs and possible next steps in an initial conversation.