Daycare, school and the transitions between
The breaking points are rarely in the middle of the school year. They are at the transitions — and those can be prepared for.
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.
Four things that make transitions easier
Starting early is more effective than reacting well.
Begin a year ahead
Choice of school, visits, conversations with the receiving institution: those who start a year in advance have a choice. Those who start in the summer have only the remaining places.
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.
Would you like to talk about it?
I am glad to support you in conversations with daycare or school, in assistance planning meetings and in preparing a transition — including attending appointments with you.