Guest writer Josh is Sarah Steinberg’s brother. Josh is 29 years old, lives in California and has autism. As a child, Josh struggled to communicate and he didn’t speak until the age of 4. Over the years Josh learned to communicate, and today he has a lot to speak about and share with listeners. Josh now lives on his own in his own apartment with some in home support. This independence came after years of therapy and special education working toward this goal. Josh writes a monthly article for our blog. We encourage readers to send in questions to Josh to be featured in a special question and answer series with Josh.
Ahhh the beginning of the school year. A time for traditions of sack lunches, schoolyard antics, and having to get to bed while it’s still light out. But as you sit there in your desk, fiddling with your binder and thinking about the chocolate snack pack mom packed you, you notice someone new is heading into the front of the classroom.. a male. What happened to Ms. Scmetz, the teacher from last year who you grew to love? What happened is a change common with grade advancement- getting a brand new teacher. Sometimes thi
s even leads to getting a new desk, a new room, and in rare cases even a new school entirely. But don’t worry kids, this is all normal. It is all part of the school system.
s even leads to getting a new desk, a new room, and in rare cases even a new school entirely. But don’t worry kids, this is all normal. It is all part of the school system.But if you’re still having worries about the new faces and sights, I got some tips from my own days as a kid. One big one is bring something from home like a playing card or a book, something that you know won’t change and can act as sort of an anchor to the real world. Obviously if you’re in like 8th grade, it can’t be something like a full grown plushie or a security blanket, but you get what I mean. Another is focus your thoughts to what you have planned for after school; TV shows, computer games, reading, and the like. It gives you something happy to focus on even if you’re really starting to stress out.
All in all, my biggest suggestion is to go into it like you’re going swimming, and dive right in. Embrace the new faces, friends and the new studies. Before you know it, you’ll feel right at home…even without Ms. Scmetz.