Autistic child starting kindergarten.. so scared!

Hello mamas, Is anyone else facing anything similar right now? My 5 year old son (on the spectrum) is starting Kindergarten in a week and I have been a complete wreck about it. When the kids are sleeping, I often just break down by myself and sob over it. I am so worried and scared! I’ve never felt like this in my life but I cannot seem to shake the feelings away of him not being ok all day. He does have functional speech, however it is definitely not “fully conversational” speech. He has a lot of words and will ask for things he wants, sing his favourite songs, name colours, numbers, letters, etc but he cannot really answer questions or have a conversation about how his day was. I know starting kindergarten is huge for any parent in general and a lot of parents will cry and feel it’s bittersweet but I dont think that it’s normal to have this much stress, anxiety and sadness over it to the point where I cry every single day, sometimes multiple times a day. I want to know he’s ok and safe and happy. I guess I’m just wondering if anyone went through the same feelings (child on spectrum or not) and for mamas who have and their babes are already past kindergarten how it was for them. For mamas with kids on the spectrum: did you notice any major changes/ improvements/ regressions… Thanks for reading this far if you made it here 🩷

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I was the same way when my daughter started school for the first time... she was only 3 though. I cried, and it stressed me out. My daughter was not doing well at this school. At the time, i didn't know she was autistic. With the school directors help, i got her evaluated, and into the school that has resources to help her. When my daughter switched schools to better fit her needs, she thrived! She spoke her first sentence within the first week of being at that school. I was nervous that my daughter was totally non verbal and starting school, but that quickly changed. I'm so thankful to the teachers, and specialists at the school. The teachers communicate with parents, and make it easy to reach them during school hours. I felt more relaxed. If you're nervous about anything, just express this to the teachers.

They have schools that are for kids with Autism. I know an older kid in Arizona who goes to an autistic school

Also, if your child was evaluated through the school system already... your child will get an iep. My daughter went to a public school for vpk and up... and she had an iep with the resources (like speach/aba/food therapy) to help her. By the second grade, my daughter didn't need as much help, so she transferred to a different school with a more "normal" class setting. I hope your son has a great first day of school! I literally sat in the parking lot the first day of school, and stayed until school was over lol. My daughters teacher communicated with the parents through an app, so o got sent pictures and updates about my child during the school day. I literally made an album of all the pictures that the teacher sent while my daughter was in class. I loved that!

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