Starting Kindergarten: The Autism Family Transition Pack

The first day of kindergarten is a big transition for any child. For an autistic child — new building, new adults, new sounds, new rules, all at once — it deserves a real runway. This pack is that runway.

At its heart is a personalizable social story: fill in your child's name, their school, their teacher, and your own goodbye routine, and "I Am Starting Kindergarten" becomes THEIR story — honest about the noise and the wobbly feelings, clear about what will happen, and ending exactly where it should: "ready to try." Around the story, three tools carry the family: an 8-weeks-out parent countdown that turns the transition into small weekly steps (sleep shifts, school visits, backpack practice, the full dry run, and a plan for the after-school fallout nobody warns you about) · a one-page "About My Child" teacher handoff that gives the teacher two minutes to learn what took you years · and 22 printable visual schedule cards covering the home morning routine, the school day, and the quiet heroes: HELP, BREAK, and FIRST?THEN.

One pack, one plan, from eight weeks out through the first week of school.

Includes: 11-page personalizable social story · week-by-week parent countdown checklist · one-page teacher handoff form · 22 visual schedule cards + parent quick-start. Instant digital download (PDF).

• Personalizable social story — your child's name, school, teacher, and goodbye routine, written in the calm, honest style that works
• 8-week parent countdown: the school visit, skill practice as games, the dry run, the goodbye routine, the first week
• "About My Child" one-page teacher handoff — communication, triggers, what helps, safety, all absorbable in two minutes
• 22 visual schedule cards: morning strip, school-day strip, plus HELP / BREAK / FIRST?THEN support cards
• Built on well-evidenced supports for autistic learners: social narratives + visual supports
• First of the transition-pack series (middle school and IEP-meeting prep to follow)

Special Learning builds its products with a team that includes AI members. This resource was created using generative AI tools and reviewed for quality by our clinical team.