How to Keep Summer Break from Hurting ABA Progress

Summer is an exciting time full of long breaks from school, vacations and plenty of fun in the sun. At the same time, summer presents a lot of challenges for children and for parents.

Not only are there major disruptions in typical routines and schedules, but all children are at risk of what’s known as the “summer brain drain,” which means they can lose some of the knowledge and skills that they learned during the school year while they’re on summer break.

For children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), this can be especially troublesome and challenging, as even small disruptions in routine and a loss of focus can result in larger losses of knowledge and skills than their neurotypical peers.

Luckily, children who get applied behavior analysis, or ABA therapy, don’t have to worry about losing their treatment and services during summer months, as ABA therapy is a year-round treatment that doesn’t stop for long stretches like traditional school does.

That being said, summer break can still be disruptive to children who get ABA therapy. Here are some tips for how to keep summer break from hurting ABA progress.

Table Of Contents

Keep Routines as Consistent as Possible

Summer break can create major disruptions to normal routines. And while ABA therapy itself can remain consistent throughout the summer months, your family’s schedule may be affected — especially if you have other children in school.

While it may not be possible to keep the exact same schedule you did while school was in, it’s important for your children with autism to keep your routines as consistent as possible.

It’s most beneficial to them if their individual schedule remains as close during the summer to what it was during the school year. This helps them stay focused and avoid the anxiety that often comes with changes to normal routines.

Even though you may not be forced to wake up as early in the morning in the summer as you do during the school year, try keeping your normal routine of waking up, brushing teeth, getting dressed and having breakfast the same.

Using Visual Calendars to Your Advantage

There are many great opportunities during the summer to participate in special activities that aren’t available at other times of the year. This includes special events or get-togethers, family vacations and extra time outside.

All of these can be quite exciting for kids, but those on the autism spectrum may get easily overwhelmed by all these new activities. One way you can help them manage these emotions is by using a visual calendar.

Sketch out each day of the week, then add that to a calendar along with pictures and other visual aids. This can help your child with ASD understand what’s ahead and what the activity will actually entail.

In turn, this will help them prepare for what’s ahead each day, which can help ease their mind and get them excited rather than worried.

Work with Your ABA Therapist

ABA therapy is a collaborative treatment plan. It doesn’t just involve one-one-one sessions with the therapist and your child.

Parents, caregivers, other family members and your child’s professional support team will all be integrated into the treatment plan to ensure that skills that are taught during sessions can be emphasized in real-world settings.

To that point, it’s very important to work with your child’s ABA therapist to figure out some strategies you can follow so that summer break doesn’t hurt your child’s ABA therapy progress. The therapist could help you develop a set plan that will ensure that skills aren’t lost in between sessions, even if you have to take a multi-day break due to a family vacation, for example.

In addition, your child’s therapist should equip you with tools and strategies to help you overcome some of the common challenges of summer break, such as the above-stated changes in daily routine.

Depending on the changes that are necessary for your family during summer break, it’s possible to change the days and/or times that ABA therapy is administered to accommodate your schedule and make things as smooth as possible for everyone involved.

Blue Gems ABA Ensures Children with ASD Are Supported Year-Round

Summer brain drain is a real thing for children when school is out for break. And while ABA therapy is a year-round treatment, there are still challenges that summer break presents for children with autism and their families.

At Blue Gems ABA, our team of experienced BCBAs work hand-in-hand with the families of our patients, helping them to come up with a plan to ensure summer break doesn’t hurt ABA therapy progress. We support our patients year-round with personalized treatment plans that are catered to each individual child’s unique strengths and challenges.

To learn more, please contact us today.