What to do when summer days start to fall apart

Transcript

 If it feels like your child is falling apart more often during the summer, even when nothing obvious has gone wrong, there may be a reason for that. During the school year, the day is filled with predictable routines. School provides built-in structure that helps the nervous system know what to expect.  For many neurodivergent children, that predictability acts like an anchor.

 When summer arrives, though, and those routines disappear, the brain has to work harder to manage uncertainty. Everyday functioning can take more energy than it usually would because your child is constantly trying to figure out what comes next.  This can look like escalating deregulation with no clear trigger, difficulty recovering after a hard moment, or simply feeling like everything is harder than it used to be.

 One strategy that can help is creating just two or three consistent daily anchors, and these don't have to be complicated. Maybe it's lunch at the same time each day, a daily swim, an afternoon walk, or even a favorite evening activity. Small moments of predictability can reduce the cognitive load of the entire day. You might say something like, "Today we have lunch at noon, then swimming this afternoon, and our evening walk after dinner." Naming just those fixed points provides enough structure to reduce uncertainty without overwhelming your child with a full schedule.

 And a bonus tip: if afternoons tend to be especially rough, look back at the morning. Summer schedules often mean later bedtimes and later wake-up times, which can affect mood regulation, energy, and focus throughout the day. Sometimes a difficult afternoon starts with a disrupted routine much earlier than we realize.

 This is just one of the scenarios we cover in our free Social Cipher parent guide. Check it out, and let us know if there are other scenarios you want us to explore.

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