Transitioning to Winter

I make no excuses. I am not a fan of winter. It’s getting cold, it’s getting dark, the windows are closed and I need to put on shoes and a coat to walk the dog now. Unless I relocate, this is the way it will be for the next 4-5 months. Adapt I tell myself! Easier said than done I answer back (in my head). I ask for patience for my attitude and my mood. 

Kids can be frustrated by a change in the seasons. We now ask them to wear more clothing, not less. It seems like they just stopped over-dressing and now we are sending them back for socks or jackets that they forgot or misplaced. It’s going to take time to get back on the seasonal band wagon. Patience is hard when you want instant results but patience is what we need as we transition from one expectation to a new one. 

Hang in there, deep breaths everyone! Change sometimes takes a little longer than we thought….

Contributed by:

Chris Gallant

" To exist is to change, to change is to mature, 

to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly." 

~Henri Bergson

Autumn on Cape Cod: A Transitional POV

Some people look at the coming of the Fall season and ooh and ahh over the foliage, brisk temperatures and the scent of wood burning from chimneys. I just want to let you know that it is 239 days until Summer!  Perspective is everything! I don’t like this, not at all. It is dark in the morning and dark before dinner. It will only get worse before it gets better.  I admit it, I get grumpy-- or as my family and co-workers inform me, I get grumpier at this time of year.  So, knowing this about myself, I try and temper my annoyance with nature. After all, I live in New England, not Florida. This is what I should expect. But change is still hard.

I would like all of us to remember that transitions can be difficult for our students and individuals. Transitions, big ones and small ones can throw off your mood or your whole day.  Less daylight can be a big issue for kids getting up in the morning. Wearing different clothing may be uncomfortable to someone with sensory challenges.  Remembering to wear a hat or jacket; this might take many patient reminders on the caregivier’s part or be helped by visual reminders placed on doors.

School to home, awake to bedtime, warm days to cold-- transitions are everywhere.  Remember,   what may be easy for you to adjust to may be difficult for a person with developmental challenges. Putting away my flip flops for shoes, I cry with despair…

Submitted by,
Chris Gallant

"Things do not change; we change."  

~Henry David Thoreau