At home, he used to love school. Now mornings are a battle neither of you asked for. You're wondering what changed. At school, she makes it through Monday and Tuesday. By Thursday, something in her changes. You're starting to see a pattern but aren't sure what it means yet.
Just One Thing for Parents with Dr. Bettina Hohnen, January 9, 2026 • 28 minutes
A practical conversation about early signs of school distress, patterns across the week, and how families and schools can respond with more flexibility and less pressure.
WKYC Channel 3, August 13, 2025
A brief look at new parent survey data on why children miss school, including fatigue, physical symptoms, and the ways distress may show up before a child can explain it clearly.
Autistic Girls Network, May 2026
A thoughtful overview of how sensory overwhelm, masking, communication differences, unpredictability, and relational safety can shape school attendance for young people on the autism spectrum.
The body doesn't wait for language.
Researchers spoke with adolescents on the autism spectrum about how they experience anxiety through signals inside the body. For some, those sensations became so intense or overwhelming that they increased the anxiety. Others didn't recognize what was happening until their anxiety had already intensified. Their awareness could also change depending on context, arousal, masking, and cognitive overload.
The findings suggest that a stomachache, racing heart, exhaustion, or an unclear sense that something is wrong may carry information a child is not yet able to interpret or put into words.
Adams et al. (2025). Experiences of Interoception and Anxiety in Autistic Adolescents: A Reflexive Thematic Analysis.
"Although children's 'outsides' may have changed a lot, their inner needs have remained very much the same."
— Fred Rogers
This week, when a child says they don't want to go to school, pause before responding. What might their body already know that their words haven't caught up to yet?
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