My youngest is 12, turning 13 this year and in yr 6. She has Down syndrome and functions at the level of a 4 year old. Currently, one of her biggest struggles is transitioning, and in high school, you have plenty of those. I’m a bit worried too, but all we can do is prepare her and give it a positive try.

Be available! Whenever they need it. Don’t force communication and connection but always be ready with a snack! That’s my biggest piece of advice for someone who has a teenager. Let them de stress when they walk in the door and then approach with food, they’ll usually open up quickly then.

I definitely agree, keeping lines of communication open with your child is number one. Eat meals together so that little things they might have forgotten to tell you will come up, make sure they know they can tell you anything. We have a rule in our house that you don’t get in trouble if you tell us the truth – we may have a chat about it and discuss the situation etc but we will never punish you for coming to us and telling us something. I also agree with the setting boundaries early with regards to bed time, tech time and other rules. Highschool can be hard because all the students have different families and different rules, I found it helped to have your child know your rules and why you have them. It makes them much for understanding and accepting

It is so easy to worry and stress, I know I am worried about how high school will go and my child is only in year 2. I think you just need to try and relax and deal with situations in the moment as it is hard to predict what could or could not happen. Just make sure your chiild has the tools they need to manage certain situations and that they know they can come and talk to you anytime they need to.

I would say relax, as you don’t know what type of teenager your child is developing into.
My eldest two are now 23 and nearly 22, and we never had to face any attitude or problems with them. In fact, they were and are always polite, gentle in heart, faithful to their family and friends and hard workers.

Having a positive relationship with your tween. Them knowing they can come to you for no judgement, safe conversation. Be prepared to be iced out a little, you’re about to be so uncool in their eyes, but know that it doesn’t last forever and the love is always there.
Some tough love with home work and school expectations is a good thing. If they have ambitions for higher education it’s great to have good habits formed now.

I would say have a clear, solid plan when it comes to expectations around homework, screentime, mobile phone if they have one, etc. and have an open conversation around this so everyone is on the same page. It’s easier to have these figured out from the start if at all possible, rather than trying to implement a bunch of boundaries after the fact. Just generally keeping lines of communication open and showing them you can listen without judgment is super helpful as they start spending more and more time with their peers. If they know that with you it is a safe, non-judgmental space, they will hopefully be more likely to come to you with the hard stuff as they navigate their teen years.