Mumsnet Talk

DD is 13 and ASD and gets on best with a steady routine. She is in MS school and doing ok, but gets stressed by the change of routine school holidays bring. She has intense obsessions and out of school focuses on the current one every minute she can.

Currently it is bus number plates!

This means that every evening and weekend the only thing which she talks about and standing in bus stations is the only outing that she will happily participate in. When she was at primary, she did have friends round cos i organised it, but now she (we) sees no-one outside of school. Teachers and SENCO report that she does socialise to some extent with peers during break/lunch, but she doesn’t want any other contact with them in the holidays. Can’t even try to arrange myself as don’t have any idea of names or phone numbers.

We have no local family and I work term-time so in school holidays we now see nobody but each other. I know it sounds pretty trivial, but I’m not sure I have the patience to spend six weeks in a bus station but she can’t go on her own and if we stayed at home she would be just talking about buses. Round here most organised activities are for primary kids only, not that she would be happy going anyway.

Any tips for saying sane?

I know how you feel! except my DS won't go out at all (tried it yesterday for the first time this holiday and it was a disaster!) So I am stuck in with only the poor postie to talk to. Does your bus station have a cafe? Can you sit, relax with a coffee and a book?

Or, maybe we could swap kids for a day (LOL)!

Are there NO local schemes during the holidays? If you're near a bus station that makes me think you're in a town which must have some facilities for disabled kids in the holidays. There must be someone at Social Services in charge of what they now call "short breaks". I know it is another matter getting her to go though, maybe they have a buddy scheme or could give you Direct Payments and someone else could take her to the bus station?