😩
It's half lighthearted, half just exhausted from a horrific day.
DS is 3 and is autistic. He's non verbal, a bolter, doesn't understand language, has no way of communicating and is EXTREMELY strong. (Took four very big male doctors to pin him down to examine him last time we were in A&E)
So stupidly, today, in half term we went to a soft play. 'The best soft play in your area!' It had amazing reviews, and I spent ages researching it, like, hours. Me and DH decided it would be safe, as it lets adults onto the main frame, and there was a gated 1-5 section that looked amazing, and there was a sensory room if it all went to pot and he needed to calm after a meltdown.
Well. We spent the best part of £20 for DS to have a meltdown, nearly be scalded by coffee and have a serve asthma attack from the panic attack he had. It was horrendous.
We lasted 20 minutes.
There was a second floor!!!! Not just a second floor in the climbing frame, a whole bloody second floor where kids could exit the play frame! And parents were m sat with hot drinks and food. I know to most kids and parents this would be fine, but oh god it terrified us! DS broke free from DH and was halfway down the stairs in mere seconds. He nearly tripped and fell, but luckily we had the reins on so DH caught him before he tumbled. And just the thought of there being an entire area where DS could be doing whatever he liked without us knowing was so bizarre, I've never been to a soft play like that before!
Then the exits from the soft play itself. Omg there were tonnes! We couldn't keep track of him at all! One went straight into the cafe area, where parents were leaving with hot drinks. It's not as if DS would exit the frame then go back in or even come and find us he'd just run, either out towards the door or to a strangers table.
The 1-5 area was full of older kids, the gate was never shut and it was absolute bedlam. There was even a kid ON TOP of the frame at one stage. The sensory room was in the middle of the baby area, so was louder than literally anywhere else so that didn't calm him down. Then to top it all off, our pram didn't fit in the baby change OR the disabled toilets (it's only a bugaboo donkey, not a bus)
It'd be so nice sometimes to not have to carry out personal risk assessments on a new place, it'd be so nice to not panic about losing him every waking hour. We take a picture every day before we leave the house, so we know what he's wearing in case he bolts. Even with the reins, he still occasionally manages to break free. I was so jealous of all the parents sitting there watching their kids, knowing they'd just come back to their table.
I wouldn't change DS for the world, but my god, today was hard work.
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To have a little whinge about how privileged patents of NT children are?
124 replies
ChangedUsername123 · 22/02/2017 19:25
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