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Transport question - do you give your child something to do?

6 replies

loueytb3 · 14/09/2011 10:37

DS1 (ASD) has been going by taxi to school for a week. The escort has been hinting about giving him something to play with in the car which I have so far resisted. This morning she asked if we had an electronic game or similar to give him as he has been annoying asking the girl sat next to him for hers.

Now we have a DS and we have a leap pad which I've just bought to use on the plane when we go on holiday. I've also got a iPod touch with various apps/music on it. We do use that as an incentive to stop him from getting out of the carseat but it's only given to him when we stop (otherwise it may lose it's effectiveness). I am concerned that if I give him something like that for the journey to school, he will expect it every time we get into the car. Also his journey is about 45mins-1hr each way so he would be playing it for 1.5-2 hrs each day which is a lot. He also can't use headphones as he has had AIT so the escort/driver are going to have to listen to whatever I give him.

What do other parents do in this situation?

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starfishmummy · 14/09/2011 12:42

DS is on a minibus. I sometimes give him old magazines/holiday brochures to look at; one driver used to let ds have his newspaper - he cant read very well but likes looking at it. That driver (who also worked in school) used to like to encourage chatting or they'dhave the radio on. Last year the route changed and he had a long journey in the morning and there were some behavioural issues. One of his TAs made a bag to go on the bus with things he could look at. Of course he wanted to take his mp3 player or his nintendo ds (as some of the older students do) but I always say no. This is really because he is hopeless at looking after stuff and would have nowhere secure to keep it at school.

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sugarcanmelt · 14/09/2011 14:48

I think a daily 1 hr journey is too long to not have something to do. I would go stir crazy just sitting there, let alone DS (ASD/ADHD)!

DS has a 2.5 hr taxi journey to school (weekly boarding) and I pack snacks, a DS and books. But even when we go on shorter trips together, he always has a DS or books. He's only had a DS since he was 10 and he was old enough to be responsible with it. A book is safer if you're worried about losing expensive equipment - would that keep your DS occupied? Or when DS was younger he'd have toy cars to fiddle with, but only when I was sitting with him so I could pick them up if they were dropped.

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loka · 14/09/2011 15:32

My DS (ASD) is 8 and always has his DSi for school bus (about 1 h each way).
It makes life easier for everyone.I have accidential damage cover for it so I can replace his DSi every time it gets broken.

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loueytb3 · 14/09/2011 20:44

It looks as though I'm being a bit harsh then. He's only 4.5 hence my worry about him using electronic gagdets for that length of time. The escort has said that she takes them back to her house during the day (they're not allowed in school) so I'm not worried about him losing them. Maybe I need to mix it up so I can give him the DS one day, some magazines another day (he loves What Car Smile).

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WilsonFrickett · 14/09/2011 20:49

Ah louey, I am tickled by the 4 year old reading his What Car Smile.

If I was looking at a handheld for an hour in the car I would be carsick. You might just want to have a practice run before you send him off to school

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loueytb3 · 15/09/2011 10:01

DH has a subscription to it but he has to hide new issues when they come because DS1 will have mangled it before he has a chance to read it Grin DS1 can name pretty much any car make and most models now, even if he only sees the car side on! It has distracted him from trying to get in them, which is what he used to do. The escort looked dubious this morning when I gave it to her so we will see if he's bored the pants off her it's worked later.

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