Bl**dy Sod's Law Strikes Again.....and causes a major meltdown!

[MrsBeThankful]

Tom Leigh and alex went to an NT holiday club today... and when i turned up to collect them Leigh was grey faced....how he is prior to a major meltdown.....

The club had played bingo twice and Tom and Leigh had one once each.....and got given a large chocolate bunny each...... and leigh and the other 7 kids had not won!

Amazing isn't it that 2 out of my 3 won a prize....and the one who'has to win everything' .....LOST!!!!

This was a new club i tried- and apart from this mishap seems a good supportive environment....i've been hunting for somewhere where all 3 are happy to go- the Austism Club thinks in the summer alex may be allowed to attend once out of the two sessions each week..... but though its a lovely club- it is out of town (only 15 mins away- but still out of town) and is only from 10.30 - 3.... which by the time i travel backwards and forwards etc offers me little (BUT WELCOME!) respite.
This club today alows them to go from 8.45 (but we got there at 9.30!) till 3.45..... and there is a longer day till 5.45 if desired!!
They were there till 3.45 and for the 3 boys it was £39....lunch and 2 snacks (the morning snack is a tray of toast and little pots of margerine,jam,dairylea & chocolate spread...which the kids spread on themselves

And there is a Table/bar football,computer,playstation and videos....but they to 'sign up' for the use of these for a maximum of 30 mins per go....so they don't hog the activity.

i wondered how this would go- being that my boys are addicted to computers playstations etc....but infact it was no problem....am thinking of sticking up a laminated (so can write on- wipe off) list next to the p.c etc..... but bet wouldn't work at home???? ()thoght of making traffic lights....out of card- just 3 simple discs coloured red,green amber- so that with the help of velcro i could stick on the red to say stop- amber to warn activity ending and green to say 'YOUR TURN'

[Chocol8]

Wow, it sounds like they had an excellent day, except for not winning the Bingo!

That's an excellent price - I mean, I pay £27 per day for my ds at the childminders for him to sit around watching videos or play for a while in the garden (and get VERY dirty).

I bet the toast and pots of spread go down well too! The laminate of the traffic lights may work at home (!), but hey, it means you get to do some laminating so even if it doesn't work, it means you get to do what you enjoy! Heh heh.

I'm glad they had a nice day and that you get a little respite and let's face it - a short amount of time is better than nothing and lovely to know that they are enjoying themselves. x

[Blossomhill]

Surely Mrs F this should all be funded??? I mean we have the option of my 2 going but tend to just take it in the summer holidays.

[TheReturnOfMrsF]

yes i think that £39 is a bargain!! I get £53 DLA for me...and i reckon if i use that place from now one for them all to go twice a week in all school holidays then i will be spending my DLA in a very producticve way!

Another thing i liked is that they have loads of old fashioned board games etc and they actually sit down and play with the kids....now i NEVER manage to find the time- so for me to know that every now and then i am paying someone to do this for me- thenm i feel a little less guilty about my lack of this!!!

[TheReturnOfMrsF]

BH- if you mean direct payments.....well social services came last year and nothing came of it.

[Blossomhill]

No, we just get ours paid for by SS

[sparklymieow]

My kids go to a SN club, and I pay £2.50 each for a session, they only have two sessions this holiday.

[TheReturnOfMrsF]

my 2 SN boys go to a local Autistic Club for 2 days each holiday- i only pay 5 for that- but i want something where they can all go......and so that i am not driving all over the place getting them there! And to be honest Tom (the oldest) was so myuch happier today at this 'NT' club....he is the 'milder' asperger's of my 2 with that DX..... so finds the autism club a bit too 'cared for' if you know what i mean....whereas leigh my 'more autistic aspergers ' son was not quite so keen today at this NT place... and he loves the autistic club!!!

So i can see me still having to take them to two clubs....but if i did then it would still only cost me £31 for all 3 to be having alot of fun. (averages out less than £2 per hour each !!!!!)

[Davros]

Mine is the same as BH, local play centre for children with (all) disabilities, run by Soc Svs. We get offered a couple of days each holiday (no say in what days). Its paid for by Soc Svs. Our Direct Payments are separate. DS goes to a Saturday Morning Club in term time run by an autism charity and it is really good. 3hrs for £8.

[bambi06]

how do you find out about these clubs? my son is 5 1/2 and im thinking in the summer hols for him to do something like that if he could cope.... are they run by ss or autistic society..anyone got any knowledge on where to start looking? im in se london btw if anyone knows of one there..many thanks

[Davros]

It took me quite a while to find out about these things, I plugged away at it! I suppose ask Soc Svs for a start. Then start picking up leaflets everywhere you go, ask other parents, make a nuisance of yourself! I am a serial joiner and one of the benefits is getting lots of newsletters, e.g. NAS, Autism London (worth looking at for you), Carers UK, Keen London (also worth looking at for you), Resources for Autism, CDC notice board, parents' groups of any sort etc etc.

[Davros]

Doh! Forgot to ask if your DS has ASD. If not then some of those wouldn't be relevant. Keen would still be relevant and maybe some other charities, e.g. KIDs could give you info.......

[maddiemo]

bambi local branch of Mencap do cheapish days out/cinema trips, an adult must accompany the child.

Buzz do day camps at Pavillion for children with mild sn alongside mainstream children.

[coppertop]

Last summer ds1 went to a playscheme run by our local Surestart group. Our portage worker told us about it. It's not specifically for SN but there were a couple of children there with SN. It's for 3-8yr-olds so ds2 will be too young. We were offered 2 x 2.5hr sessions for 2 weeks. I can't remember the exact cost but it was only a couple of pounds or so.

[macwoozy]

My ds is currently attending a SN playscheme, I managed to get him in there for the whole week. Its called Disablilty Challengers, apparently it's quite widespread. From 9.30 - 4.00 it costs just £10.
Love the idea with the traffic lights, might have a go at doing that myself. It's an ideal way to warn him that an activity will be ending soon.
Leigh is just like my ds, he has to win at everything otherwise he explodes. It's got to the stage that he's even decided himself that he no longer wants to play any board games where there might be the possibility that he will lose, which just about counts all those games out. All his new ones hasn't even been touched since Xmas.

[TheRealMrsF]

know the feeling MacW....Leigh cannot even try to 'lose' so as to encourage others to join him in racing round the playground etc...as far as he is concerned you'd have to be a 'loser' to go slow just to let someone else win.....cannot get him to see that adults never race at full speed ...or else he'd always have been last when we used to play racing in the garden.....i don't bother now out of princaple.....