D of E with autism

[herecomesthsun]

DC has a recent diagnosis of ASD, is 13 and high functioning, and is very keen on doing d of E bronze.

I am a bit concerned as he has issues with restricted food eating, difficulties especially with inter social interactions, especially if stressed.

I have offered to get proper, fitted walking boots, proper waterproofs, wicking layers etc but DC thinks this is just me being a fussy mum. Of course waterproof trousers may not be needed, but if DC gets cold and wet it could get very difficult for him ( and he won't be easy company then, to put it mildly)

School, according to dc have said that they only need to take a can of alphbetti spaghetti for supper; dc wants only to do what school says; dc has restricted eating patterns and often won't eat a carefully cooked supper.

Anyone got experience of managing this (I thought I'd ask before speaking to the school)

My DS who has an ASC did his D of E, through to gold. I was an anxious Mum especially starting bronze but with hindsight on DofE making mistakes and figuring it out for themseves are all part of the learning experience. They get enough adult support to rescue them from real disaster and some of the kids (without ASCs!) did, brought, and failed to bring, the daftest things, but it turned out OK. DofE leaders are amazing, they have experience of managing kids with additional needs and they are inclusive. It's not supposed to be a perfect experience, it's about messing up and getting through.

He should get a kit list at some point and the kids will get together at meetings to organise food between them. Let him take spaghetti if he insists, the kids will probably manage to share food. Let him tell you what he (thinks he) needs and support him to get it.

Wearing in new boots is a good idea and my DS did that but it's not the end of the world if not. Depending on the terrain and the time of year a solid pair of trainers (plus spare socks and a large pack of Compeeds) might see him through. Though one of DS's pals got taken home halfway through with almighty blisters because she didn't bring proper shoes/boots at all.

Does he have a team, and know who is he walking with? They will need to stick together and camp and cook together.
Last year I was able to talk to some of the other parents (because DS went to primary school with them) to see what they were taking.
There is normally a practice and a real expedition, although they are very similar.

Is the expedition May 2022? You mean May 2023, I hope.

DS is doing his practice expedition April 2022, and has been attending sessions about DoE for months. Started volunteering & physical & skills months ago.

If May 2023 is expedition, there's a long time to go before then to sort out the food confusion.

May 2022

just checked - May is a practice, the full expedition is July.

Hi OP, I've done D of E (though not recently!) and have a DD with restricted eating.

I ate an unrestricted diet when I did D of E so I did have a cooked evening meal (which we cooked together as a group), but I wouldn't focus on that, I'd focus on getting enough calories into your DS over the two days. I got through a lot (and I mean a lot) of chocolate - I reckon about half my calories came from it during expeditions. Is there something like that that your DS might eat - I could imagine my DD doing similar. Cereal bars are great if your DS can eat them (DD couldn't) - indeed most of the suggestions upthread wouldn't work for DD, so I feel your pain! But if you've persuaded him that snacks are a good idea, then I'd concentrate on getting the snacks right, and ensure that there are lots of them.

My foster son has learning Disability and I was a bit worried when he wanted to do DofE Bronze. At end of expedition I was told he was fittest child there and lead the walkers at a good pace and gave his blister plasters to a girl without any. He will need walking boots he breaks in well before expedition, waterproofs, wool socks, many pairs of socks and blister plasters. Wholegrain snack bars are good when walking as are pepperoni sticks. Tins are not good, dried food is lighter.

You can get the kit list if you google d of e downloads. They are able to borrow the more expensive items like the tent, stove etc. Mountain warehouse and go outdoors do a 10% discount for d of e.

My fussy and veggie DS was ok. They were put in a group and decided to do a joint meal of pasta with stir in dolmio sauce and some grated cheese. They were told they did actually have to cook something. Of course it was a bit raw and burnt (impressive to achieve both I know) but they survived on other snacks. High protein flapjack, bagels that were taken already with houmous in them, sweets, nuts...

My DS had cheap pacamac style waterproof trousers from mountain warehouse. He slept in his clothes and returned in the same things he set out in I did make sure he had decent boots, socks and coat.

In a way the expedition was the easy bit. Finding suitable volunteering experience is hard and DS doesn't do sports so 3 months physical activity was tricky. Also I'm still chasing assessors reports!!

May/June 2022 is fine. My DS had a really short time scale as they were catching up those that missed out due to lockdown

I agree with packing something high calorie that he'll tolerate but if he's like dd, put them individually labelled with when they should be eaten. Dd would hear emergency rations and save it all for an emergency.

Good boots are essential. I'm autistic and did expeditions up to Gold. I worked out for Silver and Bronze that I could take cooked sausages and frozen rolls and the rolls would defrost over the first day and I could have sausages in a bun for most of my meals! Gold was no good as you had to be there for days in advance to acclimatise and ended up camping out before the expedition even started so my freezing technique to keep the bread fresh wouldn't have worked.

We used to take packet dried pasta in sauce. Tins are really heavy to carry.

@JulesRimetStillGleaming

Good boots are essential. I'm autistic and did expeditions up to Gold. I worked out for Silver and Bronze that I could take cooked sausages and frozen rolls and the rolls would defrost over the first day and I could have sausages in a bun for most of my meals! Gold was no good as you had to be there for days in advance to acclimatise and ended up camping out before the expedition even started so my freezing technique to keep the bread fresh wouldn't have worked.

We used to take packet dried pasta in sauce. Tins are really heavy to carry.

Did you cook and then freeze the sausages too, or just freeze the rolls? DS would like sausages inna bun.

This just reminded me DS took a frozen sausage roll (vegan in his case) to defrost for lunch on Sunday.
They need 2 lunches, 1 eve meal, 1 breakfast plus snacks for bronze.

What will he do for his skill, physical & volunteering, OP? Those are all more challenging (to organise) ime than the expedition. Especially for a 13 yr old. What sessions is the school organising? DC school has to teach them how to use the stoves, for instance.

Is he used to long distance walking? DD got horrific blisters. I did not know soles of feet could peel off like that.

I could start a D of E autism consultancy!!

I just cooked the sausages as far as I remember as they'll last a few days and unless it's a massive heatwave they won't give you food poisoning - well they didn't for me anyway. The frozen rolls keep them cold for the first day anyway and then you eat them. It's an ingenious system

He is a young person who has a number of enthusiasms/ special interests and has 2 possible skills he could use and also a project in which he's started volunteering.

I am a bit concerned about the expedition because it could go really well but also could go very wrong for ASD related reasons. I think at minium he needs to accept that he needs to be well equipped and that will reduce the chance of problems and distress.

Re long distance walking, I did a fair bit myself when younger, I think we need to sort well fitting boots asap.

My eldest has autism (diagnosed at 2) and did d of e bronze. Let them, send the kit on the list and planning food is part of the prep they do (if they want to eat cold canned spaghetti that's ok too but do make sure they can use a can opener, my dc can't do to coordination issues.

Bronze is really easy and there are loads of adults keeping an eye on them. Being over equipped will make it harder as the weight is crucial. They even encouraged us to cut our tooth brushes in half to cut down weight! I refused this. He really will be fine.