Is there anywhere I can go this half term with autistic 6 year old?

[elliejjtiny]

6 year old has autism. He is a bolter and it's getting increasingly harder to catch him/pick him up etc. He also licks everything and puts everything in his mouth. We have tried those chewy necklaces but he just wants to explore everything with his mouth. I have reins for him but he hates them as they stop him running. I have stopped going out for walks with him as he just screams and lays on the floor.

Pre covid we used to do softplay, swimming, visiting grandparents. We also went to some stay and play activities for children with autism or disabilities. At the moment we can't do any of these things. Grandparents are shielding, groups aren't running, swimming pool isn't open until after half term is over. Softplay is open but I'm nervous about him licking everything there during a pandemic.

There are loads of things we can do at home but it would be nice to go out somewhere. For me more than ds as he would be quite happy at home. He needs a decent amount of exercise if he is going to sleep before 11pm as well although we can do that with exercise videos on YouTube. My other dc would quite like to leave the house at some point too.

How risky is softplay at the moment for a child who licks everything and will it still be fun for him with all the new rules in place? Is there anywhere else I can take him that I haven't thought of yet?

Is there a swimming pool a bit further afield that you could take your DC to?

I agree with @EggysMom about the cycling ,they have bikes for all types of disabilities there's even one that people in wheelchairs can go on ,it's called Wheels for all in my area at least , unfortunately I'm in Greater Manchester so we can't do much this half term ,tbh I wouldn't take my son to soft play I hate it at the best of times he has autism and severe learning disabilities ,and would just pick other children,s drinks up etc given half the chance ,but some places do an autism friendly sessions..

The area I’m in (Somerset) usually has a range of SEN suitable holiday activities organised by the local Short Breaks team - there’s not so many at the moment, but there are some. My son is 17 now, so he’s too old for them now, but we did go to them when he was younger. I also found local parent/carer groups were good for ideas of what was happening in the area.

Lots of swimming pools are open so couldn't you travel to one open - ours has 4 hours of family sessions a day. Depending on where you are, National trust places often have good playgrounds (outside so low risk) just wear wet weather gear. If you don't have your own, good you borrow a dog to walk - many autistic kids really are benefitted by being around dogs and it might make him walk further and distract the fact he has reins. I used reins in town until 5 and dd still bolted a bit after but she did have road awareness and would hold my hand, but we always hiked so she just did it

Ps we couldn't ever go to soft play with dd (autistic) because she hates loud noise, well screaming and shouting, even though she's now grown up, so it was always outside playgrounds whatever the weather. (She plays in 3 orchestras now, but wears earplugs, go figure!)

"ANY child who cannot resist licking everything in these covid times (SEN or not) should not go to a soft play area."

No under 3s then. Any child that might wipe their snotty nose on something or dribble on something or sneeze and not cover their face or any child that is not completely toilet trained in case their nappy leaks or they have an accident...

In my experience if dribble is the worst thing you encounter at soft play you are very lucky. I’ve lost track of the number of toilet accidents I witnessed when mine were tiny.

My 2 year old wet himself at soft play the other day. And another toddler bit me and smeared snot all over my leggings. I really don’t think being NT or not is the issue, kids are just gross!

Thankyou so much for all the suggestions. I managed to get a list together and then we got an email saying someone in my older dc's year group bubble has tested positive for covid so he needs to isolate until 3rd November. Technically my youngest doesn't need to self isolate but with the licking he does then we are being extra cautious and he will be staying at home too. Thankfully I have loads of things we can do at home, but it would have been nice to go out.

Do you have a garden, and if so might you be able to stretch to a small trampoline? You can get ones that have a sort of “roof” (eg Jumpking combo) so could still be used in the wet. I know it’s not out, just thinking that might help burn off some energy.

Otherwise - do you have any playgrounds locally with bolted gates? Our local one has gates and people are pretty good about keeping them shut, so although your ds could possibly open the gate with some effort it would slow him down enough for you to catch him...?