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Surviving the six weeks holiday with asd son. Any suggestions?

12 replies

BsDad · 19/07/2012 21:38

Hello,
I was wondering if forum members had any tips for keeping a hfa autistic four-year old boy occupied over the summer? I'm hoping to post something this week on my blog and would love to share your ideas and suggestions.
Thanks.

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AgnesDiPesto · 20/07/2012 09:21

Cycle rides with a trailer. DS seems a lot less obsessive outdoors and if we put a drink and a few books in the trailer he is happy to go out for an hour or so, especially if there is an ice cream stop.

We are checking out a local donkey sanctuary which does SN riding for children and their siblings.

We try and go for a walk or swimming each day. If we take the iPad DS will walk into town, sit in a cafe on his iPad for 20 minutes so we can have a coffee, and then he gets rewarded by getting the bus home

Train and bus journeys generally even if not really going anywhere just for the journey.

Anywhere with a miniature train. We may try mini roller coasters this year, he is very passive so likes anything with an adrenaline buzz. He loves water slides but it is easy to lose him in water parks so we need extra adults to put him on the top and stop him running off at the end. We have found one place with 2 slides side by side so I can watch him set off and then still get to the bottom of the slide in time to meet him before he runs off.

We have been known to walk into town let him go up and down the escalators and lifts and then come home Blush.

Softplay for short bursts. Farms especially if they have a play barn.

Mainly he spends far too much time on the computer.

Our main problem is he is up so early that he tends to have got into a stimmy rut before the rest of us are getting going and I often feel I have failed to engage him properly before its even 8am and still have the whole day ahead.

He enjoys books and we have been taking photos of outings and making little books for him which he loves to read over and over. His favourite one has the traffic lights at the end of the road changing colour.

But we are lucky as his ABA runs 48 weeks per year so we only have a few weeks to fill, not the full 6.

UnChartered · 20/07/2012 09:32

Try to keep routines the same as much as possible -

Don't try to get him to 'lie in' (even though it would be great if they did), keep mealtimes and food similar, and have 'breaks' at similar times where they would at school

Use a picture schedule to plan for days out, including number count downs for big events (how many days until holiday etc)

Playschemes could be useful, spending time with others rather than family members will give YOU a break and conserve your energy for those days out

now for the reality bit Wink

this is all theory, i'll let you know come Autumn if it's been successful or not Grin

StarlightWithAsteroid · 20/07/2012 11:02

We just Go out and ride on escalators and lifts tbh, using them as rewards for allowing te occasional coffee. Playgrounds are good for practice with other children but camping in a secure field is also great. Same bed in same tent and it is a great leveller of children. Sometimes we just go to our nearest campsite for a few nights.

Badvoc · 20/07/2012 11:21

Agree with outdoors each day if you can.
Also the photo idea...ds1 us going to be putting together a book of our recent holiday to north yorks tomorrow and will be choosing what pics to print odd etc
Doesn't do the cinema :( but likes museums, trains, boats, trams etc.
Not lifts. He hates lifts. Likes escalators though as does ds2 :)
I haven't really got anything planned which is worrying me a bit.
We are going to Windsor next weekend so he will get to go to heathrow and look at the planes and have a swim at the hotel but thats about it....
I am hoping to do swimming once a week, he goes to my pils once a week, parks etc....that's If the bloody weather picks up :(

Eliza22 · 20/07/2012 11:45

Ds is now 11 so, I can plan to do stuff a bit more now but, when he was 5 or so, he was obsessed with the width of roads. We'd drive around for hours discussing how narrow they were, and watch cars and tractors trying to get past each other! Madness really, but he loved it!! We lived in rural Herefordshire then so, no shortage of farm vehicles on the roads Smile.

I'd try to be led by your ds (if it doesn't drive you potty) and incorporate "we can do this (that he loves doing ) when we've done that (stuff he might not be so keen on).

I know how hard it is. I used to try to make ds's holidays like everyone else's but eventually gave in to the fact, he IS different and cannot cope with stuff "normal" kids just "do".

HotheadPaisan · 20/07/2012 12:13

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Ineedalife · 20/07/2012 14:00

Go exploring in the woods, to the playground and any of the other places people have suggested.

If he will eat out side, try going out in the middle of the day say 11 - 3, then you can make them think they have been out all dayGrin.

Cheap or free days out, picnics from home and the odd ice cream. Job doneSmile

Eliza22 · 20/07/2012 14:08

We used to put a tent up, in the garden too. We'd have our lunch and read in the thing, when it was impossible for me to get ds out of the house, from about 7 yrs onward.

BsDad · 20/07/2012 19:49

Fantastic advice. Thanks everyone x

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ohmeohmy · 20/07/2012 20:13

No real advise I am afraid but the escalator trip reminded me of when we used to go out to the laundrette because he loved to watch the machines going round. Those were the days.

ohmeohmy · 20/07/2012 20:13

Advice.

BsDad · 24/07/2012 08:13

Thanks again for your ideas. Here is the blog post that I've included them in:

autisticson.wordpress.com/2012/07/24/the-autism-summer-survival-kit/

Have a great summer, everyone.

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