Beavers and autism

[Opinionswelcomeplease]

Hello
First time posting!

My son is 5, and has autism. He currently attends a language support unit in place of mainstream school. He is not too limited other than some social/emotional “issues”

The local beaver scout group has offered him a place even though he’s only 5.

Would you put your son? He has a 40minute journey to and from school but copes well with other extra-curricular activities (for example his boys dance club)

I guess the real question is - since he’s already behind his peers - do you think starting a club aged 5, when it’s meant for 6+ would be detrimental or advantageous?

Hi my son is in cubs and is socially "young" - he also has SplD - dyspraxia. My suggestion would be to leave until 6. I am sure he will enjoy it - good luck!

Personally I'd wait a bit, assuming that there will be a place when he's a bit older.

As a leader of a similar group it can be quite a challenge It's easy to forget just how much difference a few months makes at this age. When we do have young starters we find we really need our extra leaders.

It might be worth asking about how old the older children in the group are, I have to say our "success stories" are usually when we've had a lot of the older ones move up so our whole group is at the younger end of the range.

As a parent I tend to find we have just one shot with DS, if he has a not so great experience he's not ready to try again in a few months, it's more like years/never. Because of that we've learned that for him we're best waiting till we're confident he's really ready.

Depends on the group and what they do. My dc have squirrels and beavers together so it's from 4 up. A night would be mainly games which are fast paced, snack then prayer at the end. My asd 6 yr old loves it and my 4 yr old ongoing diagnosis copes ok.

I would try it

If it doesn't work then u can try again in a year

My husband is a cub leader and was a beaver leader. It can be very full on and particularly with beavers they need a lot of support/supervision. I asked him what he thought and he said delay until 6 and make sure the leaders understand your son. He also said be prepared to volunteer as a parent helper

Thank you all for your posts, it’s so nice to have some opinions x