How do you get your child with asd to relax??

[blossomhill]

My dd who has HFA and is 10 yrs old (changed very recently from AS - long story) finds it very hard to relax. Infact she doesn't at all and I am finding it hard. Probably more so as I have dd out of school but I can't think back to a time when she actually sat still for more than a few minutes.

does she have a "special interest"? dd reads and ds1 plays his DS both for hours and hours at a time if permitted. This is how the relax. Does she particularly like anything? (She may be ralaxing by (say) spinning which she will find relaxing but it will not necessarily involve sittign still).

ds bounces on the trampette

Ds ( LD/ASD) is in almost constant motion too! He chills out after school by half watching tv and playing all at the same time. He doesn't always sit (he kind of bounces around) but when he needs to flop he has a blanket he likes to wrap in on the sofa, or a bean chair. Once he has wound down he prefers interaction (board games, a walk with a purpose such as conker collecting, running about, cooking, computor play or making things) which need lots of adult input. He is not good at entertaining himself so I need to have a ready store of ideas! Actually chopping vegetables seems to calm him - even useful!

Would a pet help? Sea mokeys (brine shrimp) are good because they hatch and grow fast and are relaxing to watch ( and need almost no care). ( Not if loosing them will cause sadness - short life cycle)

Dd1 only sits still if reading or making something (craft). Dh (suspected AS) never relaxes and finds it hard to sleep, the only thing that helps him to relax is watching football (which isn't great for me).

My dd has HFA and is 9 she has to constantly move. She is on a sensory intergration programme which involves exerccises three times a day so she can get the sensory feed back she is seeking. She is much calmer and doesn't do a lot of the things that she did. She is very hyper and needs motion. She does find that picking bugs of plants helps to calm her down or collecting things from the garden. The over stimulation of everyday life is hard for her. She can't go to a restaurant unless she can play outside. So I know how you feel it wears you down. The programme deals a lot with exercises that focus her or calm her down. It does help expend energy as well. Don't know if this helps. Oh the other thing is yoga exercises after exercise such as running or ridding a bike to calm her down otherwise she is still too hyper even though she is tired.