Going to the Please Touch Museum brings out our major issue when we’re in public – the fact that our Monster is a runner.
In specific, if we’re not really paying attention to what he’s doing, he’s liable to take off in any given direction. Even with us paying attention, there were times that he dashed off and it took us a few moments to lock on to where he’d disappeared to. Continue reading
With only two weeks left in the summer, we decided it would be a good idea for the Monster to spend it working on his swimming.
The wife’s still trying to find somewhere specializing in autistic children for swim lessons, but in the meantime, nothing is really harmed by putting him in a 40-minute-per-day swim class. Continue reading
With the mercury climbing well past 90 (does anyone actually use a mercury thermometer anymore?), we decided to spend the majority of the weekend at the pool.
Not that the Monster minded this one iota – while he has, in the past week, expressed once that he wasn’t in a mood to go swimming (on a day where he’d already gone in the pool before we’d asked), telling him that we’re going to the pool is a quick way to get compliance from him to get him changed, sunblocked, and loaded into the car. And while all of us went to the pool together on Saturday, I managed him at the pool by myself on Sunday. Continue reading
There’s a lot in the news lately about wandering with autistic kids. A few of the tweet feeds I follow (such as @NationalAutism) work very hard to raise awareness of this issue, since we’re talking about kids who don’t communicate very well and don’t seem to realize that what they’re doing is dangerous. Continue reading
The Monster loves the water.
I’ve heard this as a common refrain with a good number of parents of children with ASDs, that their kids love the water – I’m sure it’s something to do with the sensations that come from being surrounded by liquid. As it is, it’s one of his favorite things in the summer, being told that he can go play with water in some form, be it the inflatable pool in our backyard, the water table we have here, water tables at various museums or the large pool at the JCC. Continue reading
I mentioned in my prior post that I had a minor issue when I took the Monster to the park on Saturday. This isn’t a new problem and it’s one that I’ve heard from more than a few parents with kids with an ASD.
The Monster likes to roam. Specifically, he likes to wander/walk/run off when it suits him, without giving warning as to when/where he’s going. Continue reading