Post by litebright on Apr 23, 2014 16:06:15 GMT -5
I didn't realize until I had kids, especially one with SN, how difficult it is to manage summer. I WAH PT and both my kids are in full-day kindergarten and preschool, and then I'm with them after 3 p.m. Having to make different arrangements for summer is all kinds of complicated and expensive!
Plus there's DD1's therapy needs. I've been kind of waffling on what to do there, but I got an email today from a therapy center we've used before about what sounds like a great social skills group over the summer! I already called DH and discussed it with him, because it would be very doable with our weekly schedule, the price is reasonable and I've been really happy with this place previously; the only downside is that it's about 40 minutes away, so it's going to be a bit of a hike.
I'm chomping at the bit to get her signed up ASAP because I worry it's going to fill up. GAH. Already called and left a message.
I want her to do 2-3 regular camps this summer. I found several last year that were very welcoming of kids with SN and that DD1 seemed to really enjoy, and so they will be my starting point.
I've been thinking about trying to do therapeutic riding over the summer b/c I know she'd love it, and honestly 2-3 months of lessons would run not much more than a week of "regular" horse camp. But ugh, the driving! And DH kind of rolled his eyes at me when I mentioned it -- I think he sees it as, if you're going to do therapy, do something focused on social skills/her primary needs, and if you're going to do camp, do camp.
I was a PT WAH mom, until my 2 year old started showing symptoms, now I SAH full time. Hats off that you can still WAH. The last couple years my son did ESY for 4 weeks, but this summer he will be in a full time ABA program that is 30 minutes away. Luckily my older son can go to a county wide free camp through out the summer at the elementary school (select slots/select schools). Only issues is that I practically need to be in 2 different spots at the same time to pick them up through out the year. Not to mention it's the younger DS's naptime. Ugh I keep reminding myself it's for the kids benefit and hopefully if DS2 can progress enough we can maybe do mainstream with special accommodations in the next couple years.
I almost hate summers. We've gotten to a point at school (My DS is in Gr 3) where he has an IPP and his teachers and school know what to do for him. I don't worry at school, they've got it under control and I'm not terrified of them kicking him out. We don't do B/A Care any more because he didn't cope well so my DH drops him off and picks him up and then works from home (he's self employed so he has the flexibility).
But summers? We book him into day camps - last year we did 4 weeks of camps and I took 5 weeks off. It was awesome. I can't do that this year due to a project I am on, so he is in 9 weeks of camps this summer. He's doing science, computers, building, drama, swimming... the whole bit. He should have a ton of fun, but I worry endlessly about how things go, whether he's upset or scared or whether the camp can deal with him... (We do tell the camps what is going on and it's generally fine... not that it stops me from worrying.) Next year I'm going to take a ton of time off and try to create some downtime for us.
Summer is tough. Especially finding a fit for the sort of kid who has a foot in both worlds. DS was to special for some regular camps but way too regular for most SN camps.
Brighter kids on spectrum, especially those for whom college is a possibility, should have the experience of sleep away camp where they get a chance to have room mates, be away from home/family and develop some meaningful independence and self advocacy skills.
Summer is hard. We are lucky in that our local parks & rec has a specialized recreation department and they have weekly camps. You can sign your child up for as many weeks as you need. They use college students and special needs teachers as the counselors.
Wow, that's an awesome resource!
We've had mixed experiences at our city parks & rec. I think I'm still traumatized from her first daycamp with them two summers ago -- it was basically grannies doing crafts and they had no idea what to do with a kid on the spectrum. And she was one of three kids that I knew of in the class with identified dx's of one type or another.
I learned some valuable lessons from it, but OMG, it was such a painful experience. Same with a sports-skills class we tried just before she was dx'd. But other classes -- music, music therapy, a day camp over spring break -- have been great.
Now that she's 6, she gets to do a different day camp more like the one she did and loved over spring break, so I think we're going to try a week of it at least once this summer.
Post by hopecounts on Apr 24, 2014 17:14:31 GMT -5
we're lucky and there is a local autism program that does a summer camp so I'm planning on putting her in that for a session and between that and ABA, social group, and the study social group she'll be pretty busy. I will miss my 2 mornings off a week during the summer though.