Moms of ASD kids

[ktzmoh]

I just posted on MM Moms a thread that I started about after school care for ASD kids, and someone referred me here. I"m such a bone head that I didn't even know this board existed on GBCN. I really need to explore more and not be so thick. Anyway, it seems like there are lots of posts about child care here, so I'll read through those threads. But, I just wanted to say hi and introduce myself to this board.

Jackson (7) is on the Aspergers end of the spectrum and also pretty intense ADHD.

I couldn't be happier with our public school these days. After a really traumatic Kindergarten year, first grade (new school, same district, lots of support) was incredible. We are looking forward to second grade and feel confident that the support network at the school, in combination with his private therapy, is going to continue being a positive environment for him.

What we really stress about is after school care. Both of us are FT in our careers, and we really struggle with what to do after 3pm. Last year we did the on site after school care and it seemed to go well. I want to continue to have him in the on-site after school care because it's a familiar environment, he seemed to like it last year, it gives him lots of opportunity to interact with neuro typical kids, and his support people are close by. Also, we commute a long way to work and getting to the school to pick him up or transport him to some other after school program is just not feasible without major changes to our work schedules.

Given we were so happy with it during the school year, we enrolled him in their summer camp program too. It went okay up until the past couple of weeks where he seems to be unraveling and regressing a little bit. I'm really worried that these past couple of weeks have been too rough for them to want to deal with. I kind of raised a ruckus yesterday when I didn't feel that they were being fair to him, and now I'm worried they will kick him out of the after school care in the Fall.

How do you deal with this issue of childcare? We've been rejected from two private prek schools that were just not willing to work with him, and I think those experiences have scarred us. We want him to stay at the after school care, I think it's good for him and he likes being there with his friends. But I need it to continue to be a positive environment, and so I think we need to talk to them to remind them about approaches that work with Jackson and approaches that are counter productive. What's to keep them from saying sorry, we don't want to deal with that, so see you later?

Sigh. This stuff is so hard, any advice in general that you have about helping them to navigate a neurotypical world at this age is most welcome. I know he's starting to understand when kids are making fun of him and he's not able to process that in a way other than acting out. I think those hard social interactions are at the root of these recent hard weeks.

Read more: pandce.proboards.com/thread/358100/moms-asd-kids#ixzz3AISJpztQ

[oliviapope]

All of this sounds very overwhelming. I can go back and touch on some other thoughts later-but my oldest has SPD and really needs an outlet after school. Could you possibly look for an after school martial arts program? Many times they pick up from the school and take them to their facility. This has worked well for several of my sons friends with ASD. I take my son three days a week and it really helps. Many are structured to do homework and then a couple of classes. Just a thought?

[auntie]

I often find that the academic year programs are more structured and staffed by better people than camps and that many kiddos respond better to that.

I know of people who have had their childrens' IEPs extend to aftercare as a "school activity". This can sometimes be a battle and isn't always doable depending on who- exactly- is providing the service.

It might be worth reaching out locally to see what other parents of kids on spectrum are doing.