Long Vacations and Autism – Part Three
During our 27-day vacation, my son had a few lows, but many highs.
What were some positive memorable moments?
One issue with my son is his occasional need to move his body.
It explained the need for more car breaks than typical kids need.
My son is not much of a climber, but he does pace (and hand shake) and ride a Razor scooter.
When I traveled with my son for twelve days last year, we rented a car for the trip. We drove home.
This year, we drove across the country in a rented car, but flew home from Boston.
This left an interesting challenge for me because last year it was easy to simply bring my son’s scooter with us. No need to try to get it on an airplane.
No such luck this year.
I began to think about what to do about this issue in the spring. Around this time, I noticed that my son’s scooter was getting a bit ragged. I even had to fix it once or twice.
On a side note, my son very much into using his Razor scooter to help regulate his body. We’ve gone through a few of them over the years. My guess is five or six.
I came up with a solution that would benefit our summer vacation plans.
Instead of letting this scooter fall apart and simply replacing it like I’ve done in the past, I put it away and bought a new one “early.”
Then, I took the old one on vacation, hoping that it wouldn’t fall apart during our 27-days away.
Luckily, it didn’t.
On our last day, we found a Goodwill on the way to the Boston airport and donated the scooter.
My son got his usual sensory break using his preferred item, his Razor scooter.
Were they any other “highs” for our son on this trip?
Plenty.
My son is still infatuated with dogs, and he met plenty on this vacation.
He went to five baseball games on the trip.
He got to do things with three cousins, two uncles, and one aunt.
He got to meet friends of mine he had never met before.
He got to travel in some mountains, which he loves to do.
He swam in the Atlantic Ocean in Atlantic City for three hours. I couldn’t get him out. He fell in love with crashing into the waves.
An incredibly proud moment came on a day when my brother and his family met us at a park in Upstate New York. This park features a walk along a stream that comes with waterfalls.
I’m not talking Niagara Falls, but two of the falls were significant.
However, this walk is meant for visitors to walk in the stream and “swim” in the falls.
This was a brand new experience for my son. He had been in many parks before, but never one quite like this.
One challenge that even I had trouble with was the water was…cold. I only jumped into one of the pools toward the end of our stay, but even then I got right out. Too cold for me.
Yet, my son watched his uncle and his cousin get into the cold water at the falls, and he wanted to do it, too!
And, he did.
Of course, he backed into the water—very slowly—but in he went.
This experience became one of those times when my son amazed me. I never would have guessed that he would plunge into this type of experience. Plunge into cold water running down a falls.
What a fantastic experience for my son.
In my next blog, I’ll wrap up my experience with my son with autism on this 27-day vacation.
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