Returning From an Injury for a Teenager with Autism

My son broke his foot at the end of January.

It was a hard time for him. He’s a kid who loves movement. He takes breaks to help regulate his body. Usually, he does this on his Razor scooter.

What happened in school?

He had to use crutches for two weeks, and after two weeks he was allowed to walk on his boot. He had to use the elevator at school and he had peers assigned to carry his backpack since he wasn’t allowed to do while using the crutches.

What about P.E.?

My son really likes P.E. He always has because he’s a movement kid and physical education class is a period at school that allows him to move around.

He even doesn’t mind having to change his clothes. I have heard from other parents that some kids with autism struggle with changing their clothes in a locker room.

When he broke his foot, however, he could no longer participate in P.E.

He podiatrist told us that he was expected to be in the boot from six to eight weeks.

Six weeks is the minimum for missing P.E. at school.

What does that mean?

It means that if a child has to miss more than six weeks of P.E., they can’t remain in the class because they’re missing too much time. It’s not fair to give them the credit if they don’t attend a minimum number of classes.

So, my son was removed from P.E. for the rest of the semester.

What did they do with that empty period?

At first, the school checked into an elective class that he could join late since it was still early in the semester.

There was none.

They ended up giving him a study hall.

Which he was pretty happy with since he now had two periods when he could get work done.

What about his injury?

My son ended up missing his baseball season. (By the time he was cleared to play, there were only three games left).

He was allowed to begin swimming after the eight weeks, but not running.

By the time our kids get to middle school, running is an important part of the grade in P.E. class. Right before he broke his foot, my son was doing quite well with running. He was third or fourth in his class with the timed mile run. He had improved a lot since I first took him out earlier in the year.

My son’s doctor said to give his foot an extra six weeks before attempting to run.

I finally took him out again on Memorial Day weekend. He ran two laps and said his foot felt okay.

Is there a plan?

Since running is important for the P.E. class, and it’s a great way to get exercise, I plan on taking my son a few times over the summer to help get him back into shape.

I want to start out slowly, since he did break his foot. I don’t want him re-injuring it.

That way, once his sophomore year begins, and he’s back in P.E. class, he’ll be ready to go!

Returning From an Injury for a Teenager with Autism