Do you have any good summer holiday tips?

14 comments »

1. When traveling with my son, I often find it easier if there are little things he can do to amuse himself in the car. I also keep some small snacks for him. I prep him before the trip to make sure he knows what is expected from him; and reward him when he acheives the requested goal with something special – maybe picking where we have dinner that night.

   Comment by Heather Boyd — June 12, 2009 @ 12:07 pm

2. We have gone to the same place in Cornwall for the past few years. My son is now familiar with it and can imagine himself their before we arrive. It is situated between a busy town and a massive deserted beach that it isn’t possible to drive to hence the lack of people. We alternate between them and that seems to keep everyone reasonably happy.

   Comment by Ella, — June 12, 2009 @ 2:28 pm

3. I put her in daycare for half days when not out of town over the summer to keep her in a routine (same as for school). Not only does it keep up a daily routine, it is respite time for me…

   Comment by Karen Walker — June 12, 2009 @ 2:57 pm

4. We came up with the idea to have our son pick out a topic related to “mind improvement.” Because he is interested in computers he chose to learn about writing computer programs, so we bought him a “how to” book so he can learn more about a favorite topic. He is spending his time improving his mind and not just spending mindless screen time.

   Comment by Karen Vance — June 12, 2009 @ 5:17 pm

5. We have travelled through many countries with our son. I always take a supply of the foods he likes and in order to minimise transition issues find it is best to only leave the hotel room once per day. We leave fully equipped and so on our return for the day he is rewarded with a swim in a pool or computer time.

   Comment by Rose — June 12, 2009 @ 7:49 pm

6. Be always super prepared. Don’t allow for any possible changes. Do as you have prescribed. Have heaps of timetables, calendars etc to follow. Give loads of pre warnings before starting anything. Good luck

   Comment by Jenny Jacobs — June 13, 2009 @ 1:05 am

7. I am the grandmother of a 10 year old aspergers child and take care of him during the day. He has a younger sister and brother. He has reached a stage where he wants more independence and will simply disappear within the neighborhood scouting the wooded areas around our home. He always comes back within the time limit I allow him. (I don’t know how he does it, no watch on but he knows when one hour is up) The problem is, he has been covered with poison ivy many times and gets very irritated when told he is cannot to go into the wooded area. He loves to explore and find frogs, toads etc. He has a collection of reptiles in his home and takes very good care of them. How can I make his explorations safer?

   Comment by Vada Baker — June 13, 2009 @ 6:23 am

8. During the summer break our son has a hard time with the routine change. So we set up his desk in his room with the name tag he used at school, get his supply box ready and do our own “summer school”, his sisters and brother even get in on it. We have a lecture in the morning and do an activity, then we give a worksheet or test and even assign homework. This really helped last year and seems to be working this year. There is still a new routine but at least some of it is the same for him.

   Comment by Nicole Dodd — June 14, 2009 @ 9:08 pm

9. When going to a new place, we have found going through the internet / brochure with our son, helping him to imagine what the accomodation would be like reduces anxiety, along with, when arriving just settling in at that accomodation that day and a lot of the next, so he has a stable base from which to do trips.

   Comment by Ian McNair — June 15, 2009 @ 2:32 am

10. I took my grandson to a nature park the other day. There was a large billboard with all the rules of what can and can’t be done there. My grandson said, “Can I make up my rules?” So I let him and he was great about folowing his own rules there. It was a wonderful stress free time because he felt he had control.

    Comment by Jean Campbell — June 15, 2009 @ 11:52 am

11. Start planning early. introduce country , method of travel early. discuss any anxieties in plenty of time adn discyss all options fully, timings expecially helpful. use of maps to plan journey and explain where we are going to be .

    Comment by Liz — June 15, 2009 @ 12:58 pm

12. Vada with the grandson. I will bet he is a very bright boy and would love to learn about the plants in the forest. It is quick and easy to teach him how to identify the poison ivy and then he will be sure to avoid it.

    Comment by Meri Kay — June 16, 2009 @ 5:55 pm

13. We found that renting a house makes life much easier than staying in hotel rooms. There is enough room for everyone to spread and and have some “alone” time if necessary. Also, having the option of cooking in on any stressful days when eating out might be a disaster and just having a kitchen available so you can provide some favorite foods helps to keep things moving a little smoother during the vacation.

    Comment by B Ent — June 17, 2009 @ 1:11 pm

14. Routine is a must, make one up and stick to it. Get yourt child to go to activities so they can mix with other children and be active. A non active aspie, looses routine and then starts to ‘think’ tomuch leading to emotions they can’t deal with. If the routine is due to change let the child know a few days in advance and keep talking about it so the child is settled with the idea of change before it happens.
    Hope this helps someone!

    Comment by caroline dawson — June 20, 2009 @ 8:10 am

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