First time camping with special needs... share your experiences

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Jrodrigues1278

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Jose
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Rodrigues
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So as some of you already know, I am looking to transfer to overlanding. One of the reasons is because my autistic son loves the outdoors and I think he will enjoy it.

Now I have not taken him overlanding or camping yet, so I don’t have a “First time” experience to share. I am hoping that other membersare willing to share their experiences so that others, like myself, can learn from them. Or at the minimum allow you to know that your not alone.
 
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CTDRC

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60
Fort Worth, TX, USA
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Richard
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Metzger
So, I think I posted a version of this story on the other thread, but just to get it rolling, I'll share again.

A couple years back, I bought a piece of hunting land that is fully primitive and needs a pretty capable off road rig to get down to. Well, my dad at the time, had a severely messed up knee that has now been replaced and my son was 2 at the time. He's since been diagnosed with autism, but at the time, he was showing as a typical 2 year old with tendencies that didn't raise flags at the time, but I recognize now.

So, I was working night shift at the time and needed some sleep and prep prior to the trip. It's about a 3 hour drive and we left around 1500. My truck, a Cummins Ramcharger, started grinding the rear end right around 1730 when all the shops were closed for the weekend. So, being an hour and a half away from home, I limped into a shop's parking lot and waited as brother in law and sister drove my dad's less off road capable Ram 2500 out to where we were. So, 4 hours in to a 3 hour trip, we unload everything out of the RC and into the 2500 and decide to press on.

We get to camp around 1900 and, with a bit of daylight left, I unload my dune buggy to show dad the land. Which he's never seen due to the knee. Well, the variator in the CVT broke during a small creek crossing and the buggy was dead, literally in the water. After hauling my son and dad to the shore, I have to push the dang thing out of the creek in the pitch black of night without any moonlight, of course.

So, by the time I get the buggy loaded back up and camp set up it's about 2300, and the bugs are gathering near the light I need to set up camp. This prompts my son to commence losing his mind about the bugs, giving my dad and his lack of mobility a tough time, but if we cut off the light, the dark equally terrified my son. Mid set up, a boar, or what we think was a boar, threatened us from the nearby brush, and I finally got into bed around 0100. My son, having never slept near another human being was energized. My dad had no energy to even get into a tent, so was laid out with the hogs and his AR15 in a chair, and I was so sweaty in my land's windless valley that my son asked me "Dada, where did you take a shower?" Among a million other things. After struggling to sleep until 0300, remember, still on night shift.

I thought of the fact that with the buggy down, my dad wouldn't see anything more of the land than he already saw, and my scouting trip was already dashed. So, I hollered out to him an offer to pack up camp and get back on the road. He agreed, so he and my son slept in his truck while I packed. Got up the trail and oh the road around 0430, and drove for about an hour and a half until exhaustion caught up with me after the very short rest from my previous shift. My dad took over then would need to pull over. Sterling would wake up and cry realizing he wasn't in his bed.

In total, we got home, switching drivers and napping every 30 minutes or so, at around 0900. So, we spent over 10 hours driving on a 6 hour drive, had no sleep, and were all miserable.

It took me a month to clean up the camping gear after that one, I had a huge distaste for it. Luckily, that remains our only bad trip of them all and now my rig is fully built for my son and myself and my Dad's truck houses him and my mom. My son adores camping despite the rough start and asks me daily to go camping.
 

Jrodrigues1278

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@CTDRC wow what a story, you guys definitely had a rough one. I think it’s awesome that your son wants to go daily now.

My son is very routine and hates any change to it. Do you guys have a “camping routine” that he has become accustomed too?
 

CTDRC

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Fort Worth, TX, USA
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Richard
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Metzger
Ya, we replicate home. Meals at the same time, alone time mid day to reset, bed time pushes out a bit later. But my son is hyper routine oriented, but appreciates breaks from the routine too, which is odd.

So, he may not be the best benchmark. But I do keep him on the routine as much as I can, for both our sakes.
 

64Trvlr

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So as some of you already know, I am looking to transfer to overlanding. One of the reasons is because my autistic son loves the outdoors and I think he will enjoy it.

Now I have not taken him overlanding or camping yet, so I don’t have a “First time” experience to share. I am hoping that other membersare willing to share their experiences so that others, like myself, can learn from them. Or at the minimum allow you to know that your not alone.
How about just going out for 4-5 hours the first few times? Take a couple of chairs bring lunch, take a break half way, sit and enjoy a lunch break in the outdoors then continue on.
 

Jrodrigues1278

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Jose
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Rodrigues
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How about just going out for 4-5 hours the first few times? Take a couple of chairs bring lunch, take a break half way, sit and enjoy a lunch break in the outdoors then continue on.
That is what we are looking to do this summer. Very small very local “trips” to get him going. Also gives me time to look for a rig, etc.

Thanks again for the advice.
 
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OverTheHillAdventurers

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Our daughter is 10 but is not the typical autistic type. She doesn't have set schedules that she must adhere to or places she needs to stay. In fact, she gets cabin fever and we have to take her out, off-roading or hiking, so it's been easy for us. She loves going camping and traveling. We do try and announce to her well in advance for things that we'll be doing. Giving her a bit of a heads-up before bedtime, shower, time to move on. We sometimes need to provide incentives, she loves getting Jelly Belly beans as hiking rewards, or throwing rocks in the water. Sorry, our experience can't help you much.

Our very first camping trip with her was quite interesting for us though. Our daughter was born in Singapore, where we lived. We came to the US for my father's funeral when she was 2 years old and decided it would be nice to visit Yellowstone before the funeral. I mistakenly thought that Yellowstone would be plenty warm in June, but I was very wrong. It was down around freezing and we needed to be in the sleeping bags we had borrowed from family. The only problem was our 2-year-old daughter had never slept beneath a blanket in her life, Singapore is simply too hot and humid for blankets, usually including sheets. I think her being autistic played a part in us not being able to convince her to stay in the sleeping bag, so I spent 3 nights sleeping with her on my lap in the rental car with the heater on all night. :D
 

Jrodrigues1278

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Enthusiast III

646
New Jersey
First Name
Jose
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Rodrigues
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Our daughter is 10 but is not the typical autistic type. She doesn't have set schedules that she must adhere to or places she needs to stay. In fact, she gets cabin fever and we have to take her out, off-roading or hiking, so it's been easy for us. She loves going camping and traveling. We do try and announce to her well in advance for things that we'll be doing. Giving her a bit of a heads-up before bedtime, shower, time to move on. We sometimes need to provide incentives, she loves getting Jelly Belly beans as hiking rewards, or throwing rocks in the water. Sorry, our experience can't help you much.

Our very first camping trip with her was quite interesting for us though. Our daughter was born in Singapore, where we lived. We came to the US for my father's funeral when she was 2 years old and decided it would be nice to visit Yellowstone before the funeral. I mistakenly thought that Yellowstone would be plenty warm in June, but I was very wrong. It was down around freezing and we needed to be in the sleeping bags we had borrowed from family. The only problem was our 2-year-old daughter had never slept beneath a blanket in her life, Singapore is simply too hot and humid for blankets, usually including sheets. I think her being autistic played a part in us not being able to convince her to stay in the sleeping bag, so I spent 3 nights sleeping with her on my lap in the rental car with the heater on all night. :D
I actually think your post is very helpful. I don’t think we will get my son to sleep in a sleeping bag. He has a little “Paw Patrol” one we have been experimenting with. He uses it as a blanket. He loves blankets. He will literally stay under one 24/7 if I let him. It’s a sensory/comfort thing for him. I will definitely will need to have a few blankets with me.

Thanks for you insight.
 

loyotadisa

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So, by the time I get the buggy loaded back up and camp set up it's about 2300, and the bugs are gathering near the light I need to set up camp. This prompts my son to commence losing his mind about the bugs, giving my dad and his lack of mobility a tough time, but if we cut off the light, the dark equally terrified my son. Mid set up, a boar, or what we think was a boar, threatened us from the nearby brush, and I finally got into bed around 0100. My son, having never slept near another human being was energized. My dad had no energy to even get into a tent, so was laid out with the hogs and his AR15 in a chair, and I was so sweaty in my land's windless valley that my son asked me "Dada, where did you take a shower?" Among a million other things. After struggling to sleep until 0300, remember, still on night shift. Tutuapp 9Apps ShowBox
 
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Hilop

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Paul
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Our 8 year old has Down syndrome and we’ve been camping with him for years so I don’t really remember his first time. His days vary some much that one day of wheeling/overlanding he’ll be laughing in the back of the jeep and the next he’ll be in panic attack mode. We try our best to keep him comfortable but we never know what to expect. He’s calming down as he gets older but just like many special needs people, he has some sensory issues that can’t be foreseen on the trail. My wife and I just have to work as a team, our motto is to just do it.

Stay Safe
 
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