Enthusiast III
Such a great idea. That dog will grow up with him and help in ways we will never understand.
Overlanding and Autism
- Thread starter Jrodrigues1278
- Start date
Enthusiast III
I was going to add how important siblings are for autistic kids. Many like my son seemed quite, sit by themselves and seem to not pay attention to other kids. My son was however listening and enjoying other kids from afar and was involved in his own distant way. His brother and sister were older so when he was about 5 I talked to them and asked them to help him learn to read. I knew if he learned to read that would open his mind up to the whole world. They read to him and really helped out (the whole time learning themselves) daily. In fact my daughter really mothered him and cut him no slack. That even influenced her to become a special ed teacher. My son not only learned to read but devoured many topics he had interest in. He would get on a topic and learn evetything possible then answer questions you had for him. I really credit them with helping learn at a young age
Enthusiast III
Your absolutely right my daughter is my son’s best friend. Unfortunately she is only with us every other weekend, but when they are together they are attached at the hip.
She reads to him, tries to teach him every little thing. She wants to be an Occupational Therapist now.
Explorer I
My alerts are goofy and I missed a lot going on here. Awesome that there is a new forum for those wanting to get their kiddos out - will look for that! THANK YOU!
I came here to say... Had a remembrance from when I was a kid; we used to travel between Portland and Seattle a lot. My dad would divide the total number of miles by 10 and then every time we drove that many miles we would get to "put another finger down". Made a "long" trip easier for us kids to comprehend and I'm sure it reduced the number of "dad, when are we going to get there?" from us
I have the regular T4 without extra room and really like it and I'm not a tent guy. Toying with using the 10x10 popup as an entrance / great room. The boy and I pulled it out of the attic last weekend, got the lawn mowed and are waiting for a nice stretch of dry weather...
Enthusiast III
@Greg Eigsti That’s a hell of an idea your parents had; maybe incorporate a family photo of scenery or sign...
Thanks for the outdoor research hat idea and the finger counting idea. Sterling now has a bug proof hat and loves "tracking" us on a map, the finger thing will get him even more involved.
Member III
My son it's now 27 and gone through much of what is discussed here. He was never into camping, but when we moved to CA he got exposed to some local special needs camps and sleep away camps that involved camping and hiking with aids. He loved it, now that I have my RTT he and I now have weekend camping trips. It's always a roller coaster and the anxiety and meltdown can show up at any time. We plan close trips and have exit strategies. We are planning on renting a trailer so mom can come too and we can extend the range.
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Explorer I
Deployed the Gazelle T4 (w/o extra room) yesterday and had a good family time in and around. A very much needed change of pace! Joel made a valiant attempt at sleeping out there last night but after an hour or two he woke me to tell me he was cold and uncomfortable. Wanting to leave a positive impression we grabbed his dog and headed back inside - its garbage pickup this morning anyway and that would have woke him early. We had a blast, good time!
Regarding T4 w/o extra room size. You can fit three large adult rectangle bags in it with about a foot or two of headroom or footroom. Three (adult sized) is full up, two or one would be awesome. Would work for family of 4 or 5 if kids were smaller and needed less space. Its pretty cavernous feeling when one or two are in it.
At one point Joel started getting paranoid about bugs but that did not last. I kept thinking back to this thread thinking - oh no, here we go. ;)
Regarding T4 w/o extra room size. You can fit three large adult rectangle bags in it with about a foot or two of headroom or footroom. Three (adult sized) is full up, two or one would be awesome. Would work for family of 4 or 5 if kids were smaller and needed less space. Its pretty cavernous feeling when one or two are in it.
At one point Joel started getting paranoid about bugs but that did not last. I kept thinking back to this thread thinking - oh no, here we go. ;)
Explorer I
WX is supposed to be great for another four days and then lots more rain :( We put the rain fly on because we have bags, etc, out there and I don't want them getting damp from dew.
If you do get one of these tents and want the rain fly on do it with the top popped down or it will be a bear to get on. First time I installed it I did it with the top popped up and it was a pain, easy with top down. Pop sides first, optionally install rain fly, pop top up.
If you do get one of these tents and want the rain fly on do it with the top popped down or it will be a bear to get on. First time I installed it I did it with the top popped up and it was a pain, easy with top down. Pop sides first, optionally install rain fly, pop top up.
Enthusiast III
@Greg Eigsti I am so happy to hear that Joel has a positive first experience! It has been an off day around here, gloomy weather all day too, so this definitely put a smile on face!
Ironically my son’s ABA therapist and I were talking and he wants to tag along with Ayden on first trial run to help make sure he has a positive experience. Probably won’t take him up on offer but it was good to know that he cares about my son enough to offer.
Let us know how his 2nd trip is!!!
Ironically my son’s ABA therapist and I were talking and he wants to tag along with Ayden on first trial run to help make sure he has a positive experience. Probably won’t take him up on offer but it was good to know that he cares about my son enough to offer.
Let us know how his 2nd trip is!!!
Enthusiast III
Enthusiast III
Explorer I
Yesterday Joel came and very nicely asked if he could have a pair of boots (cowboy), one of my pairs specifically. I told him which boots he could choose from and to go grab a pair that he liked and bring them to me. He brought the pair that I thought he would and they fit him perfectly. I sat him down and told him about getting new boots wet and wearing them dry* and gave him his first boots (my first pair coincidently). He spent the rest of the day walking around it wet boots, with no socks on :) Makes a papa proud! Those boots have new soles and already have many good memories so will serve him well. My overlanding crew has spent a lot of time overlanding to/from remote horse and cattle ranches. Cowboy boots are a part of our “overlanding” experience.
*Many years ago an “old timer” taught me to fill/soak new boots with water and then wear them dry. Water softens leather allowing it to form to your foot and wearing dry ensures the leather stays formed to your foot for the long run. Works wonders.
Gazelle T4 report. Skies clouded up and I know rain (lots) is not too far off so I packed up the tent last night because its still dry... Took about 20 minutes and that included folding ground tarp, hauling stuff back into house, alone. Folding up and packing tent is not a bad experience but would be easier with a helper. And I am not “proficient“ with it, have not used since last summer.
*Many years ago an “old timer” taught me to fill/soak new boots with water and then wear them dry. Water softens leather allowing it to form to your foot and wearing dry ensures the leather stays formed to your foot for the long run. Works wonders.
Gazelle T4 report. Skies clouded up and I know rain (lots) is not too far off so I packed up the tent last night because its still dry... Took about 20 minutes and that included folding ground tarp, hauling stuff back into house, alone. Folding up and packing tent is not a bad experience but would be easier with a helper. And I am not “proficient“ with it, have not used since last summer.
Hey OP, I have a family member in the spectrum but high functional, a couple of things that we do:
- Avoid campgrounds with large crowds.
- Prime him on what we are going to do that day, that night, where we are going to go, what we might see, etc..
- Try to bring the food he is used to as much as we can.
- Avoid campgrounds with large crowds.
- Prime him on what we are going to do that day, that night, where we are going to go, what we might see, etc..
- Try to bring the food he is used to as much as we can.
Enthusiast III
Thanks for the advice. My son is high functional as well except that he is non-verbal. A lot of what you suggested is what I will need to do as well. Large crowds, loud sounds, need to be avoided if possible. Food is always an adventure except for turkey bacon. I swear he can eat it daily! Lol
Autism Family Travels
Rank IV
Enthusiast III
Do you have an app for him? To communicate? I have seen many non verbal people use an app to talk to their people. Works amazing. As for food my son has three main food groups. Milk, arrowroot cookies and cheerios. ThaTs it. He's growing like a weed however.
Explorer I
The old “food adventure”; know it well. Joel used to eat ham and cheese and onion sandwiches almost daily and now he won’t touch one. Go figure. Onions are a good addition :)
Crowds/loud sounds (if he is unprepared) are all part of our avoidance routine. We still “play the autism card” and board flights early with those that need assistance, thankfully that allows him to skip the line experience and accumulate less stress/anxiety in an already overwhelming travel day.
I look forward to getting him out again into the less compressed space of nature and dirt roads. He likes all this good camping and nature stuff and I am pretty good at tricking him into getting interested in something :)
Autism Family Travels
Rank IV
Enthusiast III
On our blog I have an article in the pipe for just that. Playing the "autism card" is required. We do it all the time. For his well being. Don't be afraid to do it.
Enthusiast III
I know the app your talking about. We are working through a peg system now, getting him familiar with pictures of things as a means of communication. Once we progress from that, we will be going to the app.
Front Loops, Turkey bacon, Ellio’s pizza, burnt hot dogs are his major food groups... eats a ton of other things but when he won’t eat, 1 of those 4 gets him fed.
Enthusiast III
@Greg Eigsti and @Autism Family Travels yes I have quickly learned that playing the Autism gets the point across. When it doesn’t, my wife jumps in and drops the “I have stage 4 cancer” card ... My son waits for no one at that point.
