Overlanding and Autism

[Autism Family Travels]

We got our new Autism Family Travels member this past week. She is an amazing beautiful 2 yo purebred husky. Words cannot describe how amazing this dog is. We are blessed to have had the chance to get her. She will be with us on every road trip from here on out. Colin absolutely adores her, and she is just as fond of him. They have only been together since Sunday!

 

[Ubiety]

We got our new Autism Family Travels member this past week. She is an amazing beautiful 2 yo purebred husky. Words cannot describe how amazing this dog is. We are blessed to have had the chance to get her. She will be with us on every road trip from here on out. Colin absolutely adores her, and she is just as fond of him. They have only been together since Sunday!

Congratulations! My son has a labradoodle that is his constant companion - great great dog. They care for each other and we are blessed for having both of them in our lives.

 

[Ubiety]

Not necessarily overlanding, but autism related.

We messed up. My wife was in need of a new car due to her old car being totaled in an accident. She drove a large white SUV and we had talked with our son about getting a white 4Runner - not really thinking about our son's need for consistency rather that was the particular car at a local dealership that she wanted. We went to the dealership this weekend and test drove the 4Runner and it was quickly apparent that it would not work for her. We scoured the dealership and found a different car in black that we both really liked and purchased it. We joked that we could not wait to see the expression on our son's face when he saw mom's new car that was not a 4Runner. That did not turn out very well for us; he melted down and it took a lot of effort to get him to accept her new car. Because he has been showing so much growth lately we just assumed that he would laugh it off with us and we were wrong. We learned that even though he has been growing we still need to honor his need for consistency and be compassionate in all manners. I am not sure how we could have handled things differently - maybe we should have taken him with us to be a part of the "conversation" and be aware of why mom got a different car. I don't know.

 

[Gr8 Hortoni]

It’s crazy how the smallest tweak can set things off. I hope you guys got it handled.

 

[Ubiety]

It’s crazy how the smallest tweak can set things off. I hope you guys got it handled.

Thanks! We did spend some time with him and it took a day or so but now he really likes mom's new wheels. Well he will really like it after it is lifted, gets 37s and an exoskeleton. Hahahahaha - aint gonna happen ;)

 

[Gr8 Hortoni]

I’m hoping I don’t get this reaction when the Bronco shows up to replace the Jeep later this summer. He’s been pretty mellow as I’ve upgraded in the past, BUT he’s never been shotgun in any of the other jeeps before either, so who knows ‍♂

 

[Ubiety]

Maybe show him the Bronco and gauge the reaction? Then try to slowly work it in depending on initial reaction. With our son if he likes something we are good! If not it will take some work. We messed up by surprising him. All good now!

 

[Mono-Mon]

Hi all,

I have been on the forum for a while but this is my first post. I have read a ton of great information here but have not seen much on this topic.

How many of the members have or do overland with children with autism? I have a 5 year old son who was diagnosed this year. He loves being outdoors. He is non-verbal, fear-less and full of energy.

For those who have, what advice and/or warnings can you provide from your experiences?

Thanks ahead of time!

My son is also 5, non-verbal, and is a total runner. We tested the waters by camping in the backyard and hiking and he seems to love both. So now we are buying an overland trailer to keep the 1 year old and wife comfortable while out on the trail. While we are just starting to get into overlanding, we are super excited to see that this thread exists and there are other families out there with similar challenges.

 

[Ryan Ewbank]

Wow, just awsome!

 

[Ubiety]

My son is also 5, non-verbal, and is a total runner. We tested the waters by camping in the backyard and hiking and he seems to love both. So now we are buying an overland trailer to keep the 1 year old and wife comfortable while out on the trail. While we are just starting to get into overlanding, we are super excited to see that this thread exists and there are other families out there with similar challenges.

That is awesome that you have gotten this far with your youngin! There is a lot of great advice in this thread and if you have any questions make sure to post them!

 

[Mono-Mon]

Does anyone here use some sort of GPS tracker for their kid? Our son is a runner and doesn't understand fear so we are trying to find a way to keep track of him at home and when we are out in the middle of nowhere? I am just wondering if there is a small tracker that works with GPS rather than a cell signal so it could be used while we are out overlanding for a few days at a time.

 

[Ubiety]

Does anyone here use some sort of GPS tracker for their kid? Our son is a runner and doesn't understand fear so we are trying to find a way to keep track of him at home and when we are out in the middle of nowhere? I am just wondering if there is a small tracker that works with GPS rather than a cell signal so it could be used while we are out overlanding for a few days at a time.

GPS is one way - that is the GPS satellites send out signals that your GPS receiver receives and then interprets to find your location. There is no communication from your GPS receiver to the GPS satellites in order to send your child's location to others (e.g. the parents looking for the child). In order to accomplish this latter part of the equation (sending your child's location to the parents) requires a "data pipeline" of some sort - and this is typically via cell or a different satellite (different from the GPS satellites). Since you mentioned that you would often be out of cell service (woot!) you would need to look for an alternative that can get your child's location data back to you. IMO you should look at devices such as the Garmin InReach or Spot which can both receive GPS data to find its location and then use a different satellite to communicate that information back to you (which of course would mean that you would need satellite connectivity as well to receive said data). I also believe that there are similar devices (BivyStick?) that can communicate with each other alleviating the need for the separate non-GPS data pipelines. An issue with this would be range - if your child made it a mile away and each of you were in a canyon then it would not work as the communications would be blocked. Satellite data pipelines are also susceptible to this but much less so (since you are looking up for the satellite instead of trying to communicate through the mountain between the canyons. Using satellites as your data pipeline is going to cost you in subscription and usage fees.

I realize that this response is thick and struggled to keep it short and semi-concise ;) If you have questions just say so and I, or others, will attempt to clarify and help find the answers that you are looking for.

 

[M Rose]

GPS is one way - that is the GPS satellites send out signals that your GPS receiver receives and then interprets to find your location. There is no communication from your GPS receiver to the GPS satellites in order to send your child's location to others (e.g. the parents looking for the child). In order to accomplish this latter part of the equation (sending your child's location to the parents) requires a "data pipeline" of some sort - and this is typically via cell or a different satellite (different from the GPS satellites). Since you mentioned that you would often be out of cell service (woot!) you would need to look for an alternative that can get your child's location data back to you. IMO you should look at devices such as the Garmin InReach or Spot which can both receive GPS data to find its location and then use a different satellite to communicate that information back to you (which of course would mean that you would need satellite connectivity as well to receive said data). I also believe that there are similar devices (BivyStick?) that can communicate with each other alleviating the need for the separate non-GPS data pipelines. An issue with this would be range - if your child made it a mile away and each of you were in a canyon then it would not work as the communications would be blocked. Satellite data pipelines are also susceptible to this but much less so (since you are looking up for the satellite instead of trying to communicate through the mountain between the canyons. Using satellites as your data pipeline is going to cost you in subscription and usage fees.

I realize that this response is thick and struggled to keep it short and semi-concise ;) If you have questions just say so and I, or others, will attempt to clarify and help find the answers that you are looking for.

There would be a way to do this using two RF transceivers, a cheap gps dongle, and a raspberry pie (maybe two pie’s depending on if you want your child to be able to message you back). The downside is the license requirements for such a device.

 

[9Mike2]

Maybe show him the Bronco and gauge the reaction? Then try to slowly work it in depending on initial reaction. With our son if he likes something we are good! If not it will take some work. We messed up by surprising him. All good now!

Make Shure he knows you need him to help "fix" the new vehicle. Make a big deal on how important it is for his help. Kind like helping to take care of the new puppy. My niece's daughter is pretty tough one and this was the only way we were able to connect with her, and she seems pretty happy right now...just my two cent for what it's worth..

 

[Autism Family Travels]

Does anyone here use some sort of GPS tracker for their kid? Our son is a runner and doesn't understand fear so we are trying to find a way to keep track of him at home and when we are out in the middle of nowhere? I am just wondering if there is a small tracker that works with GPS rather than a cell signal so it could be used while we are out overlanding for a few days at a time.

I think the fi dog tracker would be the best thing for your son. We have been looking at these for awhile now and I think they track without LTE. and communicate with the phone. I am not 100 percent however. If it does work without LTE, it's the perfect thing. Its very compact, great battery life and not silly expensive.

 

[Autism Family Travels]

I’m hoping I don’t get this reaction when the Bronco shows up to replace the Jeep later this summer. He’s been pretty mellow as I’ve upgraded in the past, BUT he’s never been shotgun in any of the other jeeps before either, so who knows ‍♂

We have this problem a bit too. I am an automotive schizophrenic. Colin does not like change and becomes attached to things. We, however have keep the patriot since new in 2015. So the other vehicles move in and out and that one remains constant, so it helps a bit. I did take out the new Huyndai ioniq 5 a few weeks ago and he loved it. I put it in lane keep mode on the highway and let the car drive for 5 km (watching and ready the entire time) and it blew his mind! ha ha.

 

[overlandkeebs82]

My guy this past Friday up in Pescadaro, we flew a kite, glassed whales (2 dozen+), threw the football around (he's not very good at this but enjoys it), drank a couple beers, watched a movie on his iPad). Horses, deer, rabbits, hawks. Pretty cool, he had fun.
View attachment 154349

awesom to see! My son is 15 and on the autism spectrum. part of the deal is he gets tablet or game system time for breaks. its been a process but its great to just have him out there with me to have those experiences. seeing this phot gives me hope
Thanks