Hey, it's me. I'm BAAACK!!! I really wanted to do this topic in May, but I wanted to wait to see when the timing was convenient. And, since I'll be doing this sometime this week, I figured now was the time to discuss it, even though it's back-to-school season. Today, I wanted to talk about Autism and traveling, and how I cope with the stress, the changes that really only last a few days, and homesickness.
OK. So, my grandparents invited me to stay with them for a few days this week to celebrate my birthday, which is the 10th of this month. This has been a tradition for me since I can remember. They also live out of town, which is forty five to about fifty five minutes tops away from me, so they don't see me often (well, in the summer they do because of my dad's racing photography every Saturday). So, every year, either on the weekend of my birthday, or the week before, they invite me over for a few days so I can celebrate my special day with them.
Like I said, they live a bit far from me and my house. Before I leave and before I begin picking out clothes and things to bring with me, I wanted to share with you Autism moms and dads out there what I do to help with packing and coping. This particular topic is another reason why reading an Autistic girl's blog comes in very handy. I'm just going to say it: packing is super stressful for me, even for the few day trip to the grandparents' house, because I'm the type of person who doesn't know what they want to bring or what they don't want to bring. Fortunately, I found a great way to help me handle that, since I'm the type of Autistic person who does not handle stress too well. One word: organization. Yes, you heard me right. Organization is not one of my excellent qualities, but being organized and planning a few days ahead helps me best. I would start packing the things I REALLY need to bring, like clothes, toothbrush and toothpaste, etc. two days before, or the night before. Then, a few hours before I leave, I pack the movies and DVDs I want to take with me, some things to do, and a stuffed animal, or in my case, three. So, pack a few days ahead, and you'll be sure you have all the things you need to bring, and the things you want to bring.
Being in a different setting for a few days can be a small adjustment to scheduling and routine, but it can also cause homesickness. I'm the type of person who gets homesick, VERY easily. So, if your Autistic child tends to get homesick easily like myself, here's what I do. First, I take a few stuffed animals from home, three being the maximum, so that I can have a piece of home from me when I go to bed. Next, during the day, I do something that I like to do to help make the time go by faster, like working on my Rainbow Loom while watching my wrestling DVDs. You might like to do something else, like go to the park, or go run errands, go to the museum, go see a movie or two, watching the same show or DVD over and over again, playing a game, something like that to keep the child occupied so the time goes by quicker. Also, communicate with your child. I use messaging with my mom with my iPod since I can't text out where my grandparents live. I always try to keep some things until I am reunited with my parents to tell all to them, but there are also times where I don't tell them everything. This is because sometimes, what happens at Grammie's stays at Grammie's. Communication also keep up with my family. I tell you, what wondrous things social networking and modern day technology are.
So, those are my tips to deal with the travel shebang! I'll talk to you guys later.
No comments:
Post a Comment