Do I tell the summer playground program

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-12-2005
Do I tell the summer playground program
3
Wed, 04-26-2006 - 8:33pm

Need some advice from some of you that have BTDT. My DS, Noah is 9 and we've just started on the Asperger roller coaster ride. I have a million questions but right now wonder about a summer playground program he will go to that is near our house. It is a free, afternoon program through the park district and it's mainly to get kids together outside playing some organized games and they also do unstructured free time for playing on the playground equipment, etc. My son has gone the last 2 years but now that I know about AS I wonder if these people that supervise the program need to know about Noah and AS?

They are nearly always college freshman or high school seniors - most likely not too familiar with autism or aspergers. They change from year to year and for the most part are very nice, energetic, friendly kids and I just feel like they need to know about Noah and his tendency to not really be a sports kid (but loves to try and be a part of things) and to maybe wander off to be alone sometimes (which is OK but I don't want him doing it all afternoon? He is very high functioning and has never been a behavior problem - he's not on any meds and does well in school.

I just think if I tell them it might help Noah in that they may recognize when he needs a little extra help in understanding directions or they could facilitate interaction betweeen Noah and some other kid.

Agree? Disagree? and if I do tell what do I say??

Thanks
Jane

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-03-2004
Wed, 04-26-2006 - 9:25pm

Hi Jane,

Has your son done well without anyone knowing an AS dx in this free summer program before? Is he now developing any problems they should know about?

My gut instinct is that if he has done this well before, there is no real need to spell out his official dx to young people who really don't know anything to help him because of dx ... but instead just let them know where he might have difficulties and specifically how they can help him if he does.

I had my younger son at a regular all-day day camp last summer, and did go into extensive details about how the teen counsellors could help along with alot about his dx. The dx part didn't help those kids much, in fact, I heard later that all I really did with that was make them anxious. The specific notes about where ds might have trouble did really help... The best thing I told them was about checking to make sure he had understood instructions, and if he seemed confused, he was --- so explain again. Also, to let him know ASAP if there was going to be a sudden schedule change and why, be prepared for some difficulty in changing expectations without much warning.

Does he know his dx? How does he feel about the camp leaders knowing?

Hope this helps.

yours,

Sara
ilovemalcolm

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Wed, 04-26-2006 - 10:58pm

Well, honestly if you are talking about high school and college kids, they likely won't get it if you tell them. They will blow it off mostly or treat your child very differently unless they are a very special teen who has worked with kids with differences, but I wouldn't count on it in an summer playground program.

If he has been successful for the past couple years and it isn't a safety issue, then I would probably not bother. I really don't think it would benefit him in this situation. They are not going to have the skills to help a child with AS socialize more and they are not going to recognize when he is missing information. There are a large number of times my dd's mainstream teachers don't even recognize when she is missing information.

If you want him to socialize more then maybe there is another approach. You can come up with daily contracts between you and Noah for challenges of the day and pair them with social stories. So today he is going to do ..... x number of times. You can write a social story for something specific for him to work on socially while he is there. Perhaps even a contract for participating to earn something after the program is done. Since it is on a playground you can likely stop by on occasion to peek and see if he is participating.

However, if you have any reason to believe that Noah may wander off, really not understand to the point of others becoming frustrated with him, or have behavior problems including shutting down or being overstimulated, then you do need to tell. You can give them the Asperger card that I have put the link on for here before. Or a quick flyer with info on AS. Just a quick, FYI my son has Asperger Syndrome, here is some information, if you have questions here is where you can get more info.

Renee

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iVillage Member
Registered: 11-12-2005
Thu, 04-27-2006 - 1:48pm

Thanks for the great replies ladies. Noah is not a kid who would wander off or do anything that would endanger himself. After reading your replies the thought of telling these teenagers about something as complex as AS just doesn't seem to be the thing to do.

I am going to try the social story/contract approach and the park is so close that I can see him after I drop him off. I usually walk the dogs after and on our way back I purposely go through the park so I can spy on him! It's great!

One thing we have done is work on his ball throwing and catching skills to help him enjoy the ball sports more. Last year they gave him 5 strikes because he couldn't hit the ball. This year he is doing awesome and can really hit the baseball nearly every time. We have to continue on the catching skill though - he gets razzed at school in kickball because he doesn't always catch it. Geez kids he's not perfect. He doesn't care - he tells his classmates "It's only a game".

THanks again
Jane