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Lowe’s Build and Grow
There are tons of great activities you can find and sign up for online. One that is free is Lowe’s Build and Grow! It’s usually held the first Saturday of each month and is free! We decided to give it a try this month and got to make Christmas Ornaments. My little one did a great job with the hammer. Activities can be found around town by keeping an eye on local sites for activities and signing up for mailing lists that send out reminders about activity sign ups coming up.
Let’s Build a Gingerbread House….
This year we decided to get a gingerbread house… for Halloween. We just now finally got around to making it. Our included green icing – which wasn’t especially soft anymore, candy corn, and Scooby doo! Most kits include the icing, gingerbread, and some candy and this was no different. The kits are all over….
All the gingerbread came prebaked and put together. We ended up not adding much extra candy to the house… I’ve now noticed ours is being eaten piecemeal. The houses can be made and decorated anyway we wanted though. My little one really enjoyed deciding how to design his!
Trip to Virginia
While in Virginia we thought we would see a few things. First I searched the internet for things to do with kids in the Charlottesville, VA area. We were going for a physics conference and only going to be there for a couple days at most. It just happened to be the Thursday after the election – so travelling in a new area was making me a little nervous, but I was following my usual plan of be polite to everyone and see what happens. We met some great people on our trip. I can recommend the Omni Hotel and the Pointe restaurant that’s in the hotel for sure. The server we had were great even with our unique requests for things like nothing extra on the plate and they had chicken strips that matched what my son wanted.
We decided to explore the historic mall the first morning and found the Discovery Museum. My little one didn’t want to check it out – though he was willing to take a picture in front of it, but we did meet one of the board members later. It definitely looks like something to add to your list! There was even a carousel across from the museum. Several families were taking advantage of it while they waited for the museum to open.
While exploring we found a graffiti wall that has things written that are erased each week. This week with the election the wall was full of comments on both sides. We could see the fear coming out from the comments on the wall. I was a little worried that my little one would be affected seeing the wall, and he has asked questions over time about the election – but didn’t seem to say much about the graffiti. There was also a pedestal where people that want to practice orating can stand and give speeches. I’d love to see more during normal times – and what the wall has during times that aren’t quite so controversial.
We then headed to Monticello and to Ashland. Monticello was packed (Thomas Jefferson’s home – 3rd President) and Ashland was pretty empty (4th President). We didn’t make it to Montpelier. I did learn a lot on the trip though…. For example Monticello is an Italian word – I thought it was French! My favorite though is that if you ask for directions to Monticello from OnStar you will end up at a cemetery (Monticello Memorial Park).
On the trip we mostly learned about history, but we also shared some Mommy and Little One time!
Partly Off Topic – Political…..
Videos and Fun!
A fun thing my little one and I have done that I’ve found he enjoys is making videos of things we have gotten to review. I like to post reviews of items I’ve gotten on Amazon to let people know what I think of them…. (the ball below isn’t this one, but it is the same type of ball). I was debating one day if there was a way to make a video explaining the ball but couldn’t hole the camera too. One option would have been for my little one to hold the camera, but he tends to cut heads off – or other body parts.
At this point I found that Konnor just loved explaining each of the items and how they worked on camera. For a kid that doesn’t like pictures normally, social interaction with his peers, and a lot of other things…. I was a little surprised, but super proud of him. He proceeded to look at the instruction card that came with and demonstrate each of the things on the card. I had gotten a few different yoga things and he demonstrated each one – A lot better than I would of! Even if the videos are just for us, he did a great job and enjoyed it. It also got him moving, trying each thing. In the process he found that he loves playing with the yoga ball! So it is still center stage in our living room and used as everything from a chair to a toy.
YouTube Stimming
Stimming is: Self-stimulatory behaviour – or stimming – is repetitive or unusual body movement or noises. My son stims though as he gets older I’ve noticed the type of stimming has changed. He would pace and pace, making the whole floor shake when in the house doing it. He would tell me my body just wiggles. He still paces, but I have seen a reduction as he gets older.
Last Friday I attended a Special Needs Summit at our local university and the top of stimming came up. The summit included a panel of college age children that were all diagnosed. I can say it was amazing and I learned so much! During the panel though, the topic of stimming was discussed and the panel all agreed that one of their mutual stimming examples that they all seemed to have moved to was viewing youtube videos. I have to say this brought me to tears as I realized what all that time my son was now doing spending watching youtube! All the times I was feeling like a horrible parent for letting my son watch youtube hours on end. I have to add for me I felt that it was reducing the risk of him falling as he paced, as he has a hard time with coordination and we have hard wood floors, so once in a while pacing would lead to everything from stubbed toes to bruised knees.
I suddenly was struck by the fact that as he has gotten older I don’t hear the pacing indoors as much. He does have a stimming behavior of chewing every straw he encounters, which until recently I didn’t have a clue was also stimming….. As a parent we slowly learn and do our best not to stop behavior without research first…..
It does make me wonder how to respond to the people saying limit screen time, at the same time as battling with the autism mom mind knowing my child needs to stimming to regulate his own behavior? Luckily as an autism mom I have gotten good at totally ignoring what people think of my parenting skills.
Stimming, Hand Flapping and Other Self Stimulatory Behaviors in Autism
About Me
I am a SAHM/WAHM of three boys ranging in age from 16 to 32. We are working on saving enough for college at the same time as dealing with school and our older independent kids. I author a few blogs, including http://teched4kids.com. I have in the past taught computer information technology classes for the local university and taught workshops for kid's in technology education besides being the Kentucky State FIRST LEGO League Championship Coordinator from 2005 to 2008. I now work as a computer consultant, run a handmade home business, and am available for workshops. Life here is always an adventure!
