Fireworks and Autism/SPD

. Any parent of a child with Autism or Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) knows how difficult noises, especially loud unexpected noises, can be.  It's NOT FUN.   Add into that the factor of getting over stimulated, and a bunch of other factors that could totally send our kids with sensory issues over the edge, and it makes a day like 4th of July - that's supposed to be a ton of fun - just not fun at all.

I know that since Noah was born, we haven't gone to a live firework show since he started expressing sensory issues but a few times.   So that means in 12 years ... we've gone two or three times.   I can think of one off hand.

We usually try to get some of the smaller fireworks that we can do ourselves, sparklers, that sort of thing.  We do those.... but we can't always afford to do that.   Where we currently live, if you sit outside you can see a couple of different displays.  Sometimes not so well because of the trees, but some get high enough for the kids to really see well :)   So the kids who WANT to go outside and watch.   Noah is usually one of them, Nathan is not.  

On 4th of July, for Nathan, it's just like any other day.  We go over to Nana & Papa's for a BBQ and then home and do what we do normally including his bedtime.   The rest of the kids play outside and come in after fireworks.

So one of my really good friends ran into an issued with her SPD child ....  they were out and setting off bottle rockets.  Normally he loves that sort of thing but this year either he got overwhelmed or something.  The over stimulating caused him to go into major (the worst she'd ever seen him in) melt down mode.  It took hours to get him to calm down.

So that inspired me .....  I thought of several things to help make a day like Forth of July run a little smoother....  

that one didn't look real good on facebook so I made this one too ....

For more information and other ideas....  

She found this link...
4th of July and Dealing with Over-Stimulation 

And I found these links.....
Tips for an Autism Friendly 4th of July
Autism Ears, Loud Noises and Fireworks! – Oh, My!

The Snake........

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Nate's inclusion teacher made the kids these sensory weight snakes for Christmas and Nathan's snakes tongue fell off so I sewed it back on. Then I decided to see on eyes and hair too (badly, I didn't care about looks, just durability)

Nathan got a Package!!

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Nathan got his box today from Auntie Jenna!!  He opened it up.... 

Video of him opening his package....

His lap pad ...

 Playing with what Auntie Jenna calls "Fuggly the Dino" lolol...

 We were saying the letters on his Lap Pad

Having some Play Time...


He just LOVES the stuff!!  And he's VERY picky about what he sleeps with, what is around him or on him at night, especially on him....  if I cover him up with another blanket other then his beloved Banks... then he will 75% of the time, wake up with in 5 minutes and scream or throw it off....  tonight, I put the "snake" by his head, and he had the dino, and I put the lap pad on top of him over his blanket....  didn't... hear...a ... peep... from him!! 

3 hours later, he was still laying there............

Weight Sensory Items

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So ..... Nathan has been diagnosed with Autism now, officially - even though.... we've suspected it for a long time, it's still.......  hard.

One of the things I've noticed, is my wrist pad for my computer, I don't have a gel one, I have one with beads in it.  So he constantly is swiping it from my desk and wearing it around his neck, kinda like a scarf.... 

So I already get that the weight thing is a soother for him......

So ...... after the "official" diagnosis ...  I was doing research and came across the Weight Blanket ..   and I thought, that makes sense!!

So one of my best friends  .... my sister from another mister ... muahahhahahaa.....   she just started to sew and she LOVES it....  she even started a blog to chronicle her new adventures!  Adventures of a Sewing Noob

so I asked her if maybe she wanted to try her hand at making some weight items for Nathan, who is her Godson.  (Well, Nathan has 4 Godparents, and so does Kaedyn.)
 
So ...... she was all over the idea and started to look up items also ...

So she made Nathan a few things.  One she filled and we have to finish (I think?) and the others we have to fill and close up :)  This is what she did...

Here is the snake she made... 

Here is the dinosaur she says she mangled... LOL..  but she knows how much he loves dinosaurs and she did a quick cut of one...

Here is the lap blanket that she made for him, which I have to say....... I absolutely LOVE!!!!  It made me cry, I was so touched that she personalized it. 

 The stitching around his name...

 
So Mom and I went out looking for some beads and such to fill stuff with.  She started looking at patterns too and we picked up a couple ...  The first one is for a sling so I don't have to cocoon him in my blanket all the time, and I can have something to take with.  The second one is the fun blankets we're going to do, Nathan wants the dino (of course) and Kaedyn is going to get the turtle eventually....  and then the bottom one is some animals we are going to do like the snake.  It's going to be important to have different ones depending on his mood, and also have a couple in different places.

So we picked up material for Nate's blanket, and this is what he picked out.... 

 So, the dino material he LOVES ... he's been using it around Nana's house.   Nana is thinking about just making him a blanket out of it... instead of the dino one.. and then the red and purple were ... he tried to talk us into pink, because he seems to like pink a lot... but I talked him into purple which is the color he seems to love.... 

So I can't wait to share the finished products :)