Fred it sounds PERFECT ... and once they have been there one time, the hike will seem more attractive!
Only thing it sounds like it needs is ... a ROPE SWING!
I agree -- "INTEGRATED SI" is the best way to go. Real life experiences, and ones with EMOTIONAL CONTENT, trump clinical therapy EVERY TIME!
Bug had such an amazing experience at the NJ shore last summer, that I wish we could afford to summer there!!!
I'd say it would depend on each individual child which would be best. My son does both.
In fact, if we ever win the Lotto - I'm buying a house on Long Beach Island ;)
I am trying to do as you Fred and just getting her into nature and trying to lose all the therapy modes of thinking for everything and just let her feel free to be...we got out yesterday and found a bunch of locust's & spiders..worms..a dead butterfly and a bird nest:) She loved it! These things will build memories and charactor for a lifetime!
Did you know that you can catch fish with kernal corn?
Love your ideas and wish you the best in all your adventures this summer...take plenty of pics and videos:)
What if you took lots of breaks to catch bugs along the way? Maybe then the girls would be more receptive and it would be easier for them. I was thinking that... and there's always M&M's :)[QUOTE=fred]I was thinking that... and there's always M&M's :)[/QUOTE]
As a "reinforcer" or are you going to leave them on the trail?
We are a family that loves the outdoors, and I think it's the best thing for my kids. Last summer we went camping 10 times. So far this year we have gone 3 times. We also have a boat and live in a part of the state that has a lot of lakes. The boys LOVE it. Today they were out boating, tubing, and swimming for 5 hours. Tomorrow they're going fishing. They also love to go on hikes and, like your girls, catch bugs. I wouldn't want to live any other way.
That's interesting. I wonder if anyone has researched that the rise in (potentially) SID related neurlogical disorders has something to do with the lifestyles most of us are leading these days. Be interesting to see of the "obesity epidemic" tracks with the "autism epidemic". Heck, video games and cable television have all expanded greatly in the past 20 years, as has couch potato-ism, I'm sure. Time to get those kids outdoors and active !
No, no decisions to be made here :) The girls are in FL and have been beachin' it nearly every day, and in my gut, I feel that that's been good for them.
I found a nice swimming hole out exploring by myself today, and I can't wait to take them there! My question arose from my experience at this swimming hole - the cool water, the sound of the waterfalls, the sand and muck and gravel, the birds, the sun, the people around me making all kinds of noises, the smell of the aqua-flora as it lay drying in the sun - all senses were taking things in simultaneously. I don't really know what sensory integration therapy is, but I wonder how it could be better than a day at the swimming hole.
which do you think is more beneficial, an hour with an occupational therapist working on specific things in a clinic or an hour at the shore splashing around in the water, playing in the mud and sand, screaming and yelling and running round like crazy, the crashing of the waves, etc?
Obviously, the former can be more directed and focused, but sometimes I wonder if the kids wouldn't get just as much, if not more, outside in sensory stimulating environments just playing around.
What do you think?
An hour at the shore. However, I believe that the OT the kids get is also parent training. When parents know more about Sensory Integration Dysfunction, they can incorporate more input into their child's day.
Ask any OT who is trained in SI about hard labor. They will tell you that SI increases in society to the extent that hard labor goes down. Back in the day, when it was typical for kids to haul water and do gardening, etc., there were fewer SI difficulties. In this day and age of Game Boy, school buses transporting kids to school instead of kids walking, few sidewalks in suburbia, etc., there has been a huge uptick in sensory integration dysfunction. Not only is SI pervasive in autism, it's at the root of ADHD. If we get our kids WORKING (easier to say than do, of course) and physically playing (sometimes that requires the active participation of parents if the kids are ASD), their SI will lessen. So the shore is an excellent idea. Enjoy!
Fred,My ASW took ds to the Ocean (1/2 an hour drive ),yesterday ,no therapy this summer, Just Outings,My son the sensory seeker that he is ,Loves to be buried in the sand.
Linda
Everything about what you described at the swimming hole sounds like it would be sensory input!