Since it was 4th of July.... | Autism PDD
We were on vacation in Dallas and went to Kaboom Town for a festival with live music, space jumps, food, etc. There were old, LOUD WWII planes flying loop de loops, etc....lots of people, noises, activities, etc. Cole did great!
The fireworks show was preceded by half a dozen parachutists coming down in the dark with sparklers attached to their feet. He was just charmed by that. The 30 minute fireworks show was done to music and he'd pay attention, then people watch, then pay attention again. When those little white fireworks would buzz, we'd say "here come the bees"...then we'd call out the colors we saw, say "palm tree" for those big drooping white ones, etc. Talking about what we saw really got him involved.
This simple enjoyment of a family outing just makes me feel great. I am so grateful that despite the horribly frustrating issues that come with autism, there are some things that still shine brightly.
Gage had a hard time staying focused and did a LOT of stimming. He did have fun picking out the cars, tanks, ect. but wasn't too interested in them as they were going off. He liked the sparklers a lot. Most of the time he played with a little action figure he had brought along or was stimming LOL But I think he had a good time! He enjoyed running through the colored smoke bombs
My 16yo LOVES them, and always has. He doesn't especially like loud sounds, but the display is SO visually stimuating to him that he totally tolerates it. We live in a very Italian neighborhood on Long Island (right near where the famous fireworks family -- the Gruccis -- actually make their world-reknown fireworks). Even though privately owned fireworks is illegal around here, many, many families own them at this time of year -- and use them. Last night, we saw an hour-long private fireworks display right through our livingroom picture window. Jamie wanted to go outside and sit on the deck to watch. My DH went with him, but it was drizzling, so they both eventually came in. Not being a dope, I had been sitting on the couch watching the whole thing from the comfort and dryness of the couch. It was fun. We all love it.
My kids love them! This year my youngest did want to lay on my lap so one ear was muffled. When he was younger, I covered both ears and he was fine.
T retreated into herself ... not responding directly to the noise at all.
We were at friends' house, the "men" were setting off LOUD firecrackers and novelties, and she went inside to play with their HUGE amount Legos (we don't have them at home), instead.
Not sure if it was the fireworks, though, or all the other kids there. She teneds to enjoy professional displays ... from afar.
I didn't do any fireworks for the 4th. We just had a quiet day at home. I'm thinking about taking the boys to the Natchitoches Christmas Festival this year. They have over a million lights there and a huge fireworks display every saturday night in December. It's where the movie Steel Magnolias was filmed if any of ya'll have seen it. They shoot the fireworks off from the other side of Cane River and let them burst over the water. It's all done beside front street...which is an actual brick street. I may not go on the actual day of the festival because it's a major tourist attraction, but one of the other saturday nights may be an option to try.
How do all your kids do with fireworks?
Jessie barely even noticed them last year. Of course back then she was much less responsive to a lot of things. Thunderstorms never phased her either. Right now the poor kid is sick so she wasn't up to go see any last night. A park by my parents will have them the 14th, so maybe she'll get to see them then. Curious as to how she'll react....
The report from the field was that Evie covered her ears and wanted to go home and cried through them. Abigail covered her ears but enjoyed the fireworks and was very excited. They were very close to the fireworks, so it was especially loud, I can't imagine how loud it must have seemed for them.
Mason loved the sparklers too...he didn't seem to interested in the other ones...they didn't bother him, but just kept saying over and over "I go bed now." I think he was just bored. He just didn't see the point, lol.
Yeah, that's why I wondered. Seems like the noise would bother some kids a lot, but all the colors must be somewhat interesting.....We did the little fireworks at home since it was raining off and on all day and we knew the real stuff would be cancelled.. Daniel did extremely well..
Even said "Go!" when my husband asked "Ready?" He was so excited!
Ethan was, once again, terrified. We lasted for the first 2 then off to the car. I guess I knew he wouldn't cope as he can't even tolerate cars starting up in a parking lot, or anything louder. I love the fireworks and miss them. His anxieties are really getting worse as he gets older. Poor thing. eta I have to start working on finding someone to take the older kids. they are getting really resentful.
We were at a pool party from 4:00 to 8:00 or so, so when that was over, my son was pretty much done for the day. We knew it would be nuts to try and take him to the park for fireworks, so we planned to watch them from my parents' front yard. Even that proved to be too much. He covered his ears, and covered his tired, itchy eyes with a washcloth and went inside after 5 minutes.
After the fireworks were over and I joined him inside, he explained to me that thinking about the patriots were his way of honoring them, not fireworks.
He has a tough time with fireworks every year, also when we have them on New Year's Eve in Norway. Even those little "snappers" that kids through to the ground to make a bang sound on impact were too much for him. Sparklers are fun though.
Oh I am so PROUD of my son!!! He was FINALLY able to enjoy fireworks this time (July 1st Canada Day)!!!! He actually asked to watch them!!! We parked far away but still had a great view from inside the car. He had his ear plugs ready, but he didn't use them.
He is 8.5. Prior to even this MONTH, he was terrified of them!!!!! You'd swear the kid thought he was going to perish if he heard even the faintest "pop" of a firework.
We only heard a few and he got really upset by them. We didn't go see any because I knew he wouldn't like them. He went to bed early and my dd and I sat on the porch and watched some. Of course, she thought the world was ending because we didn't do any, but I told her next year she can go with a friend and watch fireworks. Fireworks were hard for us this year. My oldest ds had a really bad day and was stressed out and kept running away. Last night one of our neighbors put on a big show so he would climb the couch unlock the lock and take off out the door to watch them at like 11pm because he wanted to see them. He didn't show any fear of them at all this year. Although we did get a bit of ear covering when the neighbor set them off close to the house.We did not attend the fireworks this year. Quincy does not like loud noises AT ALL and we learned it the hard way last year. My DH had to sit in the truck with him the whole time and neither one got to see any fireworks. When he was a baby and uptil 2, he didn't pay any attention to them and would often fall asleep in the truck but last year (he was 3) was just horrible for him. We decided not to put him through it this year. My oldest son who is almost 9 and NT doesn't like loud noises either so it's not really a treat for them. Not sure if we will ever be able to enjoy fireworks again. We enjoyed just spending time with each other.
Karman
The local big fireworks show was hosted at a field less than 3 blocks fromour house, so he was going to have to deal with the noise one way or
another. I prepared him a lot about what to expect beforehand. Long story
short: He wore his headphones and insisted on sitting ON the field they were
exploding everywhere right over his head. He was snuggled in tight in his
Dad's cross-legged nest, with arms wrapped tight around him--and he
LOVED it. Big victory for him! He has had severe audio-sensitivities his
whole life, so this is huge!We went to the 4th of July Fireworks -
When the fireworks started - he was scared and tried to drag me away but I picked him up and after the first five minutes or so he started enjoying himself and was all smied by the time we left
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