Shawn’s week scout camp- Proud mom post | Autism PDD
EXCELLENT! SUper - what a great and amazing kid
Shawn just recently came home from a week long experience at boyscout camp. It was wonderful and I thought I would share. Dad went along as assistant scout master.
They left on a Saturday. By Tuesday I was chmoping at my nails. No cell phone receiption. I had no way to talk to them. So On tuesday morn I was thrilled to receive a phone call from DH. He said him and Shawn were Mommy sick(home sick) and asked if i would be willing to come up the next day, since I was off work! That was the invitation I had been waiting for!! So Wednesday morning I loaded my sleeping bag and some clothes into the rental and took the 3 hour drive. My DS met me and took me down the most hairball bumpy "road" ever down to the camp which I now lovingly refer to as nevernever land! The boys were filthy and appeared to be running amuck. What I soon found that the chaos was not really chaos but more organized than would be expected since everything is ran by the boys!
So back to Shawn. First thing my husband showed me is that he passed the swimming test! I was thrilled(hubby failed it and he is a good swimmer!). The test is more endurance that skill but it really was a huge accomplishment. Then my son told me what merit badges he was taking. Shocked at his choices! Wilderness survival and First Aide! These are some that the kids usually take when they are older as they are Eagle requirements.
The next day he was the caller for colour gaurd flag ceremony. Big accomplishement. He stood in front of 500 plus people and called the camp to attention in a powerfull booming voice and called out the commands for the raising of the flag. I still cry when I remember it. He was soo good!
For his wilderness badge he had to build a shelter himself, with no help, and sleep the entire night in it away from the camp but within shouting distance. Two of the three older kids in our troop that I talked to said they did not make it the entire night and they waited till they were older to do it! The night he was supposed to sleep in it was also the night when the camp commsioner took the boys on Polaris rock, a hug mountanous rock that is flat on the top and they tell ghost stories and sleep up there. Since Shawn's shelter was built at the base of the rock he decided that would be perfect night to sleep in it. So he went up and listened to 4 scary stories and then hiked back down th rock to sleep all by himself. Well needless to say MOM was a nervous wreck. DH wouldn't let me check on him Kept picturing him laying there by himself and dying of fright(or rattle snack bite) all night long. I didn't sleep a wink. So at the moment when the sun lightened up, just before the sun comes up, I grabbed my camera and snuck to his shelter. And there he was sleeping soundly with his head barely pooking out!! I was thrilled! It was such a huge accomplishement.
The whole camp experience was wonderful. He came home with a new swagger in his walk and a new independence. This from a child who was originally dx's moderate to severe ASD and didn't talk, stimmed and "tantrumed" and had MAJOR phobias. If this gives any of you hope that is great. I am just a proud mom of a wonderful 12yo with autism!
What a wonderful story:) I know 3 boys from one family~ALL have aspergers:)
...the oldest is named Shawn (16) and his brother (15) are still Boy Scouts and love it:)
Thanks for sharing!
That's Fantastic! My oldest son is also in scouts, and it's one of the best things we did for him. It has given him a sense of pride and accomplishment.
3 cheers for Shawn...
Hip! Hip! Hooray ! Hip! Hip! Hooray ! Hip! Hip! Hooray !
And congratulations to the parents TOO !!!!
I was a scout too when I was in school... and this sounds like a mighty well organized scout camp... Makes me contemplate having my boy joining one day when he's old enough.. That is wonderful. We belong to a family scouting troop, but maybe it's time to sign my son up for the "real thing." Thanks for posting your success story.
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