Summer Holidays Week One and How Gaming Benefits T Socially
By Jeannette | August 1, 2018
We’ve been in summer holiday mode a week now, with D finishing school last Tuesday and T’s end of term being the Friday before.
As is the norm with our children, they both much prefer being in the house or garden, individually they rely so much on the school routine that, the changes greatly affect them and “touristy” places are always a bit too crowded for them.
T is also firmly into the nocturnal phase of teen hood too, missing out on the mornings and preferring not to go out unless it’s late afternoon and he knows that the field where he and his friend (a fellow ASD teen) kick a ball around, will be quieter with fewer dog walkers/other ball-playing people around. These outings only happen about once every few days and the rest of the time he’s home.
It’s all very different from when I was a teen, then if you wanted to communicate with friends, it was a cycle to their houses and – as the use of the landline phone was frowned upon – without being aware of whether they’d be in or not.
Now it’s super-easy for T to keep up to date with what his school friends are doing, there’s communication via text/Snapchat/instagram or when he’s gaming online.
We have strict settings on our WiFi, which is a relief as you can never be sure where a quick google of something seemingly innocent can take you and I also use a parental controls setting on tablets for that very same reason.
Gaming does however have its advantages for an ASD teen who prefers to be home, there are many games that can be played with multiple player settings which allow T to compete (and he is very competitive!) against his mates and hopefully they catch up a bit with what they’ve been doing at the same time.
Luckily for me and parents in similar situations, there are always the latest deals and bargains in the gaming sector to be found online, sales are no longer confined to post Christmas (it feels too early to mention the C word yet!).
With D, I’ve had slightly more success in getting her out but I have to ensure that we choose our timings carefully and only stick to where I say we are headed, as she holds firmly onto my hand/arm, with no detours into shops where I’m attracted magpie-like to the latest pretty items that my favourite clothes shop might have to offer, I can’t remember the last time I had a good browse/window shop btw, sad eh?
I endeavour to make outings “fun” for D too, for example, last Friday I had a shellac nail and HD brows appointment, booked for when the salon would be quieter and knowing that D would be very interested in choosing a shellac colour for me, the procedure involved in shellac nails and the HD brows, which she absolutely loves to watch, especially when the brown tint goes on to capture and colour my pale blonde brow hairs so that they can be shaped.
She even drew a picture, this is definitely not how my brows are now but the thick tint and its caterpillar effect makes her laugh and laugh!
An uncanny likeness don’t you agree?
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