Vacations can look a little different when you go with two kids on the spectrum. From the planning to the actual vacation, even after you get back. Planning of course usually entails a bit more, thinking about what you might encounter in certain places or situations, about things you have to make sure you have with you. Things you might need to do to prepare your child, etc. And of course just knowing to be ready for difficult situations that may come up.
This summer we went to PEI for our yearly family vacation.
We have gone every summer now for about 6 years. The boys love it and it’s a great place for kids. We go to the same campground, which has a big splash pad, wagon rides, animals, theme events and lots of playgrounds.
It’s also good for the boys because they know what to expect, they are used to the place and it’s something familiar to them. We also go to an amusement park while there. They love the rides. This hasn’t always been easy with Ryan mainly because he gets a bit overwhelmed and isn’t so great in lines, but it has gotten easier as he has gotten older.
This year he was great. The lines weren’t very long because it was a hot day. He went on rides over and over again. Cole and Ryan both tried the roller coaster and liked it. But when Ryan is done with something, he is done. Sometimes you can push it and distract him and extend it, but not by much. When he was ready to go back to the campground, he was ready. Overall, it was a great day.
About a day after we arrived, Cole was emotional. He said when he goes on trips he gets sad on the first day or two because he misses home. He’s happy to be there but misses his house and stuff. He was fine for a couple of days, but then the last two days he would get sad again because he knew it was almost time to go. Sad that he would have to leave all the fun things and it was almost over. He needed time each day to just relax in the trailer, do the games he came up with, or go on his tablet and have some alone time. But he had a lot of fun and even met some friends while bouncing on the bouncy pillows.
Ryan filled his days with playgrounds and the splash pad every day, keeping very busy. He had a hard time settling the first day because it was almost like as soon as he got there he wanted to do everything he knew we do there all at once. He was overwhelmed and tried to get us to take him to every place he could.
Once we talked to him about what we were going to do each day, he was okay. We spent a lot of time during the whole trip starting off each day with, “First we will go here, then do this, then…” It gets to be a lot sometimes, but if it gets him through his day, we just try to remember it’s not that big of a deal to give him a little play-by-play of the day.
This year we decided to take them to the water park for the first time. They were of course too small before to really be able to enjoy it. Plus, we had the big splash pad at the campground with lots of slides, so we didn’t feel like they needed to go.
This place has a kids section, a pool, some big waterslides and some amusement park rides. The boys loved the roller coaster there and went on it multiple times. The good thing about it was that you could go on the rides, then go to the water park, then back to the rides.
For the slides, we knew we needed to have one of us go down first to be at the bottom when Ryan came down and one at the top to stay with him until he did, making sure he waited and stuff. Cole would be okay to go with us and wait at the bottom. Two of the slides are ones you have to go down on tubes and the other two are body slides. We waited in line for the tubes and then waited in line again for the slides. Cole and AJ decided to each get a single tube and I said I would get a double one to go down with Ryan.
We got to the top. They went down and when it came to our turn, Ryan got very upset saying, “No tube, no tube.” He didn’t want to get in it and kept saying, “Green slide, no tube.” I tried telling him we can’t go on it without a tube, but he got very upset and at this point we were holding up the line. I got out of line and said we would try again in a minute.
I took him over and put him on the tube, showing him how you sit, and said if you want to go down this slide you have to sit in the tube. When I looked back at the line, a very nice lady with a young child said, “You can go in front of us,” and we got back in line to try again. I basically put him on the tube, sat behind him, hooked him with my legs and told the guy to push us so we could just go, figuring Ryan would love it and be happy once we did it.
He was okay during the ride but as we got to the bottom and were done he said, “No tube, no tube,” and did not want to go on them anymore. So we stuck to the body slides the rest of the time, which he loved thankfully.
Yes, I pushed him a little, mainly because I didn’t want to have been in that lineup for nothing, but also because I know Ryan. He’s a daredevil and loves fast things, so I figured he would love it. I think in the end he just didn’t like the idea of having to sit on the tubes. Plus, he’s a bit small still, so he didn’t really fit into them properly and kind of fell into the middle.
Cole loved all of the slides and had a lot of fun. He decided he was done with them and wanted to go back on the roller coaster, so AJ decided to take him and I stayed with Ryan to keep going on the slides.
While we were waiting in line I realized I didn’t have anyone to go down first, and making sure we could go down together was not easy. The lines split at the top and I couldn’t wait in one and still hold his hand making sure he waited in the other. I was about to leave the line and go back down when the same lady who had let me in front of her on the tube slide saw me and said, “How did he end up liking the tube on the green slide?” I told her he didn’t, so we were sticking to these, but I wasn’t sure I could work it out to get down there before him or at the same time.
I explained that he was autistic and would run if there was no one at the bottom, and I couldn’t leave him at the top because he wouldn’t wait for his turn. She said, “How about I go down right before him so I can wait at the bottom, and I’ll stand in this line with him and make sure you go down at the same time so you don’t have to worry.” She stood there as we let people go in front of us to even it out and made sure to keep him behind her. When we got to the bottom she was there waiting for him.
This lady didn’t even know us and she went out of her way, letting other people take her place just so she could help me with Ryan. It made my time so much easier and she most likely doesn’t even realize that something so simple for her made it so much better for me and Ryan. It stopped me from being anxious about it and let him just have fun. I wish there were more people like that.
We did try to go to the boardwalk one day for ice cream, but drove by that water park and Ryan saw the roller coaster and got very upset when he couldn’t go back on it. We told him it was all done and he was screaming and crying in the car. It is hard for him to understand that this is something you get to do once and then unfortunately don’t get to go back until next year, especially when it is something new and super fun to him.
Back at the campground another day while we were at the splash pad, Ryan was in the little wading pool attached to one of the small slides. As he was jumping in, a child asked me, “Does he talk?” I said yes, he does. The child said, “He was just repeating things I said and copying me.” I said yes, he likes to watch other people and do what they are doing. Sometimes it makes me sad when kids ask questions like this because I know they might view him as the weird kid and laugh, but other times I like the questions. I’d rather they be curious and ask than be laughing.
Overall this turned out to be a great trip. The weather was great, the days were packed full of fun and activities. Ryan even started asking for campfires in the evenings. We always enjoy our yearly trip to PEI and even though we have our challenges and coming home can be sad for everyone, we know the memories the boys are making are well worth it.
