I just got a call from my autistic kiddo (who is with his bio mom today) and he was beyond communicating with. Mom took the phone & told me the raft they were in (river rafting down the Wenatchee River here in WA state) tipped over, all the people were in the river, everyone was rescued, mom lost her glasses, my kiddo lost his lunch....but they were safe, aide crews on the scene.
I'm glad I didn't schedule this event, it was moms idea.
I'm glad I wasn't along (no matter how good a swimmer you are, in a river situation, I'm not sure it makes a hill of beans of difference)
I'm glad I was here to answer the phone
I know Mom is going to have a hard time getting this kid to go on any sort of trip for years and years now.
I know I won't hear about anything else until Friday of this week when he moves. This episode will be in his continuous loop for a loooong time.
This whole thing makes me think of a piece I saw on TV this AM. About booking all of kids time (especially in the summer). This is the case with this little guy & his mom. I'm the opposite. We just sort of hang out here.......learning stuff from the things we do on a regular basis here.
His weekend started with taking the train from my place to Seattle to meet mom. Then, they went sailing on Puget sound with a handicapped sailing group she thinks my guy needs to be part of. Went out to dinner. Stayed all night at boyfriends place.
Got up at the crack of dawn, drove to Eastern WA & took the river rafting trip.
Tonight they are driving to meet a friend (fortunately this is the #1 person in my kiddos life). Staying in hotel.
Tomorrow, driving back to Western WA, renting moving truck & ocming here to move everything to Seattle.
It exhausts me to type this. I feel so sorry for him. I did get to talk with him and if he didn't sound so pathetic & sick, it would have been cute. I can't imagine how scared he was, he said he hoped he would 'feel better' tomorrow.
I've promised him some down time this week when he comes back on Tuesday. Cartoons, his videos, feet up as he calls relaxing time!
I'm all for some memorable times during the summers......but not quite like this week!! Everyone remember to just let kids BE. Even being bored is a good thing sometimes; it leads to people learning how to independantly entertain themselves...a novel concept these days.
Overboard!!
June 26th, 2006 at 02:19 am
June 26th, 2006 at 06:12 am 1151302373
June 26th, 2006 at 11:56 am 1151323000
June 26th, 2006 at 01:14 pm 1151327659
Summer is supposed to be for chilling out and the occasional family trip, NOT for cramming in whatever lessons weren't available during the school year. Cripes. :P
June 26th, 2006 at 02:37 pm 1151332676
By the time I came back to the surface, I had been carried about 10 feet over rocks...thankfully, I heard my husband yell "grab a rock"....which I did....not before I had badly bruised places on my body.
To this day, I am grateful that I apparently went in butt first...as I ended up with my backside horribly bruised (it stayed bruised-RED for days before finally turning black...) and the bruise went to the bone..(extremely painful)...if I had went in head first, I dont think I would be here.
I learned a very valuable lesson about the powers of the river that day and now take it very seriously....I cant imagine what that experience would to to an autistic person...My heart goes out to him!