summertime...

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and once again, I don't have the faintest idea what to do with my 9 year old son! He seems to most enjoy roughhousing with other kids, and no one has summer camps for that.

We tried an animation camp last year and it wasn't really a success, he seems to prefer doing projects like that on his own.

I don't think he's ready for sleepaway camp, which costs about a million dollars anyway, especially a specialty autism camp. We have a special needs kids center nearby but he's outgrown it and is bored.

He really likes the structure of school, and the structured socializing he gets there. I'm worried he'll be bored and lonely if he just hangs out on his own all summer.

My son is 9 as well, and he does free play fairly well.. so during the summer, he rarely comes home unless he has to for scheduled things. However, I use summer to get in all those other things that he likes that we just don't have time for during the school year with homework and everything. We get pretty amped up for swim lessons/team, rockwall climbing, and usually he goes to Cub Scout day camp, but as we quit scouts this year, I'm trying to settle on some other camp-like activity. There is an autism community outreach center in our area that offers an ASD camp, I believe my son's counselor said they were reasonably priced and offered scholarships, perhaps you have something local like that. Plus, our local special needs advocacy center offers scholarships for just about anything you want... They ask if my son has a summertime activity that they can pay for, and I tell them what it is and how much and they write a check, again.. perhaps there is something in your area that helps out like that. I've also been thinking about a kids acting and theater day camp... I think my son would really enjoy that, whereas the same organization offers a kids art-related day camp that I think my son would HATE.. lol

I don't know where you live or what is offered in your area, but I'm learning that there is way more than I ever imagined here. It just takes digging... and asking the right people. It's amazing that anyone ever finds out about some of these things.

How about a physically active camp?
survivaling, boot camp, scouting, building stuff, etc.

He is young and he likes to get rough-and-tumble, boy will be boys.

Martial arts? Blends rough-housing and structure and is an opportunity to socialize. Some schools are better than others....

I'm sending my son to a tae kwon do camp and gymnastics camp. Only for a week at a time.... god only knows what we'll do the rest of the summer. He cannot entertain himself at all!

The camps run by Science Adventures are pretty structured, as are the Galileo camps (although they do a lot of cheering, which was not to my child's taste).

Both my kids prefered "educational" camps for the structure. So, that is where we looked. Our Local museums and Shakespeare organization also run very structured camps that my kids have enjoyed and, well, summer "school" might work if you can find something that isn't remedial.

This would probably be ideal except for two problems: he gets upset by competitive activities (because he is never as physically adept as the other kids) and he really clashes with adults who have very authoritative manners. You know, the kind with sharp voices and whistles and so on.

I love the folks who work with kids at our gym, they have very gentle, friendly styles. We've had really good luck with teachers, too. But a lot of adults who work with kids in physical arenas are so sharp and demanding.

We have a climbing gym in town and he used to really love climbing, so that's a possibility. There's also a gym that has classes and open gym, I'm hoping that has potential.

Is it possible to ask for an extended school year in his IEP? My son goes to school year-round to prevent him from losing any skills he has attained. He gets a couple of weeks off right after school lets out for summer break and he gets two weeks off right before the new school year begins.

We would have to fight for it and I don't think he really needs it, or would get much benefit from it. Previous years its been mostly a few weeks of babysitting.

Maybe check the local YMCA and see what kind of activities they have for summer break. I don't think you have to be a member, but you'll probably have to pay for whatever serves your son uses over the course of the summer. Our local Y has a pool and a fitness center, crafting classes, gymnastics classes, etc... It may actually be cheaper to get a family membership than to pay for the individual use of their facilities. The cool part about that, is that you guys could do some things together.

Sigh. Every time I think things are going well and he would be okay in a summer program, he gets in trouble at school for being too physical with another kid. All bets are off again.

I'm actually feeling better about summer, now. My little guy has been very active and enjoying lots of projects -- he's really into bouncing balls right now, and making up obstacle courses for himself, as well as doing drawings and graphing on his computer and programming video games. I think he's going to be able to keep himself busy.

My big challenge will be finding ways for him to socialize with other kids, but honestly, I'm not sure throwing him in with a lot of strangers for hours a day would be all that helpful.

My son had such a great time on the climbing wall at the gym today, I impulsively signed him up for a week of climbing camp. He loves the huge walls at the climbing gym, so I think he'll have a good time. If not, it wasn't a huge investment. Wish us luck!

Good luck! Hopefully there is a pretty good adult to kid ratio so if he has difficulties, someone will be on top of it.

I cringe at the thought of our local YMCA or Parks & Rec camps for our youngest. There always seems to be far too many kids for the number of adults and I can just see him coming to blows with someone who pissed him off before an adult can intervene. He has to be in a camp where there are not too many kids.

You just have to talk to people and ask a lot of questions. And dont discount Parks and Rec camps bc some are awesome! you just have to find out how they are being run. We have one in our area that I do not recommend bc the supervision is simply not there. Kids run wild while camp staff chat sort of deal. (I work in parks & rec, btw) Ours is done very well and Jordan has gone the past few summers with no problems. Our max number is 26 kids and they are decided into the 3 age groups so small groups. The camp is very organized. the summer schedule is already planned and in my hands. They keep a white board at the door that lists the next days activities and times and what your child needs to bring (bathing suit, etc). The children are all given a written copy of camp rules on day 1.

This works great for us bc it is highly structured so she always knows what they are doing that day and when and what she is supposed to have with her. The camp also has a field trips every day so its fun. Movie day, water park day, pool day, and I have backup care if she wants to leave early or not go. Last year her arthritis was bad so she just went on the field trips and then was picked up to go home. A good camp is well organized. Ask a bunch of questions..

Yeah, it's worries like that that usually stop me from signing him up for stuff. I think since the climbing is something you do on your own, it should work out pretty well. If there's a wait for belayers, the might get difficult, but I'll send a book or some math problems along with him. He does math for fun.