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Nintendo DS

Nicola

My 12 year old son absolutely loves his Nintendo DSi.  As well as being a great way of passing the time on car journeys and other potentially boring situations, it's a great distractor when he's in stressful situations (such as on the way to school); and a really good way of starting a conversation with other kids of the same age.  In fact, the DS often attracts a small crowd of youngsters.

This summer we travelled a long way to take part in a (successful) attempt to break the world record for the most people playing on DS consoles, held at the National Media Museum in Bradford.  My son had such a wonderful day, chatting and playing games with other enthusiasts, and was very sad to leave when it was over.

I thought at the time, and for various reasons have come back to the thought recently, that it would be good to set up some sort of club locally to bring DS ethusiasts together.  I have had a look online, and I see that there is a DS club in London, but it's held in a pub and is obviously aimed at young adults.   It all seems a lot more complicated when youngsters are involved, because I imagine any adults involved would have to have police checks etc.  Also, I would worry about unruly elements causing trouble.

Does anyone have any inspired thoughts as to how I might progress with this?

 

  • i have as and i am obssessed with phones :)

  • For services in your area look in the Autism services directory

    http://www.autism.org.uk/directory.aspx

    Good luck

  • How do I find out if there are any NAS after school/weekend clubs for my son (6 years old) who has been diagnosed with high functioning autism? He is a very social little boy and despereratly needs a friend to play with out of school hours. He too has a Nintendo DS which he absolutely loves, his favourite game being Super Mario. It would be great to find out about any clubs etc. for him to join as there doesnt appear to be any in our area specifically for children with HF autism/Aspergers.

  •  My daughters school had a DS lunch time club and an after school club which was popular with all kids of all ages.

  • My son like many individuals with autism dislikes parties, so at the end of term and special occasions, his school hold DS days. The children can have party food and surprisingly spend a lot of time discussing days.

    I think it is a great idea and I wish you success in setting up your group.

  • Great Idea good luck xxx

  • Hello - thank you for your replies.

    Jim - some good ideas there - I think I will wait until after Christmas, then start getting organised.  Thank you.

    pjgmum - my son attend our local NAS Out of School Club too, but there aren't many members and only takes place once a month (we're in a rural area).  He does enjoy it (and says he wishes it was every week) - and they do have Wii games sometimes, which he loves too.  The trouble is, it's the only social activity that he does regularly, even though I've really tried to get him interested in other local clubs and groups.  That's why I thought maybe I should try to organise something he would like myself! 

     

  • My oldest son (9) attends an NAS Out of school club for youngsters with Aspergers/ HF Austism.  They set monthly schedules and each month there is always a game night.  They either play the Wii together or sit and chat about their DS games.  Its a great night which my son really enjoys. 

    We also use DS's when we are out and about for distraction / entertainment, a great invention!  My son can retreat with his headphones on into his game and we are able to access many more events / areas without our other son having to miss out. 

  • Hi Nicola,

    Afraid I'm no expert in setting up parents groups or community services but it might be worth speaking to local groups that are to see if they have any advice. Maybe youth groups, the scouts, guides, etc?

    I'm sure they'd, at the very least, be able to help explain the legal issues of running a youth group and put you in touch with local services that may be able to help.

    Another suggestion, which would obviously be a long-shot, would be Nintendo themselves. They're usually incredibly committed to presenting their products as family friendly and helpful so it might be worth dropping them an email, might never get a response or it might be a big help.

    I'd suggest the PR team as a starting point then see if they have any Charity/Coporate Social Responsibility team. Here's the email:

    prenquiries@nintendo.co.uk

    Good luck, sounds like it could be a great idea :)