Published on 12, July, 2020
I appreciate that the police are stopping people from driving to the park for a good reason - to prevent the spread of coronovirus. However, this leaves us with a problem of finding a safe place to let my 4 year old ASD son run around outside. We have a garden, but it would be good for his physical and mental well-being to exercise somewhere else for a change.
Normally we drive to a park he knows well, where it's safe to let him run around for ages. However, its 15 min drive away so we can't get there. So our only other option is to walk the streets with him, which is really not safe with a child prone to meltdowns and running off. He is also too big to go in the pushchair.
The thought of not being able to take him out is depressing.
My son was a ' runner' , I had to rely on a wrist strap as I had a younger child in a buggy. Sounds like you could try the park as you're allowed an hour for exercise, as long as it's not too hard to leave without a meltdown.
Maybe take evidence of is condition with you in case you get stopped by police. Children like our need some normal in their routine as long as it doesn't put others in danger which this doesn't. I agree with NAS62563 going early in the morning would be good.
I can see others have already said, but they have now clarified that driving to exercise is permitted so long as you're driving less time than the intended exercise. E.g.driving 15 mins to exercise for 30 mins is fine. They also added on the guidelines that exercise can be more than once daily for those with ASD if required, and by travelling to a particular/familiar place if needed
I know the rules around the lockdown have been relaxed for some things since you posted but I wanted to share what I've tried.
I have 2 young boys (ASD) and can only take them to very specific places because of running away, meltdowns and no awareness of danger.
I went onto google maps and looked locally for any green areas on the map, even small ones. I then zoomed in to see if any were public parks or playing fields and if they were enclosed or had any dangers nearby such as rivers, roads etc. I've been able to find a couple of new places I never knew about quite close to where I live to take my children to that are relatively safe. It's just another option in case you can't get to your usual place you and it's worth trying.
I've not been following the news everyday and have been stuck home since late jan early feb so I didnt realise the police were doing this. Are there any footpath roots off the country roads you could take?
Correction I've been looking into this the rule is police can disperse crowds and gatherings, and issue fines to people who refuse to disperse from crowds or gatherings after being ordered to do so.
The advice is to keep travel to essential shopping, essential work, and 1 walk for exercise preferably away from people or in unoccupied area. However advice is not law and police cannot enforce this.
Video Plastic posted on a similar thread is a great example, they seem to be doing this a lot so I can't realistically say it's a mistake anymore.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bP9VCGghzOg
Which country are you in? Rules in the UK specifically allow for essential travel and one daily walk for exercise provided it's away from other people/in unoccupied areas. Judging by their response when you asked for clarification I suspect the police in question didn't fully understand the rules themselves, but were unwilling to admit it. Maybe email local police stations to clarify properly?
I was advised by a police officer to return home when I went to my usual 'remote' place (10 minutes drive away) to exercise so this is obviously not the case though there is no clear advice available. I asked him what was classed as 'local' when he said to return to my home and he avoided the answer by saying they are following government advice. I steeled myself to go for a walk directly from home this morning, have been nearly run down twice on country lanes and have encountered twice the number of people that I would normally, and nearly bumped into someone walking round a blind corner on the pavement. In that instance it was impossible to maintain social distance as we couldn't see each other.
There isn’t an outright ban on driving and in the circumstances I think a 15 minute drive would be seen as acceptable - this is my subjective view anyhow.
Consider yourself lucky for having a garden. Maybe you could drive to the park once a week at 8am on Sunday when no one is around? In the worst case that you do get stopped I'm sure that the police would be understanding of your situation and also see that there isn't much risk at this time because it's so quiet
Hi you could always got a baby harness, loads of mums with disability children are using them, or buy a trampoline for garden to bounce some energy off