Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi all,
Looking for a wee bit of advice - if anyone else is in (or has been) in the same boat, or has had similar situations. My son is currently going through a skateboarding phase and is suddenly taking an interest in weather. He hates not being able to go out with his board as he sees the rain as an obstical to do this activity, he currently lives and breaths skateboarding. Although, I am all for encouraging him to be outdoors and getting exercise - however - living near the highlands (I'm near the Glens on the east coast) - the weather is not so great this time of the year. My boy won't stop having meltdowns as a result of not wanting to take his skateboard out in the rain and is struggling to understand that his board won't get ruined straight away - and that nobody can control the weather. He also seems to think that by constantly screaming at me about where he can go to skate that's sheltered and not flooded, and hitting me for good measure, will get me to know where he can go. I have tried countless times sitting down with him in a quiet and relaxed manner and talking to him gently about this, but this only seems to be aggrivating the situation and making him worse. It's so bad that my neighbour shouts out his window telling him to shut up and calls him derogetory names - knowing fine well he has autism and potentially other disabilities. I have tried to explain to him that he can have more than one interest and have tried exploring some examples with him. I am fully aware that it's not as straight forward as that for his brain to understand this.
Can anyone relate to this? How have you helped your autistic with things like this? (I will be bringing all this up to CAMHS when he eventually gets his appointment)
My son is 26 & dyslexic. Skateboarding became a way for him to make real friends. It's a great addiction! Healthy, promotes trying new things, great for proprioception and building confidence. The intensity of his *disappointment* is due to being autistic and just feeling everything to a great degree of impact. The day didn't match the vision he had emotionally prepared for. It's learning to prepare for the worst, hope for the best, and seize the moment when it arrives, which he'll need to work on.
When it rains, my son will practice tricks in his bedroom, watch skate videos, video what he's doing on the board and compare notes. When he was little, we cleared the living room so he could practice on the carpet. Life doesn't need the classic living room anyway, I'd much rather have a space to be creative in.
Such great advice juniper, what great ideas, I hope this really helps your son and you NAS89