adventures and autism

I don't usually say too much about my son or autism,,,
well, at least I don't think I do, but today I wanted to share a bit of what it's like traveling with autism...

Travel is hard for my son. 

New things make him very anxious.

 But he did very well on our week away a little while ago. 

He panicked for a few days before,
 so much that we thought he had an infection or something,  as he spent his whole day in the bathroom and in tears off and on. After a quick trip to the lab for a  sample it turns out there was nothing wrong. I am still glad we had him tested other wise I would have spent the whole time wondering if he was sick.

 It's very hard to know, as he has a very high pain tolerance and he doesn't answer questions, not even with a yes or no usually.

 He says "no thank you" if he doesn't want something, but if you ask " does it hurt?" or "Do you have a belly ache?" He'll answer "YES.........or no".

 So like in a pet or a toddler, we use body language to understand most of his wants and needs. 

But after the first few hours at the cabin we rented in Hills Creek State Park in Pennsylvania, and once he saw most of his stuff had made the trip,  he calmed down and had a good time.

 

 We took along a hammock, which turned out to be a great idea. 

When he is nervous he likes to walk
 or ride.
Especially on vacation....
 He says simply "sad people walk" and so off we go.
We hiked all the trails around the lake and through the woods, at least 3 times a day.
  It's a beautiful park. The weather was too cold for swimming most days and the water was not wonderful for swimming either so mostly we hiked and relaxed and sat around the bonfire.
(we did find a wonderful fairy shop in Wellsboro that I'll show you next week... )
The wildlife was very comfortable with us and so I was able to get some good photos, except for the little junco that kept visiting us, he was just too quick.

We watched this guy fishing in the rain one afternoon....

 

Sparkling lilly pads
home to green water selkies,
grindylows and sprites

I didn't sketch at all while I was there.... 

I just felt like filling myself up... 

i didn't feel the need to spill it all out yet. 

But once I was home I made a few really quick sketches in my book from photos...

Jace gets nervous about coming home as well.

 He started to panic again as we packed our things. The look on his face when he tried to get me to take their kitchen table with us, was just too sad. He pulled at the table and looked at me, like 

"you can't possibly be leaving this!!!!!" 

But he managed to get in the car without it.

 And he seems to get better and better at dealing with things like this. 

You just can't help but think he is the sweetest child in the world,

 (honestly, it's not just me)

And as a few people have reminded me recently... 

it is so interesting to look at the world through his eyes. 

To see the different way his mind works and processes his world.

Smell and sound and texture take on new levels...

If it weren't so hard at times, I would think Autism was a grand adventure. 

So, I am reminding myself it IS an adventure, 

and learning with Jace has made us a better family,
 and me a better mom.

Our trip was all over way too quick,
 so now I will just start dreaming about next year.
And planning smaller adventures to take with Jace in the meantime...




I realize this post has less art than my usual ones so if you wanted to see a finished piece of art that I posted on monday, click on this photo....