Category: safety

In the Spirit of the Second Amendment: Learning to Shoot

Guns.  Controversial to say the least.  A person either loves them or hates them.  In our house, we chose to educate our kids about them.  With autism or not, my boys are typical, and they like to shoot guns.

I grew up around guns, and I learned at an early age to respect them.  My dad taught me what damage can be done.  Empty soda cans were my usual target.  Different bullets left different holes.

I was about ten when I shoot my first live target.  After it fell from the sky, my dad and I searched the grounds until we found it.  “It” was a beautiful bird, with deep blue and green feathers.  It’s head was barely intact.  Talk about my euphoria quickly dampened by reality.  We took home what we shot.  Dinner.

Nowadays, too many times, an accident is reported on the news about a kid shooting a sibling or a friend out of curiosity or play.  I don’t want my kids to be one of those statistics.  I don’t want my kids to fear guns either.  The only solution is to teach them.

With proper gear and training, my boys shoot.  Grandpa takes them to the local shooting range.  Their accuracy improves with each visit.  Onlookers are usually surprised when they find out that the boys have autism.  Some are even quite impressed when looking at the paper targets.

Yes, my boys had to overcome sensory issues and master fine/gross motor skills in order to be able to shoot.  Years of occupational and physical therapy.  We take nothing for granted.   Of course, our boys’ safety comes first.

Time Out For Fun

Nick, Victorious Knight, Cam, and Ryan

Amidst the turmoil of autism, we need fun.  Yes, we need to keep a balance of sensory, safety, and dietary issues.  Consequently, we do a lot of research for any outing.  We found one that would stretch the boys.  Medieval Times!

Think of eating with no utensils.  Ok, maybe not too hard to endure for boys.

Picture a stadium setting with theatrical lighting and roaring crowds.  Now hear the clashing of metal upon metal during the jousting, and breathing of dirt, hay, and whatever remnants of the horses.  For typical kids, this could be a highlight event.  For teens with autism, it could be a sensory nightmare.

We knew the boys loved the movies of the Lord of the Rings.   They thoroughly enjoyed the sword-fighting and chivalry.  They admired the steadfast Aragorn, especially when the odds were against him.  Legolas and Gimli added further dimension of weaponry and defense.  So we drew similarities from the movies to what this Medieval Times would include.

We prepared them for the close contact of the arena seating.  We warned them of the unpredictable lights and sounds.  We gave them possible solutions as to how to deal with these.  They were gamed to go, and they looked forward to eating with their fingers!  (Years ago they couldn’t stand dirt or shaving cream on their fingers, so this would have been a concern back then.)

We arrived at the facililty, and the boys took it all in.  At times they had to sit and relax, but for the most part, they enjoyed all the sites and sounds of the retail area.  They even wore crowns/hats!  Then we were escorted into the actual arena.  Food and drink came and went.  The knights on horseback traversed right in front of us as we had front row seating.  Theatre lights blinded us occasionally.  Loud narratives welcomed us and introduced the games as they unfolded.

Throughout the entire evening, the boys were intent on what played out in front of them.  They cheered and waved our banner when our knight did well. They weren’t too keen when the horse snorted just a few feet from them.  They experienced the show without problems.  No complaint.  The boys were extremely loud when our knight won the jousting contest. 

Mike and I were relieved when they all concurred that we should return.  And soon!