DS has gone on his Y6 trip!

[spider]

Well, after 9 months of preparation, fighting with the school to let him go, then me having the colly-wobbles for the past 2 months about making the right decision to let him go... the time finally came yesterday morning for Ben to go to the Isle of Wight for his Y6 trip!

We have been doing the social story for the past couple of weeks, I think he's got the gist that he is going without us, that there are 2 LSA's and his teacher from his class that will be looking after him (though not all at the same time! ), and that he isn't coming home until Friday!

He was awake yesterday at 5:30am and came bursting into my bedroom saying "Going to the Isle of Wight! " so I had to insist on him going back to bed for another hour at least!

When I did get him up at 7am, his first words again was "Isle of Wight"! He was so excited and couldn't wait to get out of the door to go and catch the coach!

When we arrrived at school, he politely told me to "got to go, bye bye Mummy" and was attempting to push me out of the door - I had to be quite insistant that I wanted to wave to him when he was on the coach!

So, off they all went, Ben was waving and saying bye, he didn't seem in the least bit worried. I texted his LSA to see how the journey was going about 3 hours later and she said fine, he was being v.good! LSA rang last night and said he'd eaten his tea (chips! ) and had ice-cream too and was playing at the adventure playground having a great time!

This morning's text said he'd slept right through, had a big breakfast (though quite what I don't know! ) and that he was making sand castles on the beach!

I've been a right nightmare over the past few weeks with all the worry, Sunday night was dreadful, the effects of putting a packet of Jaffa Cakes into his bag was floods of tears, stupid I know, but this is such a massive step for Ben (and for Me too! ) that I thought I'd never get through Monday without having a complete breakdown! (well, after he'd left, I was very brave before he got on the coach! )

I know I was worried about my eldest son going on his Y6 trip, but somehow this is so different, the knowing that the school didn't really want him to go, me making a stand about it and worrying that I was doing this for me rather than Ben, the amount of personal care that he needs, but I'm glad that I've seen it through, he needs to be more independant and experience these things, and besides, his new secondary school do lots of residential trips in the years to come, so it's better to be sooner rather than later!

Sorry, have rambled on slightly, those of you who are in a similar position to me will know how the brain is not functioning properly at the moment!

[ali-s]

Hope it all goes well & he's back on Friday with lots to tell you, having enjoyed himself - I'm sure he will . DS9 went on his trip to Snowdonia last week ( first time he has ever been away from home on his own). Like you, I spent months worrying over it, we had an info evening at the school the week before he went, & when I saw photos of the activities they would be doing ( abseiling, canoeing, rock climbing etc ) I felt like saying,' that's it, no way are you going '! but by Tuesday morning he was so excited that I'd resigned myself to it, ( did have a mild panic as the coach pulled away - had I packed enough socks ?, would he find his jamas? etc etc ! ) He was back on Friday , teachers said he'd been brilliant, & he was so proud of himself for having a go at everything , so now I can relax until next year - when it's Isle of Wight - oh god, that's so far away !

[BarryandCaron]

I can understand exactly how you feel Sharon. I was the same in April with DS2 going on a day trip

I'm sure Ben will have a wonderful time and the school will learn a thing or two as well

Caron

[Guest]

Hope Ben contiunues to have a wonderful time

My DS (9) is going on his Y4 residential trip today - so I can understand a bit of how you're feeling.

[ali-s]

Is he back yet Sharon ? how did it go ?

[spider]

Is he back yet Sharon ? how did it go ?

See more...

Oh, thanks for asking! Sorry not up-dated sooner, been soooooo busy decorating Ben's bedroom while he was away!

Well, they all got back on Friday, they were delayed by nearly 2 hours so I was abit worried how he was sitting in the traffic jam on the M25!

Anyhow, he was fine and the whole week was a total success. He really enjoyed himself, they said he tried out most of the activites, but enjoyed the swimming and trampolining the best!

He slept well (think it was all the sea air and lots to do! ) and that he ate his usual diet of chips, chips and more chips!

I think he surprised everyone with how he coped, after the battle that I had with them to take him in the first place, he came up trumps, no major (or minor for that matter) meltdowns, and they got to see a whole different side to him than what they see at school - but then that is the same for all the mainstream kids too, its a different environment with no work to do!

I'm so glad that I stuck to my guns and nigh on insisted that he go, I knew he would love it, he loves a holiday, luckily for us, and it is something that I know he needs to do, just to develop some independence from us. Just because our children have special needs does not mean they cannot access the same things as mainstream children, yes, he needed a certain amount of personal care and supervision, but he still managed to have a great time and I think it is important for the teachers and LSA's to experience this too, his autism does not disappear when school finishes at the end of the day, this is the full package! I know that the LSA who was his primary care giver on the trip was so proud of him (as are we!) and said it had been a pleasure to be with him!

Life has pretty much returned to normal since he got back, first thing he asked for was "comic" which is his Friday treat and then sat in the car going on about the computer, he must have had severe withdrawal symptoms for the week!

Anyhow, have rambled on again

[TinkTatoo]

That's great news Sharon - and well done for insisting that he went in the first place

[ali-s]

That's great news, must be such a relief for you ( I was fairly certain my son would cope - but it was still nice to have that confirmed by the staff who were also impressed with him ) Hope you are both proud of yourselves

[Guest]

So glad to hear it went well - thanks for the update.

[DIBBadmin]

This thread has been automatically closed as it has not been posted on in 365 days.