Travel: Camping With The Autistic Kid

~ Laura

It’s been a long summer with insufficient organized activities for the autistic young adult. His voracious brain likes to be on the Internet all day. I only have the vaguest notion of what he does online. I know that he likes to assemble random facts about video game history on wiki pages. He tells me that creates mods on Gary’s Mod on Steam; I have no idea what any of that means. He has daily rewards on various games that must be achieved. He posts music on a YouTube channel. Honestly, I really don’t much more than that. I know it’s harmless, because occasionally I look at his browser history — it’s tame, but too geeky for my brain.

He can keep himself busy all day, but it’s not terribly healthy to be on the computer all day. So, Steve and I have to nudge him outside his comfort zone now and then. Last weekend, we went camping in an area with limited cellphone access. He was fine as long as he had a job to do — set up the tents, pump up the air mattress, make the coffee, make the bacon, build a fire, make s’mores. But he couldn’t handle the time when Steve and I just wanted to read our books and drink beer around the campfire. And the two hour canoe ride was very stressful for him.

The trip was 90 percent successful, but Steve and I are looking forward to one more camping trip later in September. That weekend, the autistic boy will stay at home with his big brother, so Steve and I can get our campfire and book time.

Published by Laura

6 thoughts on “Travel: Camping With The Autistic Kid”

  1. Thanks for the pics of one of my favorite places. You missed my sisters by a couple of weeks. I was supposed to go, but … EBV/mono.

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    1. Boo to EBV/mono. Roscoe was great. This was our second trip there this summer. We’re starting to get to know other people up there.

      There are several cool Instagram real estate webpages with swoon-worthy properties in the Catskills. Check out hutsnyc.

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      1. We (my sisters and I) were offered an opportunity to buy a house on/adjacent to the farm this past winter. But there were reasons we didn’t go through with it, and I think the opportunity will be there for us in the future, too. I am too far away (5 hours) to be too committed, and I think my sisters also aren’t thinking about how time-consuming it is to maintain a house in the mountains like that from 1.5 to 3.5 hours away.

        But oh, I do love the area. We used to camp right by the falls, you know. I have pics somewhere from the 1970s. The bad flooding in the early 2000s was really destructive and is responsible for the road to the falls being closed just past the campground.

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      2. Ah. Yes, we saw the falls on this trip. We periodically think about getting some land, especially when we see prices like $50K for 100 acres. But it’s probably 100 acres of poison ivy and ticks. Meh. I am not sure if I could really deal with the commitment and hassle (and expense) of having another property. Camping and airbnbs are nice, too.

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      4. We know a family that bought some unimproved land a couple of hours away. They go there and picnic and bushwack. I can imagine that for the 11d family.

        I would like to own some acres, even if it would only be like owning a star, because we would never improve it.

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