A Basement Playroom to Ward off Winter Blues for Children with Autism (Featured Workspace?)

I have noticed a few visitors to this blog having come here searching for my article on Posterous discussing indoor swings for children with autism (originally posted by Lifehacker).  My apologies for the confusion, as this domain used to be hosted by Posterous.  However, this does present a good opportunity to expand on our approach to fighting off the winter blues for our 6 year-old son, who is on the spectrum.

First a little background: last year, after returning from a week’s vacation in Marco Island, our son went into complete meltdown for a month. This created sleep issues which just compounded the problem, and it ultimately took sleep medication to get him back on track.  It had always been difficult to get him to come inside and the thought of going from sunshine and sand all day every day to a typical Cleveland winter was too much to bear.  Since we are returning to Marco Island for vacation this year, we wanted to make sure we were as prepared as possible to make him feel comfortable coming home (I’ll cover the use of social stories to prepare for vacations in a separate post).

Our basement with playspaces for our autistic son

We have thus equipped our basement with his favorite outside-like play areas. Our basement is unfinished so we didn’t need to worry about ruining the carpeting or walls.  We also held a successful garage sale (and Salvation Army donation) earlier this year to clear out as much space as possible. Our basement includes:

Sling-Style Swing – we had an extra swing from the swing set we installed in the backyard this year, so we put two eye-bolts in a beam in the ceiling, bought some extra chain to get the length rate, and hung the swing.  We had to be far enough from the wall to avoid the risk of hitting it.

Trampoline – this was actually his birthday present last year (shortly after our return from Marco Island) and while he was not in a place to enjoy it at first, it has now become his favorite item in the house.  A bonus is that it provides the exercise he needs to sleep well at night and stay fit.  Safety is a concern; we purchased a low trampoline from 1-800-Trampolines.com and have put a few gym mats around it.

Sandbox – what we hope will be the coup d’état this year is the sandbox.  He loves playing in the sand, especially between tasks of his ABA therapy.  We cringed at the thought of bringing sand into the house, but if it is successful it will be well worth the hassle of daily sweeping and vacuuming with the dedicated broom, dustpan, and portable vacuum.  This came from Step2, though I don’t see the specific item on their list right now.

Happy Light – we purchased this at the recommendation of the psychologist last year and it may have helped some in bringing our son back to earth. The goal is to try to extend the day (though not too late into the evening, so as not to interrupt sleep cycles).  We actually have not used it much yet this year, but it stands at the ready. This can be ordered from Verilux.

In addition to these, you can see the inflatable bouncer; since we have the trampoline, we no longer use the bouncer (which tends to turn into a steel cage death match anyway).  We also have an art table, though that is mostly so his brothers are encouraged to play in the basement too. There are several tricycles in the basement, though our 6 year old has outgrown them.  And finally we have a dedicated workspace for his ABA therapy, close to his favorite play spaces so he can return immediately to play between tasks.  I’ll let you know how this works for staving off any issues throughout the winter; so far so good, as he has not complained at all about being stuck inside as the days have grown shorter and temperatures cooled.

Disclaimer

Please remember that I am not a trained therapist or psychologist and am only reporting what has been successful in our own circumstances.  If your child has challenges dealing with the shift of seasons, you may need to seek professional help.

You may also find these interesting:

• Developing Good Sleep Habits in Autistic Children