Birthday Ideas?

Beginner Joined: Jun 28 2012 Age: 31 Posts: 22

Hi ladies,

I am new to this forum, so I guess I should give a little background first: I have a soon to be five (next month) year old daughter, who was diagnosed with Autism last year. She is high functioning with Asperger's and I have had some challenges to work with. She also has a few speech related issues and an IEP setup at her school. She was moved into special education, and goes to speech and occupational therapy.

What types of ideas do you have for birthday parties? I tried to throw a birthday party for my daughter last year at a little 'arcade' place and she seemed to have gotten sensory overload (it was horrible really, since I had a few friends come with their children and she just kind of disappeared into her own World).

I would like to not make the same mistake this year: Any ideas?

Posted: Sat, Jun 30 2012, 10:13 pm Post subject: re: Birthday Ideas?

You will certainly do better in a quieter venue. I can think of few things harder for a kid on the spectrum than an arcade place, so almost anything you do will probably be better than last year.

If the weather is nice, a party in the park gives kids room to play and either interact or go off (not too far) on their own. You can also do something in your home. Keep the guest list very small, the activities low-key, and keep plenty of adults around. Some choices of what to do might include crafts, puppet show, simple party games ("what time is it Mr. Fox" and the like), a scavenger hunt, and food.

There are some venues that might work. Some gym places have programs that are good for sensory seeking types, and are very highly structured; just talk to them about keeping the noise level on their speaker systems wayyy down. But personally, I prefer home.

Happy birthday!

Posted: Sat, Jun 30 2012, 11:52 pm Post subject: re: Birthday Ideas?

Please realize that what your child needs is probably far from what kind of party you'd like to throw for her. For my boys (ages 4 and 5, both high functioning pdd) we do a small party at home. Daddy, Mommy, and siblings, special cake that they helped bake. That is all. Now that my older one is bh better at expressing himself, he requested that we not sing Happy Birthday. We've tried having other guests and almost every time it backfired, was too overwhelming, and we were left with a crying birthday boy Sad

Hatzlacha and Happy Birthday to your DD!