Thank you Mrs. N for the comments on my last post and the subsequent links to some plans for camping kitchens. I really like the one design the best and will post the link here too. Check it out:

http://www.u-bild.com/projects-outdoor/213.htm

My husband likes this design a lot and I like that it not only gives me the storage and organization I'm looking for, but also gives me a work surface too.

I was reminded of a year when we were camping when our son Noah, who has autism, was around 2 years old. For those of you who are familiar with autism you will know that its not uncommon for autistic kids to have the free and flight syndrome. Our son was very much this way. Put him in an open space and he was out of there! Since he had no sense of danger, this was a bad combination to be running off. Thus, camping held some special challenges.

We didn't want to spend our trip chasing him all over the place, plus trying to care for an infant and two other little ones under 5. We had purchased a body harness for Noah that had a leash attachment in the back. Now I know to some of you that may sound aweful that we'd put our son on a leash, but I can tell you it saved his life a few times! We would put his harness on him when we were going places, and as soon as we got him out of his carseat we would attach the leash. He often went into a stroller at this age, but when he wasn't going to be confined in a stroller, the leash kept him safe. Many times once he was attached to his leash, he would try taking off on us. Some of these times we were in a busy parking lot or near a busy road, and if not for that leash, he may have seriously injured himself or even been killed. I, as a parent, will take the odd looks and the shaking heads of strangers who don't know better than take the chance of my son being hurt.

Now that we were going camping, we decided to modify our body harness and leash a bit. My husband added an extra long rope onto the leash and he made a rope runner in the campsite. This way, Noah could play in the sand, be in the shade, run some, play and have a great time without running off. Of course he wasn't on this all the time, but when he wasn't napping or playing with someone, or out with the family, he was on his leash. This allowed him to play and for me to care for the other three kids, make meals, and enjoy myself too while keeping him happy and safe. Sure, we got some looks from folks, but many said they wished they would have thought of that with their own kids, and their kids weren't special needs!

I'm not suggesting this to say you should do this with your own kids, but to suggest that with every problem or challenge there is a solution. You may not like the solution, but there is one. Staying home, cooped up in our house and not having a family vacation was not an option. Since hotels were way out of our price range, we had to make camping work for us. Our solution worked out so everyone could enjoy themselves!

Another great thing we started doing was that our main vacation is now still camping, but we rent a yurt. I know many campsites rent yurts or small cabins at a fraction of the cost of what a hotel would charge for a family of 6. Our yurt this year is running us $40 a night, but we get to sleep on beds, we have electricity, a small heater if we need it, and a door that locks. The locking door is really important to me with special needs kids. I need to make sure they don't wonder off in the middle of the night.

The only disadvantage to using yurts and cabins is you need to book your space way ahead of time. In Washington State, you can book up to 9 months beforehand. So we are thinking in the fall now of what we will be doing for the next summers vacation. Even so, it all works out.

Another note. If tent camping or in a cabin or a yurt, bring zip ties. They are not only good for securing ropes and things around your site, but they are good for looping through locks and zippers to keep your kids from getting out of your tent or cabin/yurt at night! Just have some scissors hidden away for the adults to cut through them when you need to get out.

Like I said, there is a solution. I encourage you with special kids to not limit yourselves to staying home. Go out and do the things that other families do with their typical kids. Yes, it will take more work. Yes, you may have to be creative in how you do it. Yes, you may not get to stay as long, but the interaction is great for your kids and for you! Don't limit yourself to your home. You can do church, parks, camping and vacations. You can go to the store. It may take time to make it work but it can work!

Happy camping! May God give you some creativity and solutions to your issues with your special needs kids.

Janelle

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