Gail Borden Library - Elgin, IL

Aiden and I used to come here often when he was younger.  I typically enjoy any library because I’m a bookworm but Aiden, not so much.  I wanted him to become familiar with the library in hopes that one day he might love it as much as I do so I started looking for other things for him to do within the library.  Turns out they pretty much always have something going on.  In the beginning I started taking him to a storytime session they would have on the weekends for special needs kids.  It was very cute.  The kids would get a mat, sit on the floor around the teacher/story reader and listen and interact with her and the story.  Each week it would be a new story and new activities to go along with it. They would even get surprise treats that went along with the story sometimes.  Aiden enjoyed this class and I enjoyed watching him. 

I don’t remember why we stopped going, most likely because we moved, but we still go back to Gail Borden occasionally (like when there’s a book there that I absolutely must have) and he still appreciates it but now it’s for the play area that they have in the kids book section. They also sometimes have cardboard cut outs that he likes to take his picture with.

Eye Doctor Lenscrafters - West Dundee, IL

Taking Aiden to the eye doctor has always been a challenge.  At first it was mostly because he just couldn’t keep his body still enough and then he was always afraid of the doctor(s) and lastly because language was always so difficult for him he couldn’t respond to questions like “does this lens look better than the last one?” or “what is the smallest line you can read?” or “what do you see?” so that would always make it difficult to get a proper assessment of his vision. Luckily though, we’ve had some good doctors that have guided us on the right path (more on that in my Vision Therapy post). Now on to Lenscrafters specifically.  I ended up taking him more recently, the past couple years, to Lenscrafters basically for the convenience (it’s close by) and because without vision insurance I really had to find the best deal I could get.  Lenscrafters has 12 and 18 month financing plans with their credit card.  So anyway, I was a little nervous about taking him there since the last 2 doctors I had taken him to really specialized in working with children with special needs but it turned out to be a good experience.  The doctor he sees is great with him.  She is not a specialist, just a doctor who knows her stuff, has plenty of patience, and really made an effort to make Aiden feel comfortable.  I am so incredibly grateful when I come across people who are good to my son.  And to my surprise it didn’t stop there.  The manager, at the time, was just awesome with Aiden.  He tried to make the glasses fitting process as fun as possible and he was just really attentive and kind.  I was really impressed.  The last time we were there I could only get a right after school appointment so as we waited for his glasses to get done I had Aiden working on his spelling homework.  

Dundee Township Library & Park District Track

Our two closest libraries are Dundee Township and Randall Oaks.  Aiden prefers Randall Oaks and I, Dundee. The only reason I prefer this one is because it has a wider selection of books. The main floor has everything you’d expect in a library and the entire downstairs is just for kids. It has lots of kids books, dvds, etc. and a little play area. You’d think this would be appealing to Aiden but it’s not really.  When we come to this library he goes downstairs to get his books and movies and then he’s ready to leave.  

I included the park district track in this post because, for a good while, Aiden and I had a routine of going to the track to walk/run and then heading next door to the library.  Using the track at the rec center is free.  It’s not huge but it gets the job done.  Aiden’s not a big fan of running or walking the track but he goes along with it because I insist that we have some sort of exercise in our day.

Dentist

Finding doctors and professionals to work with Aiden has always been challenging.  I always did my homework and researched doctors beforehand to see if they had any experience with special needs children.  They weren’t that easy to find.  Aiden’s first dentist did not have that experience and the importance of that really revealed itself after his first dental procedure.  We never went back.  I started my research all over again and expanded the searching area.  I finally found someone who had special needs experience and what a difference it made! Not just in how well she handled Aiden’s fears but just how genuinely kind she was and made so much effort to make me feel comfortable as well Aiden.  She is also an out-of-the-box thinker and offered me a different, not well known, approach to a dental issue Aiden was having.  It ended up saving me a ton of money and Aiden a lot of pain and frustration.

Going to the dentist, for all those early visits, required a lot of preparation on our part. Consistently reminding Aiden of when we were going, what the experience would be like, and showing him pictures. Each visit always initially started with fear and anxiety but then they would wrap him up in a papoose (it was incredibly difficult trying to find a dentist who would use a papoose) and then start on all their different ways of making him comfortable and more relaxed.  Each time would get a tiny bit easier.  I remember, early on, one of the hygienists looked at me, smiled, and said “you know it won’t be too long before he’s going to walk in here easily, without you, and without using this papoose”.  In my head I responded “ya okay lady you don’t know my kid”.  And now, I am so happy to report that she was right!

Chicago Botanic Garden

We took Aiden to the Chicago Botanic Garden on a couple of occasions.  One was for their summer kite festival where they have professional kite performances set to music, and the other was for their model railroad exhibition where they have 18 trains running on 18 tracks. The trains travel over bridges and tunnels and through different American landscapes which they use flowering plants to recreate.  They also have a butterfly exhibit where you walk inside a habitat filled with hundreds of live butterflies that usually end up landing on you at some point. Aiden enjoyed all the exhibits but I think he liked the butterfly one the most.  I liked the actual garden itself, beautiful views.