Randall Oaks Library - West Dundee, IL

Aiden absolutely loves going to this library! This is one of the few places he’ll actually take it upon himself to ask me to take him to pretty much every week.  And when he asks I always try to comply. His love affair with this library began when we started walking on the track at the Randall Oaks Rec Center.  The library is in the same building, downstairs.  This is a pretty small library, very basic, no huge frills, but it does have a little play area for kids near the kids books section and to Aiden’s delightful surprise there were dinosaurs there.  There’s only a few, probably around 6 or 7, but they’re a good size and they’re not the cheap kind.  I know this because he has some of the same ones at home and I had to buy those online because they’re more collector-ish than toys so they’re not just sitting on the shelves at Walmart.  I was pretty surprised myself that the library had these. Anyway, I got my books and Aiden wanted to play with the dinosaurs so I sat at a table nearby to read. It turned out to be as good an experience for me as it was for him.  He loves dinosaurs and I love books.  I just never seem to have the time to really sit down and enjoy one so he gave me the opportunity to do just that.  After that day he was hooked. UPDATE: This last, most recent, trip we made to this library nearly broke my heart. They made some changes to the kid’s area and the dinosaurs have now gone extinct! Aiden was confused and disappointed but he handled it a whole lot better than I expected.  He played with some of the other toys instead

but really what saved the day was that he went into the actual book section to find his newest addiction, How Do Dinosaurs… books.  I don’t know if he’ll still ask me to take him here now but at least he’s actually interested in some books.

Royal Oak Farm Apple Orchard - Harvard, IL

What really interested me about this place was the apple orchard maze where you can pick your own apples.  I thought it would be a great opportunity for Aiden to see how apples grow. I didn’t want him thinking that they (or anything else) is just magically born at the grocery store.  But it turned out to have more to offer than just apples. Along with the apple orchard maze, there are additional orchards where you can pick your own apples, a hay ride tour of the farm, a small petting zoo, playground, carousel, and kid’s train.  There is also a restaurant, gift shop, and snack shop where they make everything themselves. We absolutely loved their taffy apples, caramel apple corn pops, and apple cider donuts! There is no admission to this place but any activity that you want to do like the maze, train, carousel, etc. you will have to pay in tokens so the first thing to do when you get there is buy your tokens.  Aiden had a good time.  I think he mostly liked the play area and the petting zoo. Although he was incredibly scared of the ducks he could not stop watching them.  Even though they were behind a fence he still made sure he was at least about 4 feet away at all times.

TOPSoccer - Cary, IL

TOPSoccer, is a community based program for young athletes with disabilities to learn and play the game of soccer.  It’s open to any child age 6 and up with a cognitive or physical disability.  I found out about TOPSoccer through a Village of Carpentersville newsletter.  Aiden has been in this program for a few years now.  I think this was the first recreational program that Aiden belonged to.  I really like TOPSoccer because everyone there really seems to enjoy working with our special kids, and it’s affordable!  Aiden likes it because he gets to run around and enjoys working with his “buddy” (high school volunteer assigned to stay with him the entire time). Over the years his soccer skills and understanding of the game has really improved as well. This is one of those little gems that I am so grateful to have found.

Congo River Golf & Exploration - Hoffman Estates, IL

We took Aiden to this mini golf place a few years ago.  It was a little difficult to get him in at first because there was a group of ducks near the entrance.  They really freaked him out and he started crying.  Once they finally left he calmed down but remained anxious about their possible return so it was a little difficult to get him to pay attention to the game for awhile.  When he finally forgot about the ducks he seemed to enjoy the game but I think it was still a bit difficult for him to focus on what he was doing or trying to do. He’s older now, so I’d like to go back and see how he does this time around.

Movie Theater

The first time I took Aiden to the movies it didn’t go so great. We sat in the back row incase we had to emergency exit, which we did.  He couldn’t stay focused on the movie, only on his immediate surroundings. Trying to get up and leave, being loud, crying, etc. He just wasn’t ready for such an experience.  When we tried again it was at Randall 15 IMAX in Batavia and we only went because they were doing a special “autism friendly” screening.  They are starting to do more special autism or sensory friendly movie screenings now, but back then it was unheard of.  A sensory screening is when they show a movie with the lights on and the sound turned down significantly. Getting up and talking or making sounds is welcomed and acceptable.  That show was more comfortable for both him and I (no worrying about people’s comments or staring) but we still only made it to less than halfway through the movie.  He just didn’t show any interest.  I was surprised because he had a ton of tv shows that he really enjoyed but I guess a movie theater and all its elements were just too unfamiliar and unpredictable for him.  So sometime later, on my third attempt at taking him to a movie, we actually made it through the whole thing!  I took him on a Friday right after school so he still had his art project with him, a wild looking face mask with feathers that he had made out of construction paper.  He refused to let it go so he wore it throughout the whole movie.  He also wore headphones to muffle the loud noises.  He did very well, although he would lose interest whenever there was more talking than action.  Especially if it were humans talking instead of animals.  Now he’s a movie going expert.  

If he knows when a new movie is coming out he will write it on his calendar and will remind me everyday of how many days are left until we go to the theater.  He still has some trouble with the human dialogue parts but he no longer takes headphones with him, just 1 toy, usually a dinosaur.

Donley's Wild West Town - Union, IL

This is a wild west themed amusement park for small children.  There are rides and attractions like: a train ride around the park, a small roller coaster, pony rides, gold panning, and a live action packed stunt show performance. I really liked this place. Aiden was younger when we took him here, which was good because it really is designed for younger children.  There was lots to see and do and the stunt show was very entertaining. They also have an old west history museum with inventions and technology from the late 1800’s. We weren’t sure what Aiden would think of this place since he was still very verbally limited but he did seem to really enjoy everything we did.

Kids In The Kitchen - NISRA

This is another NISRA class that Aiden tried out.  The kids were given ingredients and recipes to create snacks and dishes.  I don’t really know what went on in this class because parents were not allowed but Aiden really seemed to enjoy it and he always brought home a snack that he was proud of.  This is one of the classes Aiden has asked me if he could go back to.