Kohl Children's Museum - Glenview, IL

What’s cool about this museum is that it’s interactive, hands on learning. And many of the exhibits reflect real life scenarios like grocery shopping or taking a pet to the vet. All of the exhibits and programs here are designed to make learning fun and interesting for children up to 8 years old.  Aiden was very young when we took him here but he still enjoyed it because there was much to see and touch.  It also has outdoor exhibits as well.  This is really a great educational place for younger children but it does get very crowded.

Yu Kids Island Woodfield Mall - Schaumburg, IL

This place is an indoor kids play area, inside of Woodfield Mall, that is covered in soft padding.   It has several things to play on like a spinning tree, bouncy area filled with balloons, a revolving tube, etc. Aiden used to really enjoy this place. The only reason that we stopped going here was because he got too tall.  This place is only for kids 48 inches or shorter.

Fox River Bike Trail

This bike trail runs from Aurora to Algonquin.  We, of course, only did a tiny portion of that.  We walked from the west side of Carpentersville to downtown East Dundee.  Aiden was younger then and I wasn’t sure if he would be able to walk that far so we took the wagon too.  It was a nice walk through neighborhoods and a park.  We ended near The Depot and ate at a little outdoor restaurant right off the trail.  There are a few restaurants, stores and bars right there so you have choices. 

Special Olympics Young Athletes

Special Olympics Young Athletes is a sports and play program for children with intellectual disabilities, ages 2 to 7 years old.  It introduces basic sports skills like running, kicking and throwing. Aiden participated in this while he was in preschool. He was always such an active kid so I thought he would enjoy this.  Well sports aren’t just about being active. They’re also about following rules and directions, taking turns, etc., a lot of things that Aiden just didn’t have the ability to really focus on at that time. There were some activities he would participate in for a little while but he mostly just wasn’t ready for something as coordinated as this was.

Chuck E. Cheese's

Aiden has been to Chuck E. Cheese several times.  He’s even had a birthday party there before. This is one of those places that he’s always enjoyed.  There were some really super easy games that he was able to play but mostly he liked riding the rides and playing in the play area.  He also liked Chuck E. and his friends when they performed.  And of course, Aiden has always loved pizza!  Is Chuck E. Cheese an overstimulating environment for Aiden?  Probably, but I think he typically reacts so well here because he has the freedom to run around and release his anxiety.

Mall of America - Bloomington, MN

Mall of America has 520 stores, 50 restaurants and several attractions. We took Aiden to Sea Life Aquarium and the indoor theme park, Nickelodeon Universe.  The aquarium was pretty cool.  Aiden got to touch stingrays as they swam by in a shallow pool and then we walked through a clear tunnel and got to see the sharks, turtles, etc. swimming around and above us - excellent views. Afterwards we walked over to Nickelodeon Universe and Aiden got on almost every ride, several times. And of course, we ended the day at the Lego store.  Aiden really enjoyed everything about this trip and I’m pretty sure he would love to go back.

Vision Therapy

In the beginning of our autism journey I read a lot of books about treatments and therapies for autism. And one of the books that really stood out to me was about vision therapy.  I learned about the difference between vision and eyesight.  I knew that Aiden could see (eyesight) but what I didn’t know was how his brain processed what his eyes saw (vision).  Many people with autism have difficulty processing and responding to information from their senses - sensory issues.  I knew Aiden did.  And vision therapy is suppose to be able to help with these sensory issues because it “retrains” the brain. Since the visual system relates to motor, cognitive, speech, and perceptual abilities, these areas can also be affected when the visual processing is interrupted. The goals of the treatment program are to help the individual organize visual space and gain efficient visual information processing.  Sounds great! Sign him up! That’s what I thought and that’s what we did.  But like our trial with music therapy (although this was way more expensive), we were unsuccessful.  Aiden was very young, very nonverbal, and very all over the place.  He just absolutely could not keep his body still enough to focus on anything with instruction.  And this was not something that we just tried for 2 weeks then gave up.  We did this for probably close to a year and looking back now all I can say is that he just wasn’t ready, or these therapies needed dramatically more time and money than we had to give. Aiden is way better suited now to try this out but unfortunately it is very expensive and just not something we’re able to do right now.  Maybe one day.