Making Vacation Bible School work for everyone
Vacation Bible School can be a nightmare for children with autism or with a sensory disorder. This could have been true with Logan IF modifications weren’t made in the early years. I happen to attend a fantastic church that really goes out of their way to make him be successful. I’m just gonna share a few things that we have done in the past to make it work for Logan.
Also, we pack earplugs so when they go to worship and it’s loud, he’s got them. Let’s face it. It gets loud at VBS. If he wouldn’t wear earplugs then I would take him out and let him sit in the hallway. A lot of times, one of the older youths could do this and stay with him so I could stay and participate as well.
Finally, and this was probably the most important factor in making VBS successful for Logan was getting the teachers to understand that sometimes he is not going to participate. The fact is he may be overloaded and just not be able to do it or want to for that matter. The majority of the time, he does join in after appraising the situation for himself, Nowadays, his friends are able to coax him into joining too. If he has done most of the activities then it’s ok to let him sit one out. Don’t force him to do it. It will make him and you miserable. Some battles are not meant to be fought.
That’s what we have done to make VBS successful for our child with autism. Some years were better than others. Most of the early ones were painful to get through as he fell further and further behind his same age peers. We trudged through it and kept at it. As we close out his VBS years, I am glad that we did although it wouldn’t have been possible without an awesome church.
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Barbara, we homeschool so that is not a problem for us. I do extend this to field trips and to other events at church. So, we are still taking the elementary field trips and going to park day with the younger kids instead of participating in the middle school events. Luckily, he has a younger sister so he doesn’t stand out that much to be there. Does that make sense?
I wish they had done that back when I was in VBS/ Children’s Church… LOL Thank God, I at least had my mom as one of the heads of the whole deal, so I could escape if necessary… and my dad ran the sound at church, so I’d go hide in the sound booth. 🙂
Nice article! I teach special needs kiddos at church, and agree with your suggestions. (I’m also on the spectrum)
Nicely said and very practical suggestions. Thank you. Allowing your child to be with his developmental peers seems reasonable, but so many parents seem to think that unless a child is included with their same age peers there is something wrong. Do you extend this arrangement to his school?