Samuel's video vacation ended last Sunday. It had started the previous Sunday when I attempted to put the boxes of videos away and he did the job for me!
How did the week of "Video Vacation" go? Overall I would say "good!" Like I mentioned on day two of the vacation, we weren't without videos completely all week. The supply we checked out from the library did stay in a location where Samuel had access to them all week. Actually, they were in a hidden place but Samuel discovered it a few days later. However, he was not allowed to look at them or take them out. He was only allowed to access them when it was time for him to watch a video on TV.
Now that "Video Vacation" is over, the boxes of videos he was attached to previously are still down in the storage room. Samuel is allowed to go look at them on occasion. He is being very good about not getting them out in groups of 4 or 5 and taking them all over the house like he used to. The bag of videos from the library is still in the laundry room. He goes and looks at them sometimes, but only takes a video out if he is going to watch it. One of my upcoming projects is to come up with a decent place for Samuel to store them. The budget director of our household (my husband) has an ongoing request from me for a good media storage cabinet for our entire family's collection of CDs, DVDs, videos, etc, but perhaps a small cabinet or bookcase for Samuel's things would be good as well.
I had hoped that Samuel's scripting of videos and production companies would curtail as a result of "Video Vacation" but that doesn't seem to be the case so far. I hear him singing the themes from Tristar, Paramount, and Strand (found on old Thomas the Tank Engine videos). I am happy, however, that Samuel seems to have accepted the restricted access to his videos and DVDs. I'll really have to stay on top of this though, he'll slowly try to go back to video chaos! Another good outcome is that I have been able to place video watching on his morning schedule AFTER getting dressed. This is proving to be a very powerful incentive to him dressing more independently. He even picked his own clothes out yesterday morning!
9 comments:
Wow- I'm wondering if I should try the Video Vacation with mine...
I'm pleasantly surprised how well the "vacation" went for Samuel. The strategies of a) informing him ahead of time (remember, it was on the calendar a week or two before we tried it); b) having a defined period of time that the "vacation" would be in place; c) still allowing access on a limited basis (with the conditions clearly defined ahead of time), all seem to be what made it successful. Now we also have the benefit of it being the beginning of more appropriate presence of videos around our house going forward. Like I said though, I'll really have to stick to my guns to make sure he doesn't start hording videos and carrying them around with him all the time.
The fact that you set such a positive, loving tone that Samuel was able to handle the vacation was wonderful! What kind of things did Samuel do with his newfound free time?
T - We saw more playing down in the playroom, sort of "with" his siblings. He does more of a parallel play kind of thing with them; however, my 5 year old son tries to get Samuel to join him in some play. Playing "explorers" is popular right now. Samuel also spent more time looking at books. He likes to look at groups of books in a series, like Dr. Seuss, or like the St. Joseph pictures books, http://www.catholicshopper.com/products/st_joe_picture_books.html
Just found your blog and wanted to say hi! I have triplet sons with autism. It's nice to browse your pages!
So glad to hear the Video Vacation went so well... it gives me hope here at our place!
We have done a month without television. We haven't done that in a while but do you know, the kids asked for it.
Ok, maybe not Ronn--but still...
You are doing such a great job.
This "Video Vacation" is a really neat idea!
Video Vacation is a good idea. I am glad to hear that you were able to also increase gettin dressed using a really strong motivator.
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