As Many Organized Activities as Possible

When Will was diagnosed almost four years ago, I remember not wanting to do ANYTHING like a party. I was feeling extremely inhibited because of Will's diagnosis and behavior. It was just so hard to attend a party where everyone elses children (or so I thought) seemed so normal, and Will was off in a world of his own.

Since then, we have begun to sign Will up for quite a few activities. We have tried soccer, basketball, and summer camps (the latter with a therapist). Will is currently enrolled in baseball, cub scouts, and a social skills class. I think that's plenty of activity (I'm not a young mother, after all!). But each of those activities provides a new way to practice social skills, AND it provides a different set of kids to interact with.

I admit, soccer was painful. Trying to understand the rules AND pay attention to changing activities was just too much for Will. I think with time and maturity, Will would have caught on eventually, but I think the other boys would have possibly resented it if Will constantly missed a chance to kick the ball to his team, so we opted out of that one. Will didn't mind leaving soccer, but baseball -- that's a completely different story. We find that interesting, too -- this sudden interest in baseball. Our older son HATED baseball. He played for one season, and never did hit the ball. It's different for Will, because he is MOTIVATED! Motivation is a great tool, and just because we may think that Will isn't the best player on the team doesn't mean that HE doesn't think baseball is wonderful. So for that reason alone, we are keeping it up. The guys on the team are really nice, and that feeling of being on a team is irreplaceable. It's worth it, even if we parents are really TIRED of activities!