To continue our holiday outings inspired by my Expanded Core Curriculum (ECC) articles in relation to the season, we made gingerbread houses. A favorite charity of mine, The ISAAC Foundation, was holding an event to raise money for families affected by autism, which includes us. Their generosity helps out Eddie immensely, and we wanted to participate to give a little back.
My sister was looking for a gift idea for the kids, and I asked her to purchase gingerbread houses for my daughters for this event. I knew theyād have a blast, and it would also be for charity. I had no hope that Eddie would find any joy in this outing. He doesnāt like to play āpretendā very often, and his candy intake is pretty limited. I never dreamed he would even attempt to put candy on a gingerbread house, which has little functional meaning to him.
Lucky for us, the kidsā Aunt Liz agreed to purchase the houses, and we had another holiday outing planned. I wasnāt even going to take Eddie, but since I’ve been writing a lot about including our children who are visually impaired in all aspects of the season, I took a risk, and brought him along. I still had no illusions that heād participate, and said it multiple times to other adults once we arrived at the venue.
In the picture Iāve included in this posting, Eddie obviously proved me wrong. As he sat at the table listening to music on his headphones (yes…I did bust out the anti-social device) he began to show a little interest in the activity at hand. So, with a little guidance, I helped him put a couple pieces on the house. Once he figured out the candy concept of āone for the house, one for meā he jumped right in and decorated Ā½ of a roof.
All I could think about was how amazing this was and so I kept talking about it. To anyone within ear shot I said, āCan you believe heās interested? Do you see what Eddie is doing?ā In my own amazement, I probably sounded a little obsessed, but I was truly shocked. Againā¦he surprised me…which isn’t too surprising.
Following the decorating, Santa arrived for some photos. Like all spontaneous events, we were just going to āwingā it. The girls were great, and Eddie had a hilarious multi-sensory event. He felt up and down Santaās costume, he rubbed his beard, he laid across his lap to reach his boots, and he laughed hysterically for over five minutes. This was certainly not appropriate social behavior, and not the social skills lesson Iād hoped with Santa, but it was still delightful.
I watched the whole room smile and laugh at his antics, including Santa, and his joy was so visible. This was yet another holiday success that touched on these aspects of the Expanded Core Curriculum: Orientation and mobility, Social Interaction, Recreation and Leisure, and Sensory Efficiency. What holiday outing will we tackle next?