Apple Picking with Autism

One of my favorite things to do in the fall is to go apple picking.  Every year, we go up to Ulster County, New York where my parents live to pick our apples.

Sunday was a beautiful day to spend at the farm

This past weekend we went to the Minard's Family Farms in Clintondale.  We went with my mom, my aunt, my 2 cousins and their kids.  Usually we wait until later in the season to go, but this was actually the perfect time to go.  We were able to pick gala, honeycrisp, fuji, and cortlands and the trees were loaded with apples!  When we usually go in October there aren't many apples left.

I love apple picking in the fall!

When we were getting ready to leave my parents' house, Nathan said he didn't want to go.  This is typical.  He never wants to do anything or go anywhere.  He whined a lot and said he didn't want to pick apples.  My mom offered to stay home with him.  I told her, "No that's okay, he will be fine once we get there."  I told Nathan he had to go and he got in the car.

A hayride is always fun!  It even put Nathan in a good mood
Left-right: me, Nathan, my mom, Neela, Jenny, Madden and Aunt Roe

Hayride picture time!
Left-right: Megan, Dhilan, Mason, Makenna, and Nikki

When we got to the farm, he was really angry.  When I tried to get him out of the car he screamed "NOOOOOO.. I am not picking apples!!!!" and punched me in the chest.  I let my husband, Jason, get him out.  He was able to lift him out of the car and carried him over to some picnic tables where the rest of our family was waiting.

Nathan hasn't seen my aunt, cousins and their kids in a while, it was very, very hot, very sunny and usually apple picking involves a lot walking.  I think this all had to do with his meltdown.  My mother told Nathan to come sit on her lap, which he did, crawling himself into the smallest ball he could so he couldn't see or hear anyone or anything.  Jason offered to sit in the car with him with the air conditioning on while everyone else picked apples.  I said no, that he would be okay.  I was hoping he would be okay, I wasn't feeling so sure anymore.  

Nathan loved the hayride, and it changed his whole mood

Drew and Jason enjoying a nice ride into the orchard

Then he saw the tractor and trailer for the hayride.  This interested him.  He said he wanted to ride on the tractor.  Jason walked Nathan over to the tractor so he could inspect it more closely.  Then it was time to load onto the trailer for a ride into the orchard to pick apples.  Nathan was a little confused, because he wanted to ride ON THE TRACTOR, not in the trailer part.  But he didn't fight us and got on.

Nathan loved picking apples, despite his earlier meltdown

Drew (AKA Indiana Jones) liked it too!

The hayride made its first stop by the gala and honeycrisp apples.  Nathan ran off the trailer and started picking.  As soon as he picked his first apple, he said, "I like apple picking now".  He and Drew picked a half a bushel of apples.  Another tractor came to get us, and we all hopped on and it brought us to another part of the orchard where we could pick Cortland and Fuji apples.  Everyone was a little tired and didn't have much room left in our bags, so each of the kids got one more apple.

Mckenna found a perfect one!

Check out this one Mason found!

Dhilan is double fisting, eating and picking at the same time!

He may be little, but Madden liked gnawing away on his apple!

We got back on the same trailer and rode back to the farm market.  If you don't want to pick your own, there are apples you can buy there.  By this point, Nathan was having so much fun, and in a silly mood.  He said he loved apple picking so much he wanted to jump into the apple crates!  Of course, Drew got a kick out this and wanted to jump in too (they didn't actually jump in, they just pretended)!  The farm market also had fresh corn (my mom bought some for dinner, it was delicious), baked goods (Jason bought 2 DOZEN apple cider donuts), apple cider and lemonade (we wiped them out of lemonade), and ice cream (each of the boys got an ice pop).

Nathan loved apple picking so much,
he wanted to jump into the crate of apples afterward,
Drew wanted to get in on the action too!

They also sell fresh roasted corn by the ear that you can eat there.  My cousins' kids got the corn and sat at a picnic table with Nathan and Drew while they ate their ice pops.  Nathan was so happy now, he was talking to my cousins' boys, Dhilan and Mason, about Spongebob Squarepants.

We wiped them out of lemonade, we left one bottle!

We had a great day.  It is much easier to let someone stay home or sit in the car with Nathan, but he usually does have fun once he gets over his meltdown.  He would miss out on so much of life if we just let him stay at home.  We are trying to expose him to as much as possible and push him out of his comfort zone, and this will lead to meltdowns, we just have to be prepared for it.  But it can be hard getting him to stop the meltdown, we need to find the thing that will interest him- like the tractor did.  On the way home, Nathan said, "I am so glad I went apple picking, it was fun."  I am also glad that he got to spend time with my family.  It was a great afternoon.

I had a great day!  Thank you, Neela, for inviting us!

I really liked Minard's Family Farm, it was perfect for Nathan, he gets so worn out when he has to walk a lot, and we can't really use his wheelchair/stroller on the uneven grass of an apple orchard. Having the hayride to pick us up and drop us off in the orchard was perfect!  We will definitely go back again!