• Welcome to Autism Forums, a friendly forum to discuss Aspergers Syndrome, Autism, High Functioning Autism and related conditions.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Our modern chat room. No add-ons or extensions required, just login and start chatting!
    • Private Member only forums for more serious discussions that you may wish to not have guests or search engines access to.
    • Your very own blog. Write about anything you like on your own individual blog.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon! Please also check us out @ https://www.twitter.com/aspiescentral

Sweet 16

C

chels0722

New Member
Hello everyone!
I am a mom of a soon to be 16 year old girl who has autism. We are going to have a sweet 16 party for her. She wants a DJ and we are having her show up in a limo. As of now that's all I have. There will be other kids at the party that will have autism along with some other kids who have different super powers. I guess what I am trying to get at is. IDEAS IDEAS!! Any suggestions on things that we can do or any advice. They would both be greatly appreciated.
Thank you!
 
Wow! Quite a celebration.

Is your daughter pretty tolerant for sensory stimulation? I’m thinking maybe the DJ could be a bit loud if it never stops. Maybe a bit of quiet time built-in? Or maybe making sure the DJ is not too loud? I don’t think that’s the kind of advice you were looking for, but that just struck me right away.

OK, ideas ideas…

Could you say a little more about some of her interests? Stars and the universe? Animals? Bling bling? Travel? Any preferences she has could be incorporated into a theme for the party.

Is your daughter involved in the planning? What are her ideas?
 
Rodafina said:
Wow! Quite a celebration.

Is your daughter pretty tolerant for sensory stimulation? I’m thinking maybe the DJ could be a bit loud if it never stops. Maybe a bit of quiet time built-in? Or maybe making sure the DJ is not too loud? I don’t think that’s the kind of advice you were looking for, but that just struck me right away.

OK, ideas ideas…

Could you say a little more about some of her interests? Stars and the universe? Animals? Bling bling? Travel? Any preferences she has could be incorporated into a theme for the party.

Is your daughter involved in the planning? What are her ideas?
Click to expand...
I was a little surprised she wanted the DJ myself. Luckily, our neighbors who also happen to be good friends of ours. Her husband just started taking up DJ gigs for a side job. So that will be a big help with keeping the music lower, and breaks since he has an understanding. She loves to sing, she is starting ballet this fall, she loves books, going to the movies, and loves art! I just wanted to have something more than just a DJ for the kids. I thought about renting a snow cone machine, and my mom has a cotton candy machine. I was maybe thinking of having a couple different sections. Like maybe one section art, another something else, and so on. But not sure of what would be good for kids with autism and other super powers.
 
Rodafina said:
Wow! Quite a celebration.

Is your daughter pretty tolerant for sensory stimulation? I’m thinking maybe the DJ could be a bit loud if it never stops. Maybe a bit of quiet time built-in? Or maybe making sure the DJ is not too loud? I don’t think that’s the kind of advice you were looking for, but that just struck me right away.

OK, ideas ideas…

Could you say a little more about some of her interests? Stars and the universe? Animals? Bling bling? Travel? Any preferences she has could be incorporated into a theme for the party.

Is your daughter involved in the planning? What are her ideas?
Click to expand...
I have been trying to get her input on what she wants. But I don't usually get much, besides she wants pink and she wants to go shop for a party dress. I usually give her some ideas and allow her to pick out of them. Especially when she just tells me "I don't know"
 
Do you think the kids might enjoy a photo booth? We did one for a birthday party for my sister… Provided a few funny props/costumes and people could dress up and take a photo. It does require something that can print photos right away for ultimate fun, though.

Another idea is to have the food be a bit interactive… Like instead of a cake, maybe serve cupcakes with plain frosting and then provide a bar of candy and sweet toppings so that each kid could design their own cupcake.

This is such a fun topic… I’ll keep thinking and hopefully you get lots of input from others too!
 
Tbh a Limo for a b-day party seems a waste of money to me. Something my daughter did once was rent out a movie theatre for a showing for just her friends but you are limited to what is showing at the time. Added benefit is there is your popcorn, etc. I've also seen group meals at fancy Japanese restaurant where they cook in front of you.
 
An art station sounds pretty fun. Maybe order T-shirts and fabric markers or fabric puffy paint for kids to decorate their own T-shirt? If that’s way too expensive, maybe you could get some white bandannas for the same activity.

Or, alternatively a big sheet or a huge piece of paper for a collective art project. The supplies are out and people can add to it as the party goes on. I remember a couple of activities like this when I was young, and as someone who was overwhelmed by parties, it was always nice to have a go to spot where I could participate, but in a quiet comfortable way.
 
Just for some clarification: Is she 16 going on 20, or is she 16 going on 12? Is she integrated into normal teenage social life?

The reason I ask is that, as a parent, your cognitive bias is to see a child. Does she see herself as a child, or a young adult? This might flavor some of your decisions for party ideas. You don't want to insult her with "a child's party" if she perceives herself in another way.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

New Threads

Top Bottom