Basement
When I was growing up, the basement was the dreaded, creepy, damp, dark cave under our house. I was terrified of the basement. We even had one of those old, unused-for-decades bathrooms down there, which horrified me!
But these days, people often finish part, or all, of their basement and it is just like any other room of the house. We finished about half of our basement and used it as a combination playroom/workout room. We made the decision to do this when we approached our public school about having Mikey spend one more year in preschool before starting kindergarten. We knew he would need this extra time and the programming he was receiving through the school was very good.
They denied us the extra year in the public preschool. Dave and I decided that we needed to pull him out of the public school for a year. We signed him up for a private preschool and we contracted with an ABA agency to provide his direct instruction and accompany him to school. We finished the basement so that they would have a ‘classroom’ to use at home, away from the dogs and the chaos of the rest of the family.
Just A Playroom
But, after that year, Mikey went to kindergarten at our local public school and our basement was mostly just a play area, except for occasional therapist visits to work on various skills.
Our playroom had equipment to expend physical energy on bad weather days, like a trampoline, a treadmill and a walker. ‘The basement’ also had toys for imaginary play and dress up (Mikey barely ever used these). Like any playroom, we had tons of stimmy toys and activities, Thomas trains, puzzles, board games, Legos and space to ram around (as we call it).
Nowadays, many families add sensory tools to their playrooms, or they create a separate space for downtime and peacefulness. We didn’t really have any of those tools, but they are great options and if you want some that have been pre-approved and tested by occupational therapists and physical therapists, look on www.funandfunction.com
They have lots of great holiday gifts too…that will come in handy for teaching self-regulation in the new year.
*I’m not a paid spokesperson for Fun and Function or any other company…just sharing to be helpful.
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About the Author
Erica Mauro is a mom to two teenage boys, Will who is neurotypical and Michael with Autism and cognitive delays. She holds a BA in Psychology from Colgate University and a Masters of Psychology in Education from Columbia Teacher’s College. Before staying home with her children, she worked as an elementary school teacher. For five years, she served on the Board of Directors of the Molly Ann Tango Memorial Foundation, a charity dedicated to enriching the lives of children with special needs. In partnership with her husband Dave, she aspires to parent by using daily life as an opportunity for therapeutic intervention, seizing on real experiences as opportunities to build skills and strategies for Michael in a joyful, loving home environment. On the tougher early days, she just tried to get everyone safely to bedtime and start fresh in the morning. *wink* 
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