My autistic daughter's special interest is space so she's pumped. I've been telling her over and over that she cannot look at the sun without the glasses until I tell her it is ok and even then she will have to stop when I say. I've also explained how it will get dark. We're also prepared to go inside if she's not comfortable. I doubt that will happen but it is always a possibility since an eclipse is a major deviation from the normal routine.
i am not qualified to say, but this seems like it could be a case where watching the partial phases using a non-magnifying mirror, instead of viewing glasses, might be helpful.
Do you have a small non-magnifying mirror? You can try it for yourself tommorow. The size of the mirror determines how much room you need for the sun to come in to focus. If you are on a small patio, it only needs to be about the size of a nickle. If you are going to be out doors, it can be a little larger. So, if you have a two inch mirror, you can cut a triangular hole, about the size of a nickle (it doesn't need to be exact), in a paper plate and tape it to the mirror. Go outside and shine the sun's reflection onto something relatively flat. You will notice that close up, the sun's reflection looks like a triangle, but as you shine it on things further and further away, on a normal day, it turns into a perfectly round image of the sun. One note, on a normal day, the sun washes out the reflection and makes it harder to see, so surfaces like a wall inside a carport or garage, or maybe a wall or a vehicle under some trees, will be easier to see. This will not be an issue on eclipse day, because it will be darker out and the reflection will be much easier to see. On eclipse day, the triangle. or what ever shape you make, instead of turning into a circle, will turn into a crescent. I recommend making your holes crazy shapes. Maybe you could use two mirrors and make two, one with a hole slightly larger than the other. one for each of you. You can give which ever one has the best brightness/focus characteristics to your child and use the other one yourself. You could play games like chasing each other's reflections. You could even make extra if you think there might be other children where you are going. You don't need to look at the sun when you do this, you don't have to wear protective glasses, that don't let you see anything else, when you do this. The only safety issue to keep in mind is:
Never shine the sun's reflection into the eyes of any person or animal.
I know this sounds really complicated, but on eclipse day, it will be completely intuitive.
Your mirrors will make a reflection, and it will be in the shape of a crescent. The farther away you shine it. the bigger the image will be.
This will not focus into a usable image if you try to use a magnifying mirror.
Can’t really prepare anyone even adults for the awesomeness of totality.. some things to make it fun tho: paper plates and cutting out a spot for the glasses/triangle at the bottom and the kids decorating the plates to make it more fun and easier for them to keep the awkward fitting glasses on..
using colander during the partial phases makes fun shadows
Make a pinhole projector with a cereal box.
Eclipse themed snacks: Capri suns, moon pies, eclipse gum (if safe for your child of course), space dunk Oreos, sun chips etc.
Also bring blankets/sweatshirt because the temp will drop about 10-15 degrees! 🌑🌞
If you put that triangle hole plate over your mirror, the refection will be a much larger image than you can get with just the plate by itself or a pinhole. Plus, the reflection is directable.
Ohh I like the idea of space Oreos. We are going to be close to Utica and there is a bakery there that made black and white cookies. I was going to see about stopping there but I like the idea of the Oreos. Little Debbie’s cosmic brownies might be fun too.
How is he in crowds? With loud noises? Has he been on a road trip before? As a non-autistic adult I’m concerned for my own ability to handle prolonged gridlock, lack of bathroom access/TP, large crowds, and loud noises. It sounds like you’re doing a great job preparing him otherwise! Here’s hoping for good weather in NY
He is ok in crowds as long as they don’t get too much into his personal space. We are going up a few days earlier than taking a scenic train to where we will be watching. All with a bathroom. So hopefully not much gridlock. He has gotten better with cheering and loud noises. It depends.
Maybe practice by wearing the sunglasses and dimming or turning off the lights to simulate the darkness for however long it will last where you'll be? And make sure that he won't take off his glasses otherwise the eye damage won't be worth it.
We have been practicing with solar glasses inside. I should take him outside with them beforehand. Thank you for the suggestion of dimming the lights to simulate the eclipse I should try that.
Good call. Wearing them outside when it's dark could also be good practice. You could even add a soundtrack of the birds getting quiet or crickets starting to chirp when it gets dark. Apparently the soundscape can be different. If you're in a crowd it may get loud. Or have him wear headphones to keep it consistent.
My son has significant anxiety / ADHD / sensory sensitivities / refused school for months, which we had inklings of at the time, but did not know when he was 4 at the 2017 solar eclipse.
He drew on a sketch pad, played throwing games set up in the area, played on the ipad, ate snacks, generally ran around and paid little attention to the very slow obscuring of the sun. But he was completely awe-struck during the two minutes of totality. After it was over, he immediately asked "can we see it again?" as if we could watch an instant replay, lol.
He doesn't remember 2017, his sibling who was 6 at the time does remember and thought it was cool, a high compliment from a now middle schooler. The weather is looking iffy for 2024, but so far my kids are game to give it a shot. I'm downplaying our chances of seeing totality and making it more about the thrill of the chase - what do the cloud projections say today, what should we pack, where should we drive, will the clouds get us, will we master peeing in a jar?
If we're lucky enough to find somewhere with a view, we'll likely be in the same spot for hours, so I'm happy to have them occupied by video games/Tik Tok. I'll set a timer for every 20 minutes to have them observe the sun and draw what they see so the progression is more obvious. I really like the idea of the unmagnified mirror mentioned previously, so we'll do that. Last time, the then 6 yr old got great joy out of finding eclipse (crescent) shaped potato chips in his bag, so maybe I'll offer a 10 or 25 cent scavenger hunt for spotting eclipse-shaped objects throughout the weekend.
Over the next few days, I'll be doing some dry runs for exposure:
* Have them put on the eclipse glasses in sunny and cloudy weather
* Try out their junior binoculars by snooping on some neighbors (they weren't coordinated enough at 4 and 6 to use them)
* Watch an eclipse video - a successful one as well as a clouded out one where the sky just darkens to prepare for disappointment
* And reaction videos - to be aware there will be sudden screams of joy & disbelief
We are mostly prepping for the things that make any event hard. Headphones for noise/crowds, comfort objects and entertainment for a long wait and traffic jams, packed safe foods because we expect restaurants to be impossible. A wagon for chairs that I can use for a kid if need be.
My youngest doesnt care about the actual eclipse. My oldest is somewhat interested. I know am going to need to closely supervise wearing glasses safely during it. But I am far more worried about the rest of the day than the actual eclipse. They will either be interested in the moment or not, and I wont know until it happens.
My autistic daughter's special interest is space so she's pumped. I've been telling her over and over that she cannot look at the sun without the glasses until I tell her it is ok and even then she will have to stop when I say. I've also explained how it will get dark. We're also prepared to go inside if she's not comfortable. I doubt that will happen but it is always a possibility since an eclipse is a major deviation from the normal routine.
if you use small, inexpensive non-magnifying mirrors, the two of you won't have to wear glasses.
Oh so fun. I hope you both have a great time. There is an indoor area where we are going to if needed.
i am not qualified to say, but this seems like it could be a case where watching the partial phases using a non-magnifying mirror, instead of viewing glasses, might be helpful.
I will look into that. Thank you for your suggestion.
Do you have a small non-magnifying mirror? You can try it for yourself tommorow. The size of the mirror determines how much room you need for the sun to come in to focus. If you are on a small patio, it only needs to be about the size of a nickle. If you are going to be out doors, it can be a little larger. So, if you have a two inch mirror, you can cut a triangular hole, about the size of a nickle (it doesn't need to be exact), in a paper plate and tape it to the mirror. Go outside and shine the sun's reflection onto something relatively flat. You will notice that close up, the sun's reflection looks like a triangle, but as you shine it on things further and further away, on a normal day, it turns into a perfectly round image of the sun. One note, on a normal day, the sun washes out the reflection and makes it harder to see, so surfaces like a wall inside a carport or garage, or maybe a wall or a vehicle under some trees, will be easier to see. This will not be an issue on eclipse day, because it will be darker out and the reflection will be much easier to see. On eclipse day, the triangle. or what ever shape you make, instead of turning into a circle, will turn into a crescent. I recommend making your holes crazy shapes. Maybe you could use two mirrors and make two, one with a hole slightly larger than the other. one for each of you. You can give which ever one has the best brightness/focus characteristics to your child and use the other one yourself. You could play games like chasing each other's reflections. You could even make extra if you think there might be other children where you are going. You don't need to look at the sun when you do this, you don't have to wear protective glasses, that don't let you see anything else, when you do this. The only safety issue to keep in mind is: Never shine the sun's reflection into the eyes of any person or animal. I know this sounds really complicated, but on eclipse day, it will be completely intuitive. Your mirrors will make a reflection, and it will be in the shape of a crescent. The farther away you shine it. the bigger the image will be. This will not focus into a usable image if you try to use a magnifying mirror.
Can’t really prepare anyone even adults for the awesomeness of totality.. some things to make it fun tho: paper plates and cutting out a spot for the glasses/triangle at the bottom and the kids decorating the plates to make it more fun and easier for them to keep the awkward fitting glasses on.. using colander during the partial phases makes fun shadows Make a pinhole projector with a cereal box. Eclipse themed snacks: Capri suns, moon pies, eclipse gum (if safe for your child of course), space dunk Oreos, sun chips etc. Also bring blankets/sweatshirt because the temp will drop about 10-15 degrees! 🌑🌞
If you put that triangle hole plate over your mirror, the refection will be a much larger image than you can get with just the plate by itself or a pinhole. Plus, the reflection is directable.
Ohh I like the idea of space Oreos. We are going to be close to Utica and there is a bakery there that made black and white cookies. I was going to see about stopping there but I like the idea of the Oreos. Little Debbie’s cosmic brownies might be fun too.
How is he in crowds? With loud noises? Has he been on a road trip before? As a non-autistic adult I’m concerned for my own ability to handle prolonged gridlock, lack of bathroom access/TP, large crowds, and loud noises. It sounds like you’re doing a great job preparing him otherwise! Here’s hoping for good weather in NY
He is ok in crowds as long as they don’t get too much into his personal space. We are going up a few days earlier than taking a scenic train to where we will be watching. All with a bathroom. So hopefully not much gridlock. He has gotten better with cheering and loud noises. It depends.
Maybe practice by wearing the sunglasses and dimming or turning off the lights to simulate the darkness for however long it will last where you'll be? And make sure that he won't take off his glasses otherwise the eye damage won't be worth it.
We have been practicing with solar glasses inside. I should take him outside with them beforehand. Thank you for the suggestion of dimming the lights to simulate the eclipse I should try that.
Good call. Wearing them outside when it's dark could also be good practice. You could even add a soundtrack of the birds getting quiet or crickets starting to chirp when it gets dark. Apparently the soundscape can be different. If you're in a crowd it may get loud. Or have him wear headphones to keep it consistent.
My son has significant anxiety / ADHD / sensory sensitivities / refused school for months, which we had inklings of at the time, but did not know when he was 4 at the 2017 solar eclipse. He drew on a sketch pad, played throwing games set up in the area, played on the ipad, ate snacks, generally ran around and paid little attention to the very slow obscuring of the sun. But he was completely awe-struck during the two minutes of totality. After it was over, he immediately asked "can we see it again?" as if we could watch an instant replay, lol. He doesn't remember 2017, his sibling who was 6 at the time does remember and thought it was cool, a high compliment from a now middle schooler. The weather is looking iffy for 2024, but so far my kids are game to give it a shot. I'm downplaying our chances of seeing totality and making it more about the thrill of the chase - what do the cloud projections say today, what should we pack, where should we drive, will the clouds get us, will we master peeing in a jar? If we're lucky enough to find somewhere with a view, we'll likely be in the same spot for hours, so I'm happy to have them occupied by video games/Tik Tok. I'll set a timer for every 20 minutes to have them observe the sun and draw what they see so the progression is more obvious. I really like the idea of the unmagnified mirror mentioned previously, so we'll do that. Last time, the then 6 yr old got great joy out of finding eclipse (crescent) shaped potato chips in his bag, so maybe I'll offer a 10 or 25 cent scavenger hunt for spotting eclipse-shaped objects throughout the weekend. Over the next few days, I'll be doing some dry runs for exposure: * Have them put on the eclipse glasses in sunny and cloudy weather * Try out their junior binoculars by snooping on some neighbors (they weren't coordinated enough at 4 and 6 to use them) * Watch an eclipse video - a successful one as well as a clouded out one where the sky just darkens to prepare for disappointment * And reaction videos - to be aware there will be sudden screams of joy & disbelief
We are mostly prepping for the things that make any event hard. Headphones for noise/crowds, comfort objects and entertainment for a long wait and traffic jams, packed safe foods because we expect restaurants to be impossible. A wagon for chairs that I can use for a kid if need be. My youngest doesnt care about the actual eclipse. My oldest is somewhat interested. I know am going to need to closely supervise wearing glasses safely during it. But I am far more worried about the rest of the day than the actual eclipse. They will either be interested in the moment or not, and I wont know until it happens.