Holidays and weekends are generally more relaxed times spent with family and friends. Many teenagers are involved with clubs and sporting teams within the local community and some of your time may be committed to this. You may also be involved in specific sporting events and clubs that are for teenagers of differing abilities. As a teen with an ID there are many groups that organise camps and activities that can offer you experiences during your leisure time. Many schools have information about these and they are often an extension of your school program. You are also part of a family so your interests need to be managed along with those of other family members.
Your leisure time may also need to work around a part time job if you have one. This is a great opportunity for you to learn new skills, meet people and possibly find a future pathway to employment when you leave school. Regardless of whether you have a part time job or not, take the time to think about what you need to do to organise your day.
One of the first things you need to do is talk with your family and see what they have planned for the weekends and holidays. You can then discuss with them how your plans and responsibilities can fit in with these.
Weekends and holidays are less structured than your week at school. For some of you, you might enjoy this but for others you might still want to put some structure in place to help you to manage all of the things you want and need to do. Remember if you have an Autism Spectrum Disorder(ASD) you might want to structure all of your activities planned for these times. If you think you will have difficulty focusing on your commitments and you have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder(ADHD) you may also need strategies to manage this and keep you calm and focused on the tasks.
If your family is planning a holiday away and you have a part time job, then you will need to let your boss at work know by either talking with them or by phone. In the same way you also need to let your sporting and other clubs know as well.
Sometimes we get bored on holidays and weekends because we haven’t yet found something keeps us busy and something we are interested in. Talk with your family and friends and see what they do. They may be able to help you to think about some new activities that you might like to try. The teenage years are when you try lots of new things and we find things that interest us so make sure you have fun!