” From this perspective, one can say that much of contemporary developmental psychology is the science of the strange behavior of children in strange situations with strange adults for the shortest possible periods of time. “
(Bronfenbrenner, Urie 1977)
“ …understanding human development requires more than directly observing the behavior of one or two people in the same place. It requires studying multi-person systems of interaction that are not confined to a single setting and must take into account aspects of the environment beyond the immediate situation in which the subject finds itself. ”
(Bronfenbrenner, Urie 1977)
The idea for “holidays for families with (autistic) children” arose from the realization that both autistic children and their parents suffer from high levels of stress.
Since development primarily occurs in a relaxed state, it made sense to offer an opportunity for the entire “family system” to relax.
At the “Golden Star” in Oberwarmensteinach/Fichtelgebirge (the solidarity hotel), I therefore offered holidays for families, especially those with autistic children, from 2017 to 2018.
In the 18 months of operation, we hosted over 300 families with more than 500 children (approximately 50 of whom were autistic).
This provided the opportunity to observe
many autistic children and adolescents across the entire spectrum
, as well as many children with disabilities
, for a week at a time (7 nights – always Sunday to Sunday)
in a relaxed environment
, together with their parents and siblings
, and to engage in social interaction with us and the other guests
– sometimes even during two stays –
while simultaneously advising the parents.
This time offered the opportunity to observe in amazement the often astonishing developmental processes of many children, not just autistic children, within a relaxed atmosphere and through the possibility of social interaction.
The relaxed atmosphere was mainly due to the fact that we only had families with children as guests, and therefore the tolerance towards the children’s quirks was very high. Furthermore, since everyone arrived on Sundays, there was no change in the guests during the week of their stay.
Many parents expressed their positive surprise at the progress their children had made in social, linguistic and motor skills within this one week of vacation.
Each week, we also offered families the opportunity to visit a nearby dog training school run by a breeder. Alongside our own dog, Krishna, this provided valuable experience regarding the positive effects of dogs on autistic children.
The two years spent building and running the Solidar Hotel left such a deep mark that I had to withdraw from the project for health reasons.
But the experiences of that time continue to have an impact today – not only confirming the underlying theory but also providing the foundation for significant expansions.
Unfortunately, my successors were not able to successfully continue the project. A pity.
