Autism and Sensory Issues at the Beach

Well we had a family reunion involving going to the beach which we really don't do more than once a year.  I really should have anticipated some issues with Little Guy, but I didn't.  Sand was an issue the minute I took his shoes off.  He toughed it out for a bit but seemed visibly uncomfortable.  We got down to the water and once he got in the water, the sand moving a bit around his feet totally freaked him out.  I tried taking him out a little deeper but he just kept crying.  We took him back off the beach to get his sandals and it took him a while to calm down.  He did end up playing with the sand with a shovel for a bit with a lot of encouragement but got upset again after getting some on his hands.  I filled a bucket of water and showed him how to wash back off and that seemed to help.    He did finally at the very end go in the water with daddy to swim shoes and all (next year we are buying water shoes lol) at the very end, so he ended up having fun regardless of his difficulties.  Maybe we should go to the beach more often lol!  It's great therapy!