my child has obsessions, does yours ? | Autism PDD
Funny you say Thomas....I kept reading how so many of the kids are SO into that show...I ended up finding an actual STUDY done on the link between Autism & Thomas the Tank. Turns out it has something to do with the faces that draw them...they hold very exagerrated expressions/emotions for longer periods than other shows.
I think the same might be true for Blues Clues...granted mine won't watch that anymore...but it was an absolute obsession for a few years when he was little....and once I thought about it, it's kind of the same as Thomas...long pauses...exagerrated expressions.
~Lesley
I owe so much to that train.
LOL Suzi!!!!! I guess I owe the same thanks to Steve and that funky green shirt!Luke favors Elmo and puzzle pieces. He totes puzzle pieces all over the house, into the car ... and they're that toddler kind with the little red handle coming out the middle. QUITE painful to step on! Though I must say he's great at doing the puzzles, too!
my 5 yr old has ASD and he has certain obsessions that do come and go.at the moment he is very in to opening and closing doors and washing machines.
it used to be light switches and hoovers.
just wondered if any of you guys out there had children with any obsessions and how do you deal with them ?
my daughter went through the obsession with closing doors. it drove me crazy but i found it funny.
for a while now her obsession has been her care bears. thanks to family and friends, my child has about 50 different stuffed care bears. talk about care bear overload!! i like the care bears, they were a favorite of mine as a kid, so i dont mind having them around. but when she is given the option to take a care bear in the car with her or to bed, she cant take just one. she has to take them ALL! at one point it got so bad that i had to carry around all her bears for her in a gigantic laundry basket. or when we would spend the night at a friends house, i would have one overnight bag for me, one for her, and a seperate bag just for all her bears. it made for a complicated trip!
for the most part, i've put a strict limit on what she is allowed to do/take and then deal with the meltdowns, or just let her have her obsession. so far it hasnt been too serious.
Adam (3 autism) will sometimes open and shut doors but i consider that more of a stim than an obsession. His biggest obsession is spiderman. He wears a spiderman costume constantly and we can't get him out of it unless he is taking a bath or we go somewhere. Hence the spiderman costume gets washed while he is in the tub and we have to pray that it is done before he is..LOL I'm just thankful that if we leave the house he will get dressed in regular clothes. It could be worse.
Karrie
Thomas the tank engine. Need I say more?ok, guys, you have me cracking up right now! My boys have been through almost all of those, especially Jonah and his spiderman costume! Luckily we had 2 of them, since they both got one, and only Jonah wanted to wear it all the time. So while one was being washed, he could wear the other one!Have I told you guys about Patrick? It is a little rubber Patrick (from Spongebob) that his grandpa got out of a quarter vending machine. Well, Patrick has been with us for about 2 years now. He sleeps with Patrick, eats with patrick, EVRYTHING. He is so used ot doign everything with Patrick in his hand, and Patrick is so little that he can go to daycare all day with Patrick in his hand, and nobody even notices that he has him! It is like Patrick is a little extension of his hand. It is almost creepy.
Well, he has (the past 5-6 months?) started really orally stimming. (I think that is the appropriate way of saying it.) He always need something in his mouth. Well, he began putting PAtrick in his mouth. I do not let him do this, because who know what the paint is made out of, etc. But his father isn't so careful about it. So Patrick has lost almost all of his paint, and is this disgusting gray color. If you didn't know what he was before he lost all of his paint, you would think Jonah was just carrying around a little piece of rubber.
So 2 weeks ago patrick broke into 2 pieces. So he had a piece for each hand. Until last Wednesday, when he dropped the bottom half of Patrick in the parking lot at school. I SWEAR I searched every inch of that parking lot for what seemed like hours, with Jonah screaming "Patrick pants" the entire time with these big tears rolling down his face. After 3 hours of the screaming, I drove to the bank, got in quarters, and proceeded to put every last one of them into the quarter machine at meijer. OMG. It was so embarrassing. I stood there shaking the machine trying to get the Patrick to get down to where I could get it to the bottom so we could get it. People thought we were nuts. Jonah was standing there crying the whole time! Noah just kept pointing to the Patrick bubble in the machine saying "look Jonah, there's Patrick." and I kept saying "shhhhhhh noah!"
We didn't get Patrick, but we got quite a few Squidwards!
Anyway, he is over it now, but every once in a while, he'll say in this pitiful little whiney voice "Patrick's pants."
ok, long story, but yes, my boys definitely get obsessed with things!
Riley hangs on to "Toothy"...it's little stuffed T-Rex he got at a hospital stay about 3 years ago...goes EVERYWHERE with us...everyday for the last 3 years! Before that, it was a little orange rubber "Charizard" you know - those little annoying pokemon?!?! Same thing...when you said "extension of his hand" I cracked up....I have a million pictures of him...and that darn orange thing is in all of them!!! Same tragedy there, first he lost a wing, then one leg, then the other...finally Toothy took the lead. Thank god, Charizard was hideous by then.
Starlight...I'm so sorry we got off on this tangent...but obessed..yeah..we get that!
PS...Nikki...I just read your post to Riley's older brother, we're both cracking up right now...he remembers Charizard well....and the drama that ensued...
My ds is not yet dx'd. But he loves to close doors. He would open them too but he can't figure it out yet for some reason. And some of them have the child safety things on them so you can turn the knobs. BUt he likes to open and close cupboard doors too. It drives me nuts at times.
And oh yes the balls! Ds is still in that phase! We must have 100 diff balls of sorted colors and sizes all over the place! He was obsessed w/ Blues Clues too. He still loves it, but has also added a little more variety to what he will watch. He will watch mostly movies that are computer animated like Monters Inc and Shrek and The Incredibles. But Blues clues was the first thing he ever watched. We often wondered why he had no interest in the tv. He never even looked at it like it wasn't there. I tried many diff cartoons. One day Blues Clues was on and BAM! He was fixed! It is all he watched for a long time. The last 6 mths he has gotten into Dora hardcore now. He even repeats back some spanish words!
Amber
Oh Tammy I understand the cereal thing for a while that was all my son was living on. One day I counted 9 bowls he had eaten!!! His latest thing is those big "Beans" that are in the cereal boxes with the Disney characters on them . He has one in each hand. I guess they are also quite popular with the kids in his class (who are all on the spectrum) his teacher said in one week 3 kids brought them into school and wanted to hold them all day. They remind me of the weebles you can't lay them down.
Nita
Nikki this one is for you I read a book when my son was first dx'd it is called Overcoming Autism it is written by a doctor and a mother, so you get the perspective from both. Well it takes you through from the dx until he is like 12 I belive and all that they went through any how one of her son's obsessions was the Beatles! I thought it was very interesting that a child now days would be obsessed with the Beatles but that was before I really understood autism. Thought you might find the book interesting keep playing the Beatles for them.lol
Nita
Jodie was obsessed with Honda automobiles for about a year. Then it was Elvis. Now it's Superman.The nice people at our local honda dealer were so sweet to us. They took pictures of Jo in all their different cars for her to keep. They also provided us with posters, key chains, promotional books. Whenever she saw that H symbol she would just smile and giggle. It was a dangerous obsession. As I've said before in a previous post, she wanted to chase them down and give them a hug. YIKES!
The Elvis phase drove me crazy. I'm not a big fan. I saw a gazillion elvis movies and we have a more elvis CDs than I care to mention.
Now, the Superman phase makes me happy. I love the movies and cartoons and they don't annoy the pee out of me like elvis.
I think her first obsessions were Dora and Blues Clues. She would watch them over and over and over.
OMG- I hope my boys never discover Elvis! I keep playing the Beatles for them. They like it... but not an obsession. They'll end up loving country or something terrible like that!
They don't mind Ben Folds, so that's good.
And now Noah LOVES Darth Vader, although I don't know how because they weren't allowed to see the new movie. Finally I bought them the old ones. Anyway, Noah calls Darth Vader "Big Bad Fireman" in this deep scratchy voice he uses to talk about bad guys. He thinks darth vader is a fireman because of the helmet! Cracks me up!
I actually just had a good laugh reading these posts. Not even so much for what the children do but I am noticing that the parents here have quite a sense of humor about all this!
Right after My son and daughter in law had the second baby my grandson didnt really seem to give a hooot one way or another. A few months into it just all starting one day he would start to have meltdowns if anyone held the baby. We thought it was actually cute but he was very distressed. His other grandmother was the first to be in the fireing range. When she picked up the baby one day he started carrying on something fierced yelling BE CAREFUL BE CAREFUL THE BABY THE BABY!!!! (and this went on until the baby was handed back over to their mom) Two days later I picked up the baby while in the kitchen and he did the same thing but drug in her little baby seat and insisted I put her in it all the time almost in tears repeating Be careful!
At the same time if they would leave the baby with one of us and get ready to leave he totally melted down yelling NO THE BABY! He cried and carried on until they would take the baby with. This went on for a few months then stopped as quick as it started.
He also is a Thomas fan and has everything Thomas but also all other trains as well. Geo Trax is an obsession as well. He will play with them for hours on end. He made me take pictures of him holding every single Geo Trax train he had one at a time with my digital camera since he loves seeing the picture right away. He counts the trains, sorts the trains, lines the trains up, every picture he paints has to have a railroad crossing, etc. But you know really I wonder if the Thomas thing really is an "autism" thing because I know many many perfectly "normal" little boys that seem equally obsessed with the trains.
Anne
OH I forgot the obsession with the number eight (8)... at the store he HAS to be in checkout number 8.. he will settle for 9 since he can still SEE the 8 but I was at walmart with my daughter in law with Tom and she said "oh no.. checkouts 8 and 9 are both closed". I was thinking yeah so what is the problem the other ones are open until she wheeled the cart toward the line and he started yelling to go in number 8! He carried on and cried the whole time about number 8 until we were out of the store.
Anne
Grant has an obsession about lights and balloons. He will go nuts if a light is broken or not working. Last year at preschool a light burnt out in the bathroom when he was in there and he was terrified of going into the bathroom at school the rest of the year. He loves to turn lights on. (needles to say our electricity bill is sky high) . Grant also is into baloons, it does not matter too much which kind. We cannot go anywhere without him throwing a fit because he wants a balloon. They are everywhere and when we go by anyplace that has baloons he will say over and over (gala ga, gala ga) that is his work for balloons. I always have a pack of balloons that I keep at home so that he can always have one blown up at home. He even sleeps with his balloons. He will tuck them in beside him.Gabe has what I call daily obsessions or the toy or object of the day. At night he has to have that particular toy or he will refuse to go to sleep. So of course he dumps all the toys out looking for it. Which irritates Mr. Neat, Jeffrey!!!! And of course the toy is in his bed. And then somedays it is the same food all day. Like cereal or toast. Thank God he got over the hotdog thing.
Tammy
its soooo nice to know that i am not on my own with obsessions and just to say that my son LOVES thomas the tank engine too !!!!
Nita- I actually have (and read) that book. Maybe that's where I
subconsciously got the idea? I think it's just that of all music, the
Beatles are the ONE that I could hear constantly, and not get totally
sick of. I am not crazy about them, but i don't think I would get sick
of them. If they have to get obsessed with things, I at least like when
it is something I like! Although i have to say this: There needs to be some sort of special program for our kids with movies. My boys see movies in the theatre or Drive-in and they do NOT understand why we can't just go to Walmart the next day and buy them. I am going crazy with Noah begging me to buy the "Loompa Movie!" I keep explaining to him that it won't be out in stores for a while, but he doesn't understand... Come on Movie executives, give us moms a break!
Well Jeffrey has a problem with watching the previews on HBO. If he sees a preview he thinks he saw the movie. So he tells everyone that he saw Madagascar. No, he saw the preview, not the movie. I think I would remember taking them to the movies. And their pca or the school didn't take him either. Now he will attempt to order movies thru pay per view. Thank God I have that blocked, where you have to call in and verify that yes you do want to watch the movie on pay per view.
Tammy
My son has shut the bathroom and his bedroom door for so long now that I thought he was only doing this everday @ 4PM until I read this. He Loves trains but his absolute attachment is KEYS anyone and everyones keys you can't enter our home without him saying "KEYS PLEASE". We have given him old spare keys and it doesn't work. He knows what every key on everyone's key ring is for. We can't trick him. And yes we have lost a few sets of keys. Autistic kids are the most interesting kids to have around. I spent days just watching how my son does things, it surely isn't the way I would do it but he gets the job done.
Jeffrey went thru that stage. And just any ole keys would not do. Oh no, he had to have my keys
Tammy Wow never knew that about enya. I love that music. Perhaps I should look into it and see if ds likes it. I know there are certain commerical jingles that will stop him and I can't break him out of the spell until it's over. Amber Hi, My son was just diagnosed at 2 and I swear, it sounds like you are peeking in my windows. It's so bad, he walks around with the stepping stool so that he can reach the light switch. On, off, on, off.... all day or open, close, open, close....it's non stop. What is with the repetitive behavior anyway? We are so new to this it's really overwhelming. I think my husband posted something on here earlier. Riley has been obsessed with opening and closing doors and cabinet draws for a long time now. Even his PT put loos on her cabinet to keep them closed. He does not care about what is in the cabinet. He is also in to the vaccum and really anthing machanial. The light switch just became a new one for him. Aiden also loves the balloons. He always has to have one when we go to Chuck E Cheeses or he tries to steal other kids' balloons and screams if we pull him away. So we just always buy him his own when we go in there. Ds has never seen Thomas. I should try it sometime and see if he likes it. Then maybe I can get him to expand his watching more so I don't have to KILL Dora! And yes those "Beans!" Both my kids love them. I keep buying Fruit Loops to get them. This has been a fun post. Amber I know this will put some to sleep...but I heard Enya is Autistic, and her music reflects predictability in that all her songs are 4-counts...true...I listened for it. My son personally is a fan of classical...loves Disney's Fantasia & Fantasia II...and now there's a United Airlines commercial (their theme song is called "Captains of Industry" or something like that I think) that stops him cold everytime he hears it.
Can you say "number 9"? That is so funny-because my husband obsesses on the Beatles and my daughter perseverates on the Yellow Submarine Movie! Both my kids like it and even I don't mind it!i should try the Beatles with my daughter. she's a big music fan, but i
dont think she's ever heard any of their songs. sounds interesting!
the only music she hasnt liked is anything by Christina Aguilera. when
she was real young, any time a Christina Aguilera song came on the
radio (ANY song) she would scream her head off and cry like somebody
was beating her until i changed the radio station. it made me happy
because i was never a Christina fan.
another thing my daughter has been obsessed with is the song Old
MacDonald. this has been going on for a year now. she'll sing it all
the time... but if somebody tries to sing it with her, she freaks out.
they sang it for a while in school last year, but when they tried a new
song, she got really upset. her poor teacher had to sing it to their
class far longer than she cares to admit! lol
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