I've been reading some postings on the Internet from various sites regarding obsessions that aspies have. We've been dealing with this since Mason born. His first obsessions (before he could even talk) were lights and ceiling fans. As a baby he would point them out everywhere we went and that's all he cared about. As he got older his "light" obsession became more focused and for the last 4 years (he'll be 8 this Christmas) he obsesses over solar powered lights. To the point of wanting them for Christmas! Of course Santa obliged and there were solar lights under the tree for the last few years now. He gets so excited when he unwraps a present and find solar lights that he'll start jumping around screaming "solar lights!!!". It's really quite fun to see how happy he gets. The cool thing about this obsession is that he's become our family landscaper. He arranges the Christmas lights outside as well as the decorations and quite honestly he does a great job. He has such an eye for art and creativity and he can picture things in his head before he starts laying out the decorations.
Another obsession is air-fresheners. He's completely in love and collects air-fresheners of all kinds from car ones to house ones. His room is decorated with car air-fresheners. He knows every scent, he studies the pictures on them, the colors, and the shapes. We can be driving down the highway at 70 mph and he'll identify what kind of air-freshener the oncoming had. Needless to say, our house has them hanging everywhere and there are many different smells as you walk through the house and not all of them good. Keep in mind that not all air-fresheners smell good. Some of them smell like the hockey puck thingys they put in urinals. GROSS!!
For the last year now, he been obsessing over pencil grips. He probably has over 100 different grips and is expecting more for Christmas. He knows the shapes, sizes, and names. Yes! There are some grips with names like "The Crossover".
Well, I just wanted to share our daily obsession experiences and hopefully you will too by posting your experiences on this Blog for all to see and learn.
Ciao'
Kevin
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Friday, November 28, 2008
Happy Turkey Weekend!!
As you have mostly likely already figured out, I'm just rambling about daily happenings in our house and with our son Mason. He's such a funny kid with a great and very quick sense of humor. He's also a fantastic actor and it really is hard to tell when he's just messing around. I've read articles that have stated Aspies tend to become great actors from a lifetime of trying to act normal around other kids and adults. For example, they will turn their clumsiness in to a comedy scene etc. I see that happening with Mason. It's amazing on how different he can be in public as compared to the 'real' emotionally challenged kid we see at home when he lets his guard down.
I also find it amazing on how fast his brain works and how random his thoughts are. We were driving down the highway the other day and he rattled off 25 questions (I counted them) in 2 minutes. He asks questions so fast that it's hard to provide an answer because by the time I open my mouth, he's already on to the next question on a completely different subject. From a clinical standpoint, this is truly amazing to me and I love experiencing this. From a parent standpoint, (I won't sugar-coat it) it basically sucks. For example, his questions can be so fast and random that the only answer we can provide is "I don't know". For example, "dad, why is that guy wearing a blue shirt and he's driving a red truck?", "Dad, how come birds feathers are soft?", "Why do you have to wear a swimsuit when you're on a jetski?", "how long do you think our bird will live?", "can we have a cat?", "what is heaven like?", "how come ants live the ground?", "Can you teach me how to play Hotel California on guitar?"...................
These are just a few of the 25 questions that he rattled off. This happens throughout the day. Not constantly but it happens. I wish I could harness that energy and random intelligent thoughts and put it to better use but I haven't figured that out yet.
Have a great day!
("hey dad, can we eat now??")
LOL
I also find it amazing on how fast his brain works and how random his thoughts are. We were driving down the highway the other day and he rattled off 25 questions (I counted them) in 2 minutes. He asks questions so fast that it's hard to provide an answer because by the time I open my mouth, he's already on to the next question on a completely different subject. From a clinical standpoint, this is truly amazing to me and I love experiencing this. From a parent standpoint, (I won't sugar-coat it) it basically sucks. For example, his questions can be so fast and random that the only answer we can provide is "I don't know". For example, "dad, why is that guy wearing a blue shirt and he's driving a red truck?", "Dad, how come birds feathers are soft?", "Why do you have to wear a swimsuit when you're on a jetski?", "how long do you think our bird will live?", "can we have a cat?", "what is heaven like?", "how come ants live the ground?", "Can you teach me how to play Hotel California on guitar?"...................
These are just a few of the 25 questions that he rattled off. This happens throughout the day. Not constantly but it happens. I wish I could harness that energy and random intelligent thoughts and put it to better use but I haven't figured that out yet.
Have a great day!
("hey dad, can we eat now??")
LOL
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Medicate or Not Medicate
Well we're at the cross-roads of whether or not to medicate our son to help him with the ADHD which his Dr. feels may also help diminish the Asperger symptoms. We've tried to avoid medication this whole time but it may be time to give it a try. In speaking with a friend recently, she gave some advice to me that she received from her son's psychologist when confronted with the same situation. She said "you wouldn't deny your child of having to get eyeglasses if that's what they needed to function normally would you? Then why deny them a medication to help them?" I felt this was the most perfect analogy I have encountered up to this point.
Right now we've had his teacher fill out some Q&A forms as did my wife and I. We've handed these over to his pediatrician who will advise accordingly upon her review of the Q&A forms. I feel that we can at least try the meds to see if it has any impact. We can always stop. I know there are many skeptics out there who will plead their cases of changing my son's diet etc. The diet concept works great on paper, but in real life, (at least in our case) is not possible. Our son is too picky and he would most likely starve himself to death rather than eating certain foods.
I'll keep you updated on the outcome of the medication scenario.
Ciao'
Right now we've had his teacher fill out some Q&A forms as did my wife and I. We've handed these over to his pediatrician who will advise accordingly upon her review of the Q&A forms. I feel that we can at least try the meds to see if it has any impact. We can always stop. I know there are many skeptics out there who will plead their cases of changing my son's diet etc. The diet concept works great on paper, but in real life, (at least in our case) is not possible. Our son is too picky and he would most likely starve himself to death rather than eating certain foods.
I'll keep you updated on the outcome of the medication scenario.
Ciao'
Monday, November 17, 2008
Weekend with the kittens
My wife's friend found some kittens that appeared to to abandoned and she took them in
and nurtured them back to health and now she's looking for a home to place them in. I'm allergic to cats and our youngest son Caden is as well. Our oldest son Mason (the child with Aspergers) is not allergic and he LOVES cats so we thought we could babysit the kittens for the weekend so Mason could interact them. Well as it turns out we all fell in love with the kittens. Caden and I battled through the weekend with itchy eyes and sneezing but it was worth it. I've never seen the kids this excited before. It was worth it not just because of the entertainment the kittens provided but to also see the reactions from the kids.
Mason couldn't be away from the kittens for more than 5 minutes. Aspergers provides some interesting challenges and we're always looking for therapeutic vehicles to help him cope with life. It appears as though cats are one of those vehicles. He connected with those cats immediately and he went from going 100 mph (his normal speed) to 10 mph. He laid down with the cats and played with them, he snuggled them, he sat on the couch and had one of the kittens fall asleep on his lap..... He never sits without fidgeting or twitching or having to get up and run around. (it makes bedtime a nightly challenge) He sat quietly with that cat sleeping in his lap for almost 30 minutes. I had to chuckle because after 30 minutes I saw him walking down the hall to his room and I asked why he got up and he said "I just couldn't sit still anymore and the kitten wouldn't wake up."
Sunday came and it was time to bring the kittens back and we saw another element of the Aspergers kick in. High levels of uncontrollable emotional outbreaks. He did not want the kittens to leave and he cried, screamed, threw things around his room. This lasted for about 10 minutes which is actually fairly short for one of his outbreaks. I think one of the kittens walked in to his room during the outbreak and he stopped to pick it up. He laid down on his bed and snuggled with the kitten for the next half hour. It truly broke our hearts to give them back and my wife was crying because it was hard to Mason this upset. We honestly contemplated keeping the cats but in the end, our allergies won the battle. Mason said that he didn't want to be around when we brought the cats back so my wife took the kids to a movie while I did the deed.
We've babysat for a friends dog in the past and Mason has never really connected with dogs like he does with cats. There is obviously some type of energy or aura or something about the cats that he feeds off of. I truly wish we could get him a kitty. Our youngest was just diagnosed with asthma a few weeks which now means he has to live with nebulizer treatments twice a day so I'm not quite sure if having a kitty is good a idea right now unfortunately.
The moral of the Asperger story here is it appears as though animals (cats in our case) can provide a great therapeutic method to helps kids cope with life. In our case the response was immediate. The calming effect it had was unbelievable.
The other moral, is to get creative when dealing with issues. In our case, Mason was so upset that he didn't want to be around when we brought the kittens back. He agreed that it would be ok if he went to see a movie while I did the deed.
Coming up, I'll be talking about our most recent ordeal with the nebulizer treatments and how Mason is being effected.
Ciao'
Kevin
His demeanor changed 180 degrees.
and nurtured them back to health and now she's looking for a home to place them in. I'm allergic to cats and our youngest son Caden is as well. Our oldest son Mason (the child with Aspergers) is not allergic and he LOVES cats so we thought we could babysit the kittens for the weekend so Mason could interact them. Well as it turns out we all fell in love with the kittens. Caden and I battled through the weekend with itchy eyes and sneezing but it was worth it. I've never seen the kids this excited before. It was worth it not just because of the entertainment the kittens provided but to also see the reactions from the kids.
Mason couldn't be away from the kittens for more than 5 minutes. Aspergers provides some interesting challenges and we're always looking for therapeutic vehicles to help him cope with life. It appears as though cats are one of those vehicles. He connected with those cats immediately and he went from going 100 mph (his normal speed) to 10 mph. He laid down with the cats and played with them, he snuggled them, he sat on the couch and had one of the kittens fall asleep on his lap..... He never sits without fidgeting or twitching or having to get up and run around. (it makes bedtime a nightly challenge) He sat quietly with that cat sleeping in his lap for almost 30 minutes. I had to chuckle because after 30 minutes I saw him walking down the hall to his room and I asked why he got up and he said "I just couldn't sit still anymore and the kitten wouldn't wake up."
Sunday came and it was time to bring the kittens back and we saw another element of the Aspergers kick in. High levels of uncontrollable emotional outbreaks. He did not want the kittens to leave and he cried, screamed, threw things around his room. This lasted for about 10 minutes which is actually fairly short for one of his outbreaks. I think one of the kittens walked in to his room during the outbreak and he stopped to pick it up. He laid down on his bed and snuggled with the kitten for the next half hour. It truly broke our hearts to give them back and my wife was crying because it was hard to Mason this upset. We honestly contemplated keeping the cats but in the end, our allergies won the battle. Mason said that he didn't want to be around when we brought the cats back so my wife took the kids to a movie while I did the deed.
We've babysat for a friends dog in the past and Mason has never really connected with dogs like he does with cats. There is obviously some type of energy or aura or something about the cats that he feeds off of. I truly wish we could get him a kitty. Our youngest was just diagnosed with asthma a few weeks which now means he has to live with nebulizer treatments twice a day so I'm not quite sure if having a kitty is good a idea right now unfortunately.
The moral of the Asperger story here is it appears as though animals (cats in our case) can provide a great therapeutic method to helps kids cope with life. In our case the response was immediate. The calming effect it had was unbelievable.
The other moral, is to get creative when dealing with issues. In our case, Mason was so upset that he didn't want to be around when we brought the kittens back. He agreed that it would be ok if he went to see a movie while I did the deed.
Coming up, I'll be talking about our most recent ordeal with the nebulizer treatments and how Mason is being effected.
Ciao'
Kevin
His demeanor changed 180 degrees.
Random
As I post messages, there really isn't going to be any particular order to the postings. My thought is to share experiences as they occur in our world of Aspergers.
The Beginning
I'm starting this blog as a way to share my story of raising a son with a Aspergers in hopes that it will help others along the way. When my son was diagnosed 2 years ago, I immediately turned to the Internet for help and inspiration and I really didn't find much. I was really quite surprised as I'm sure thousands of families continue to be surprised when they turn for help there really isn't much out there.
I'm hoping to provide some form of comfort and support and experiences so I can provide information that we could only learn through actually living them and not reading about them. I know it sounds confusing but if you keep up with this blog, I think you'll understand what I mean (hopefully). :)
Kevin
I'm hoping to provide some form of comfort and support and experiences so I can provide information that we could only learn through actually living them and not reading about them. I know it sounds confusing but if you keep up with this blog, I think you'll understand what I mean (hopefully). :)
Kevin
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