oh LINDA, GOD BLESS YOU!! and yes being caught off guard you did good when u answered his question..maybe as he gets older he will understand a little better..but for now its the best answer to give a 9yr old..best of luck to u..
She's also very disrespectful (mostly to ME) and she's very vulgar & violent when made angry...it's like walking on eggshells constantly.
THAT's the main reason that she's living on her own. She barely makes it month to month & wouldn't make it at all without help from us, but we CAN'T have her live here...it's just wayyyyyy too stressful!
But thanx again, I feel better knowing that "I did good" answering his question the best I could.
~Take care!~
Hello all
I have a question for ya......
My 9 y/o HFA Son is starting notice how "weird" his 24 y/o Sister acts. She's mentally ill...Schizpohrenia, Bi Polar, PTSD,manic depressed just to name a few of her diagnosis. She laughs to herself, talks sometimes to herself, she gets mad or sad at the slightest things, she makes "weird" faces.
My Son asked me what's wrong with her, I told him that she's sick, he asked can't she go to the doctor, well I didn't go into the fact that she won't take her meds so that's why she's so bad off, but I did tell him that the doctors are TRYING to help her, but she has to WANT help. Of course, he didn't understand that. I also told him that she is just different, & marches to the beat of a different drum. Some people seem "different" but in HER case, it's her sickness that makes her that way.
Sooo the question is...did I handle that right?? I was really caught off guard, trying to make sense to my 9 y/o something that doesn't make sense alot of the time to ME.
Hubby said that maybe I shouldn't have told him that she "marches to the beat of a different drum", but other than that, he thought I handle the spur of the moment question pretty well.
Just thought I'd get some more opinions...........................be nice
Thanx!
to be honest i would have probaly said the same sort of thing to my son (10) so im sure it will be fine
I'm very surprised that you HFA son understands " she marches to the beat of a different drum." I wouldn't think that that would be a concept he'd understand. I think it's great that he recognizes that she's different.
This is an issue that we're slowly trying to help our "normal" younger son. He realizes that Andy is different, but he's not understanding how and why. Even our older son has trouble dealing with Andy's autism, and he's 17.
Try to answer your son's questions calmly, directly, and with as few abstracts as possible.
Kim
I think you did a great job of trying to explain things, especially off the top ofyour head. most people would have thought long and hard to come up with that response and unfortunately, many people refuse to discuss mental illness with anyone, never mind a child. Great JobLinda,
I think it was a very good answer, especially since he did seem to grasp it.
I have a bipolar mother, she also refuses meds. (SHE'S FINE) She does quite well most of the time. Then she gets paranoid or weeps and has depressions. Or the manias. (Screams at the TV). My older son DJ 13 understands this. My son Jared just turned 10 believes Mom and gets angry when I explain it's the illness. He is very close to her. My HFA 4 1/2 yr. old son hasn't noticed yet, I will probably explain simular to yours. I hope he will understand. I would just be PREPARED he will probably mention it to her.He'll maybe ask her why the docters can't make her better? Try to figure your next set of answers. There are so many questions that don't make sense even to the adults.
Walking on eggshells. That somes it up! Nelle Linda,.... I think you did a good job tryin gto explain things to him... Does he know he has an ASD? maybe you could try to talk with him more and explain how it similar to the ASD he has as in the thoughts are different. Its always tough when our kids catch us off guard. Good Job handling the heat
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