Independence? | Autism PDD
My 5 yr old daughter has PDD-NOS. She's less independent-minded than your daughter seems to be but in therapy they were working on turn-taking with her, making it into a game, saying, "My turn!" "Your turn!" for whatever activity they were doing, and that seemed to help her understand the idea of give and take. Maybe you could try to encourage the idea of turn taking. It worked for my daughter, but every child is an individual. Good luck!I think this is a boy-girl thing rather than having anything to do with
autism. My son and daughter are just like yours, Renee. My son walks
around like he is Lord of the Manor, expecting me to wait on him, and my
NT daughter is ultra independent, trying to do everything herself to the
point of frustration (Mine as well as hers! 
) That sounds like just my son Jagger. He has to do everything.
Some things I don't mind though. When I vacuum, he has to hold on and
do it also. He has to get the juice out of the fridge and his cup
himself then I can pour it. Things like that. The things that drive me
crazy are when I really have to help him do something and he has a
meltdown because he has to do it himself. He then throws whatever it is
he has and usually adds a smack to my face.
We started doing the take turns thing in therapy and are also now doing it here at home.
My son, Andy (14) is like this, too. He wants to do help when we're doing home improvement projects, and loves to operate any new mechanical device. He almost knocked my dad down when he beat him to the microwave he never operated before!
Independence really is a good thing, but it can be very frustrating!
Kim
Adam seems to have independence when it comes to trying to figure something out like with his toys etc. If it just isn't working the way HE thinks it should then I have tried to help, knowing what he wants to accomplish, but he throws a fit if I try and interfere. He wants to "fix" it on his own. My other two children went through a phase like this with all kinds of stuff but it was earlier and didn't last as long.
Karrie
I think this applies to this thread, not for sure
Tammy My son fluctuates. He *has* to turn t.v. off, if i do it, he has a mini melt-down. He has to pour his juice or he refuses to drink. Some things just get stuck in his mind as his job... So I'm promoting it and using it to teach him life skills... Lots of messes, he has to try and clean up his own spills and accidents, but he has a sense of responsibility (well most of the time). Other things, he has melt-downs because it just isn't safe and he has to learn. Kinda a pick your battle thing, I think. I'm sure I'm not really qualified to answer this at all...but thought that I would say that I think it's a good sign! Again, I may be wrong, but if she's trying to do things, I think it's great. My ds is incredibly over-dependent, and we have such a hard time trying to get him to do the littlest things by himself...sometimes he just can't - even if he tries. As she gets older, this will be a good thing, helping mommy do housework, cleaning her room
Renee Tammy I guess that I am glad that others have this problem too! Maybe I can channel this energy for good instead of evil. It is great that she wants to be self sufficient, but she needs to learn how to deal gracefully because you can't always do things by yourself in life (by the same token-her lazy brother needs to get off his butt and do some thing..nobody else in the house has a personal valet.) Tammy, I can totally understand about fridge locks and I have small children! Katie is terrible about opening the fridge or freezer and leaving it open (not a good thing in 90 degree Hawaii Heat). My gut feeling is that independence may still be a touch of a boy/girl thing because Katie is overly independent ALL THE TIME. MAHALO! Thanks for weighing in! Renee Yeah Gabe did that recently with the freezer, didn't close it all the way. So I didn't know how long it had been open. I figured just a few minutes. So of course I cooked some hamburger. And of course I was the only one that got sick. So you know what I had to do..................throw out everything in the freezer. Tammy Hi Renee, When my Son Tony (now 9 y/o) was that age, he too wanted to do everything for me & himself...but now, he only wants to do CERTAIN things for himself. I think it may also be because I have to do alot for his Nephew who is just 3 months old. Anyway, YES it got on my nerves as well..... NOW it gets on my nerves that he has certain things he WON'T do that I know he CAN & SHOULD do for himself! Good Luck! God Bless you & your Familes & keep you all safe! LINDA...aka Tony'sMom....aka MWN64
Copyright Autism-PDD.net