Son steals | Autism PDD

Does he like fruit flavored water? I used to drink Diet Coke like it was going out of style....It took me a while to stop....i had to cut down gradually but now when I drink carbonated fruit flavored water I feel just as satisified. Dasani grape is good.

My son is 17 and he is high functioning. He has a problem with eating unhealthy (very greasy, fattening foods) and has an addiction to soda drinks. We have came to the point to put all our soft drinks into a refrigerator with a lock and key, but he steals the key while we sleep and takes pop. We have tried everything for him to stop, but we can't get him to drink anything else. The only thing he drinks besides soda is kool-aid. If we do let him drink soda, he drinks about 7 cans a day! Plus, we can't afford to keep buying soft drinks. It seems that we cannot trust him at all.

He also has taken money in the past. He hasn't done this in a while, but the main problem is the soda taking (it also happens with potato chips...).

Does anyone have any ideas do stop his addiction/craving?

I tried that but it didn't work. He says its tastes bad. I think its a psychological thing. I just wish there was a way to change his routine... He's developed an attitude and he is a teenager and that is definitely showing :) Ohhh man, i myself am addicted to Dr. Pepper, i drink 4-6 cans a day, very unhealthy, i like caffeen but know the carbonation and sugar is very bad, i am trying to cut back to 2-3. My parents did not tolerate me stealing stuff (tho i may have only done it once or twice, i learned my lesson when I was younger) but hes much older. Id keep the key on me, ration soda for his own good, or maby not even buy it at all (unles you need it) make him earn his own.

Stealing is very bad, i would punish him, my mom and dad at that age would not let me drive the car, this was tourture at this age, no car = no life in high school. I dont know if hes like me, we both have HFA, but I was quite social around this time, taking away something like that definatly at least worked for me!! I knew a teen that had kidney stones from drinking So much soda. Stop buying soda or start buying diet soda. I'm not totally sure about diet. I've never drank it. I know I like the carbon, I buy carbon water. My guy is seven so I am no help with the teenager thing. But my ds likes
rules and 'common sense' - we posted a food pyramid in the kitchen and
talk about healthy food and he actually regulates himself to an amazing
amount. A year ago he would only drink cocoa but now he will get water
sometimes 'because it is healthy for my body'. The thing that has been
helping with behavioral issues is to involve him, like' We can not let you
only drink pop because it is unhealthy , what can we do to help you
remember and change this habit.' He usually is willing to work together
and take some ownership with that approach. (This all makes him sound
much more mature than he is by the way)
I have a four year old (NT?) dd who is obsessed with candy - she will only
draw picturs of candy, wants candy all day long, will steal candy and says
she dreams about candy all night. With her I think there is something
physiological going on to cause these intense cravings. The more I have
been eleminating sugars from her diet the easier it becomes for her. If
you think it is something like that, could you tell your son that you are
concerned about his soda intake and want to try going cold turkey one
month to see if he feels better without it ?(And then get rid of all soda
and sugars). It won't be pretty the first week but maybe it could work?My Tyler is 14 years old and high functioning he has a love for soda well we cut it off and now he drinks several glasses of sunny d orange drink he would steal out of fridge also and go and hide and drink it that is a big problem but we got the upper hand on him .

good luck

See what happens if you don't buy soda at all and just have water , milk , and juice in the house. I know this is probalby easier said than done especially if you have other members of the household who also enjoy the drinks

I will say that ds is a glutton, though. If I allowed free access to a soda that he liked, the 12 pack would be gone within the day. When we go out to eat, he will drain his soda in seconds.

Our pantry is also locked 24 hours a day. This week he went searching for the key and found it. He got into it in the middle of the night. I found the remnants of everything he ate stuffed inside his bathroom cabinet.

I honestly have no idea how to stop this.....

Michelle