Ok Ive actually tried my hardest to keep track of how many times my son says the words dinosaur/t-rex today and it was 146 times!!!! Thats not even counting the ones i know ive missed! Ive tried redirecting him alittle with some coloring but he keeps jabbering on. I did distract him with a shark story because he loves sharks (actually fishes and reptiles) and that worked ok till he started going off again. Me and my hubby had a bet how many times hed say those words and he bet 100 and i bet 65 so we both lost!
Joes mom, I know what you mean after today and knowing more how much my son obsesses its going to make me break down too! Il bring up the speech therapy to his OT and see what she thinks too, sounded like she either assumed he was in speech or was hinting not sure. Hayden too does alot more talking on his fave topic at home than in public altho hes still obviously different since he still does it, my poor baby
Parker wanted to see a helicopter today and would not let up on it. I said, I don't think there will be one". He freaked. We went to a health and safety fair and sometimes they have one. He said the word helicopter or I want to see a helicopter like 50 times. I was ready to go crazy. I had to get him to talk about something else. He would not quit. He is obsessed with vehicles and books and movies about vehicles. He cries at yardsales if they don't have any truck books or movies. I need help too!
Have you tried using his what i like to call "passions" as a teaching tool? If he likes Dinosaurs then use it to your advantage, books, whatever, Count dinosaurs, what color are the dinosaurs?, make ABC dinosaur flashcards. As "repetitive" as your child may sound, this is his way of having a discussion with you about a topic that he feels comfortable with. Alot of parents would kill to even hear a simple word come out of their childs mouths. Too often we wish and wish for our children to start speaking and once they do, its not what we thought it would be like, but it is speech and it is an attempt at having a two way discussion, and question asking, which is something that most "experts" and Doctors say ASD kids are incapable of.
I say don't deny the passion, justify it. use it as a teaching tool, as silly as it may sound, pretend your child IS the dinosaur. What does T-Rex want to eat? I'm sorry but I had to chuckle at the "fantasy land" comment......Isn't that pretend play? isn't that your child using his imagination? According to most of the books I read and Doctors that I had to listen to when my son was first diagnosed, All ASD children would never have the concept of pretend play, imagination and anything in between. Trust me, your son KNOWS he's not a dinosaur, but consider this, if he was an NT child, and was carrying on like this, he would be accused of having an "over active imagination". See my point?
That's my daughter too! She started with New York (& is still there lol) & that went on to the whole United States & then onto World Geography... she was 4. lol I have used this obsession to teach her 'more', she has learned so much about New York, the US, the World, etc., she learned to read & now she's learning to count, by counting her US flashcards. :)
I need some advice. My son is obsessed with certain topics of interest and Im not sure what to do about it. Ive tried to tell him things like "You already told me this" or "you have a few minutes to tell me about this" etc. He dosnt listen and gets upset and throws a fit because I hurt his feelings and he wont stop talking about it. Someone in my family told me I should try taking his some of his toy dinosaurs (his obsession) away but Id feel too cruel doing this! Plus I dont think thats the way I should deal with it anyway. This is how my son is: AS SOON as he opens his eyes most mornings the first word out of his mouth is "dinosaurs" even if he dosnt start talking about them after that and just lays down for awhile more. But basically the day is filled with total dinosaur talk from sun up to sun down. And its not just talk but its "living" in a dinosaur fantasy world like hes a trex. He also just says the word Dinosaurs out of the blue for no reason or he says dinosaurs are big for no reason and then continue eating his food. I know Ive written this tons of times before but I was wondering how to deal with this? Is this something that maybe I could get help with with speech therapy? He has great speech altho he has trouble understanding often and he has trouble with conversations he just cant stay focused (altho not always but very often) and he goes somewhere else in his dinotopia mind and disregards you while your talking to him.
Id feel bad taking toys away not to mention the hell id cause by doing so! And I really dont think that would stop anything anyway since he usually isnt even playing with the toys but rather spends more time immersed in fantasy and you cant pull him out or at least keep him out. Everyday is like a movie that you rewind and watch, he does the same scenes that he replays and talks of. The only therapy hes getting is OT right now but the therapist asked if hes in speech therapy too so I was thinking if I should get him into it (if we can afford it anyway) or techniques I can use that I havnt tried yet? I didnt think he needed it cuz he has a huge vocabulary and even used fancy words most 4 year olds wouldnt (altho he dosnt always know what they mean
O ya I know when hes going into fantasy world by him shaking his head while its cocked and he looks out of the corners of his eyes kind of and in concentration and he hums the same tune all the time from some dino movies hes watched. If you catch him then and try redirecting he freak out and get upset and cry and not let you near him. Also should I discourage the dinosaur thing by not getting him any more dinosaur toys and watching less dino based movies etc.? I kind of didnt want to because I think hel be a great paleontologist (right spelling?) if hes older but its needs to be tamed down ALOT! I really dont know what to do! Or maybe I shouldnt let it worry me so much? Im more worried for him to be immersed like this is all rather than the annoyance we feel
Like your son, Joe has a hard tiome with focus too.
We do Speech and language and they do help us with this by insisting that he converses with them about other stuff... For some reason he also responds better to them about that than me. (I think he feels safer at home so he just lets loose) I know that is one of our objectives is to help him redirect the topic or do something else.
23red- Ive actually tried those and he throws a total fit! But then alot of times he dosnt even initiate anyone into his conversations, he does a talking to himself sort of thing, which worries me on his really bad days. Then there are the days where hes bugging you ALL day. I read in an article Norway mom posted above (which was great!) that nipping obsessions as much in the butt so its not overboard while thier younger will help the child when thier older and going off. Ill definately look into that book, it sounds really good
This is allso new to me so I have no advice to offer,but it was just nice to hear someone else talk about obsessions!
My dd will get on topics. It has been the holidays for awhile. Now it is some Playstation duck game my dh got her.trashmansgal79 --
This topic on our forum is about trains. It includes a list of lots of free learning games on the internet that involve trains (see page 2 of the topic).
http://www.autism-pdd.net/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=11839&am p;KW=trains&PN=0&TPN=2
Thanks for the tip!
Lots of people tell me wow what an imagination he has but then they end it with the "look" If you know what I mean! Like something aint right with that kid! Of ocurse not all but its happening more and more and more often even other children are getting bothered by it, so I dont know! I do like the idea of using it as a teaching tool and Im not sure what to do. Ive heard if he stops with his current obsession hel just get a new one, so? I do use it as a teaching tool sometimes but then it gets overboard and hes off in his mind and not concentrating even tho it caught his interest in the immediate beginning. Im going to call his dev. ped. and ask over the phone for some advice hopefully.
I actually alot of the times am guilty of elaborating on the subject too! Except lately hes wanting me to know things and tell him things about dinosaurs (facts/a scene in a movie) and were not always on the same page and he has a fit if I dont have a clue what hes talking about or wants me to tell him, so some days are really frustrating!
Thanks everyone so much!
On another note, there is a book called POWER CARDS and it takes ASD kids obsessions as tools to engage more effectively. This might be better as he is older and in school, but it may be worth a looksy
BTW, don't take his toys away, yet. Can you do it little by little?
My ds was obsessed with diving boards this summer. I would have to drive by the town pool and when we were actually in a pool with a diving board he would fixate. At home he watches people diving off diving boards on you tube! Now his current obsession is car washes. He only wants to wash cars or go to a car wash and he also watches this on you tube at home. Clearly there is some OCD mixed in with the PDD-NOS which I understand is pretty common. Still, it can be really annoying!Just in case I haven't posted these for you before:
http://www.autism-pdd.net/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=12693&am p;KW=asking+questions - very active topic on our forum about repetitive questions. Lots of good tips.
http://www.nas.org.uk/nas/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=1071&a=7103 - NAS article "Obsessions, repetitive behaviors and routines."
My son was 8 before I dared say "that's your hobby, not mine, and I don't want to talk about it anymore right now" -- and he accepted it, to my astonishment.
Your boy might always have this tendency, but I bet he will get better and better at controlling it, just like mine did. Hang in there.