Tuesday 30 March 2010

An ASD question for those in the know

Hi guys,

I will probably take this down but at the moment I'm stumped.

Majorly sensory ASD child.  Has done the colour thing with food btu it's mostly abotu textures and  look now. Last night he decided food (or maybe just dinner) needs to be shapes.  Last night was circles.  Tonight is supposed to be quadralatrals (so he can have rectangles and squares).

How the hell do I find out if he is joking without setting up the whole this gets a good response let's keep going with it?  What if it's real?  Camp is coming up soon.  I cna;t see them cuttign sandwiches into cicles for him!

Help!  And we don't have a psychologist either!

6 comments:

Madmother said...

See, I am tough. I do not allow Boy 1 to go this route. Will offer it as a treat or reward, but not as a demand.

As you said, camp will not do this. Can you sit and explain to him it will not work? Maybe point out the thousands of tiny shapes he can create in his mind just by looking closely at the food?

Boy 1 is a child of options and information. I will give him a limited selection and provide the info on why these are his choices and he complies.

Sorry not to be of more help. :(

Lulu said...

I likey what Madmother says - who needs a psych?!

Anonymous said...

My oldest son also loves for his sandwich to be cut into shapes. To make this easier, we have bought a variety of cookie cutters that he can even use himself to make his sandwich whatever his little heart desires!

Anonymous said...

MadMother is right. By giving in to the shapes you would be maintaining the behaviour and it would only agitate him in other places where this will not happen (e.g. camp). It would be better to use it as rewards and special treats and talk to him about how cutting it in special shapes will be like a treat. Generally the best thing is to present kids with their limited options...these are what they can have, and if not...tough luck. I had a peadiatrician once tell a mum of a child who was anxious about vomitting and therefore wouldn't eat food that when a child is hungry, they will eventually eat what is on the table.

Madmother said...

Wow. So I'm not scarring my child like some Mums say? Mind you, they are the same ones who go "Oh, I don't ever tell him no. He doesn't understand it."

And hence, also the ones whose kids I won't have in my house due to their destructive nature...

I am such a mean cow.

E. said...

Hello everyone. Thanks for your comments. As you can probably tell by the typos I was a little stressed when I wrote this post.

Sometimes I wonder if our journey has been too easy and that little things like these freak me out.

It didn't continue, thankfully. We already have limited foods here and it just threw me that that limited pool would start shrinking again after starting to increase in the last year.

I'm thinking he is feeling a little out of control as his teacher is ill and away a lot. He seems very tense at the moment. Possible crisis a non issue. Hurray for that!

 

Copyright 2011 Whining at the World | Powered by Blogger | Designed by Carly Lloyd Designs