Chantillylace
New Member
There are several things that my son does that I've always assumed was his difficult personality and never, ever thought they were abnormal. Now that I'm considering the possibility of Asperger's, I'm starting to wonder about some things. He's my oldest, so I don't have a great reference point as to what's normal or not. I'm an Speech Language Pathologist (SLP), and I see kids for therapy, but I don't notice these things with those kids, but then again I only see them for maybe an hour a week. Please let me know what you think of these behaviors for a 4 year old!
He needs a warning when ALL transitions are coming. I am giving out one minute warnings all the time. "In one minute I'm going to get you dressed" "In one minute you have to get out of the bathtub." Things like that. If I don't offer this warning, then I will ALWAYS get resistance or fits. Giving the warning doesn't eliminate the resistance, but it cuts it down significantly.
We've been working on saying "hi" when people say hi to us for about 2 months now. He still needs me to remind him to say "hi" about 95% of the time. Typically, he won't say anything at all, do something "silly" like bark like a dog, or usually with kids he'll hold out something that he wants to show them without saying anything. The other day, he and his baby sister were blowing raspberries with their tongues while we were at the grocery store. This older man walked by and difficult child looked right at him and blew a raspberry at him. The man scrunched his eyebrows and shook his head "no" as he walked away. I explained to difficult child that that's not how we say hi, and he responded with "Why?" I told him that the man didn't think it was nice, etc.
Also, when he finds something that the other kids at school think is funny, then He. Will. Wear. It. Out. A good example of this is the word, "Booty." His friends laugh, and he keeps saying it. For a few days, when someone says "hi" he says, "Booty!" When we're in the car, he says it. All the time. I've gotten to the point now where I can recognize when he's latching onto a word or phrase early and stop it. Usually, I tell him that he's not allowed to use that word anymore... especially if it's something completely not appropriate to say to strangers (i.e. butt, I'm gonna shoot you!). If it's something harmless, then I just tell him to stop every time he starts in.
The last thing is saying good-bye. He has to give several hugs and kisses, say "I love you" and "Bye" and then watch whoever it is leave. If he forgets to give a kiss or say "I love you" or even if he thinks he forgot, then it's the end of the world in his little mind. This happened when I dropped him off at school Friday. He gave me about 4 hugs and kisses, but when I left he was crying for me. I came back in (because I didn't want to start his day off bad and him get sent home again) and asked him what he needed. He wiped his tears and said "a kiss." I gave him a kiss and left and he was fine.
He needs a warning when ALL transitions are coming. I am giving out one minute warnings all the time. "In one minute I'm going to get you dressed" "In one minute you have to get out of the bathtub." Things like that. If I don't offer this warning, then I will ALWAYS get resistance or fits. Giving the warning doesn't eliminate the resistance, but it cuts it down significantly.
We've been working on saying "hi" when people say hi to us for about 2 months now. He still needs me to remind him to say "hi" about 95% of the time. Typically, he won't say anything at all, do something "silly" like bark like a dog, or usually with kids he'll hold out something that he wants to show them without saying anything. The other day, he and his baby sister were blowing raspberries with their tongues while we were at the grocery store. This older man walked by and difficult child looked right at him and blew a raspberry at him. The man scrunched his eyebrows and shook his head "no" as he walked away. I explained to difficult child that that's not how we say hi, and he responded with "Why?" I told him that the man didn't think it was nice, etc.
Also, when he finds something that the other kids at school think is funny, then He. Will. Wear. It. Out. A good example of this is the word, "Booty." His friends laugh, and he keeps saying it. For a few days, when someone says "hi" he says, "Booty!" When we're in the car, he says it. All the time. I've gotten to the point now where I can recognize when he's latching onto a word or phrase early and stop it. Usually, I tell him that he's not allowed to use that word anymore... especially if it's something completely not appropriate to say to strangers (i.e. butt, I'm gonna shoot you!). If it's something harmless, then I just tell him to stop every time he starts in.
The last thing is saying good-bye. He has to give several hugs and kisses, say "I love you" and "Bye" and then watch whoever it is leave. If he forgets to give a kiss or say "I love you" or even if he thinks he forgot, then it's the end of the world in his little mind. This happened when I dropped him off at school Friday. He gave me about 4 hugs and kisses, but when I left he was crying for me. I came back in (because I didn't want to start his day off bad and him get sent home again) and asked him what he needed. He wiped his tears and said "a kiss." I gave him a kiss and left and he was fine.