Oh PLEASE someone help me!

[mytwopenceworth]

Blasted hell. ARGH. WAHHHHH

ds1 is going loco.

It's about the rain.

He can't cope with it.

He is insisting that we all go to bed.

He is going on and on and on and on

Thunder, storm, rain is bad, telly off, bed, look is rain, big storm

It's not, it's just raining, not even heavily.

He does this every time and no matter what we do or say, he thinks there is a MASSIVE danger.

I bet the bloody school (who I am blaming irrationally and without justification) have been talking about storms and lightening. Now he thinks everything has to be turned off and we all have to go to bed if there's so much as a cloud in the sky.

My piss-poor social story didn't help. The lovely poem suggested didn't help. Talking to him doesn't help. Ignoring him doesn't stop him.

ARRGGHHH.

Tried to take him out, he went totally ape.

The weather forcast does not bode well for me and he is not getting over this.

If anyone has any advice that ends up solving this, I will give you my everlasting devotion, my secret stash of crunchies and my immortal soul.

[Desiderata]

Do as he asks. Turn all the lights off, all the media, everything. Go to bed and lie in the dark ... and the overwhelming silence.

Ten minutes ought to cure him.

[OrmIrian]

Poor lad. Poor you

Would it help to try to explain to him how much we need rain. (Obviously we don't need quite this much ) If we didn't get rain there's be no streams, rivers, ponds, all the fishes would die, trees and plants would die, no food for animals to eat etc. If it didn't rain we'd live in a desert. And all that. Try to get him to see it as a good thing?

New wellies? New umbrella?

Maybe?

[SanetJvv]

Have no advice, sorry, but thinking of you... good luck!

Im from South Africa and my mother always baked us panncakes if it rained, so we loved it... but in England you cant have pancakes everytime it rains....

[hotcrumpets]

could you go and stand outside for 10mins or so and show him there is no danger and that nothing has happened?

my mum did this after my brother was acting the same as your ds (he had just done hurricanes in school )

[Filchymindedvixen]

let him go to bed with his fave cuddly etc while stressing that you will not go to bed as there is nothing abnormal about the rain..as Desi says, probably after 10 minutes or so, when the sky has not fallen in and no ark has floated past his wondow, he will realise it is all ok.
Poor you, tis terrible when they get a bee in their bonnets.
I remember ds1 becoming morbidly scared of trees. As we as a family spend most of our spare time in the countryside, messing about in woods etc, you can see this might have been a huge problem. He got over it..eventually.

[mytwopenceworth]

done it Des. Turned everything off and gone to bed several times. I thought he would see it was boring, but he didn't.

Have also explained about weather and all that, shown him books, got him to draw pics.

I've told him he is safe but he turned that into it is dangerous outside!

I've also at other times refused to turn stuff off and told him he cannot expect me to go to bed just because it is raining, when it became clear that going along with it wasn't helping it pass.

I feel like screaming! I can't keep bending to his obsessions, he has GOT to learn to cope, I have to help him get over it. But I have run out of ideas!

[mytwopenceworth]

Ah. I have not tried standing outside myself. He is still carrying on (while I ignore!) I am going to go and try it right now!

[Blandmum]

Tell him that your friend Martianbishop has been in a building that was struck by lightning and it was no big deal! The fire alarm was set off and that was all

sympathy, sympathy

[Desiderata]

[JackieNo]

Lol, Desiderata. But for you, mytwopenceworth. I stood outside in the pouring rain for a good half hour this afternoon keeping a drain unblocked and getting splashed by cars, but apart from getting wet, and a bit fed up, am not in any way injured. Good luck - hope you can persuade him.

[Desiderata]

On the plus side, the forecast seems pretty good from Monday onwards.

Fingers crossed that after a prolonged spell of good weather (hard to imagine, I know), the poor little man may have forgotten his fear.

[oops]

Message withdrawn

[hotcrumpets]

Desi, I thought that when I posted for her to go outside

now that really would be ironic

[Desiderata]

yes, crumpets .... and she hasn't come back yet!

[hotcrumpets]

how crap will I feel if something has happened, she's probably been washed away in a freak flood or something

[mytwopenceworth]

Well.

I stood outside. But it wasn't raining as hard as it has been until now! Sods Law!

When I went outside he went mad and he smashed 2 glasses! (I should point out at this point that he is not a brat, he is autistic. I'm not excusing the vandalism, but he was quite beside himself at the time)

However, I then managed to pursuade him to ...



COME OUTSIDE!!

I showed him a slug and his desire to hold something disgusting beat his fear of the rain. He was very stable when we were outside and seemed to be fine!!!

So we are inside now. Wet. I have asked him if he is still scared and he said "yes thunder party". I'm not sure what that means, but he seemed calmer.

He is barely agitated and now he is looking out of the window and talking nonstop about rain. Well, he's repeating "raindrops, ah it's not working" over and over again! Odd boy!

I don't know how long this will last, but I shall repeat it. I have my fingers crossed!

Thank you! Now, to what address do I send my crunchies and my soul?

oh. and pmsl at Desiderata!

[JackieNo]

Well done you. I think it was hotcrumpets' suggestion, so the crunchies etc go to her.

[JackieNo]

(and well done him too - that was a big step for him to take, by the sounds of it)

[mytwopenceworth]

It really was. I was AMAZED, tbh. I thought he'd just watch me and yell. I can't believe he agreed to step outside. It was the slug that tipped it!

I doubt he's cured (nothing is that easy!) but it's a start!

Probably have to go back outside a few times.

[Desiderata]

Well done both!

[hotcrumpets]

YEAH well done to your DS

glad it worked, I was getting worried as to where you were there for a minute

glad to be of assistance, oh and you keep your crunchies, i've got a lurvly big dairy milk in the fridge to keep me happy and the good karma will come in handy

[mytwopenceworth]

we've now been out 4 times, as he keeps asking me to "see it is still safe"

I am very cold.

However, we just heard thunder and he's shot upstairs saying we need to go to bed.

BUT.

I am still hopeful that this will work in the end.

If I don't die of pneumonia first.