ASD son talking constantly about latest obsession -help!!

[PrancingQueen]

How do I manage this?
He’s a lovely boy, 9 years old, but since the age of 2 he has developed obsessions about some quite random things. He watches You Tube, reads books to ‘research’ and talks about nothing else!
His current obsession is frankly so boring (to me) I want to scream . He has talked about nothing else for 3 months - HELP!
How do I manage this?
If I say let’s chat about something else for a while, he’ll either manage this for all of 2 minutes before crow-barring in his subject, or just look at me like I’m mad!
I’ve really tried to involve myself - some obsessions have been more interesting than others, but honestly, this current one is so damn boring.

Any ideas welcome. Thanks for reading.

@Prokupatuscrakedatus that was for you

DH and I go walking every day, he can keep up a monologue about artificial intelligence or the Napolionic wars for the full hour.

I'm sure both he and DS would be labelled as asd if they were growing up now but they are happily unaware.

@MissHavershamReturns
He is lovely and very proactive with his condition, though getting him into uni or the dual system next year will proof problematic. He also warnes new school mates and teachers that faces convey no information to him.

I really don't think there is any harm in teaching him self-awareness OP and saying 'DS I need a bit of peace and quiet - could you go and do X now' or 'Okay, I've heard enough about [yourlatestobsession] now DS, could you go and set the table or feed the cat or read a book, etc'.

All DC (and some adults!) benefit from learning when they're boring people or talking too much and teaching him to moderate his non-stop chatter will do him a huge service in his future dealings with others, who may well be less kind. The gift of self-awareness is a wonderful one for all.

My DSS obsession is currently the BBC’s show ‘ambulance’, he watches them repeatedly on YouTube and quotes from it. When we see an ambulance out and about he starts quoting phone calls from the show. Before that we had Charlie and the chocolate factory (both versions) and all associated facts! Prior to that we have an obsession with the band take that. As a nursery teacher who works 1:1 with toddlers (age2-4yrs) with ASD, I am interested in whether you noticed obsessive interests in your DC when they were young? Some of the children I work with have strong interests and wonder if these will continue as they grow (albeit with different ‘themes’)

@Lifeispassingby

My DSS obsession is currently the BBC’s show ‘ambulance’, he watches them repeatedly on YouTube and quotes from it. When we see an ambulance out and about he starts quoting phone calls from the show. Before that we had Charlie and the chocolate factory (both versions) and all associated facts! Prior to that we have an obsession with the band take that. As a nursery teacher who works 1:1 with toddlers (age2-4yrs) with ASD, I am interested in whether you noticed obsessive interests in your DC when they were young? Some of the children I work with have strong interests and wonder if these will continue as they grow (albeit with different ‘themes’)

Yes indeed. For my DS the obsessive interests were from very young indeed. Certainly nursery age. He was diagnosed at nearly 5 and he had been in two nurseries before then who both suggested he be assessed and said the obsessive interests were the trigger for suggestion.

life As soon as DS had taught himself to read when he was four (German, so not that difficult) he started on our system of public transport (lines, types of trains, models etc.). I could have dropped him anywhere and he could have made his way home. I spent hours on weekends riding the underground, S-Bahn and tram with him - as he got car sick on busses he skipped those.

My sons specialist subject is films, so not too bad, but fuck me, I have to zone out after a while bless him. He can name the year, director, actors and box office rankings and takings of hundreds of films. We're having daily updates (hourly) on the success of the new Spider-Man film. You can't actually watch a film with him either as he talks all the way through it
A previous obsession was pixar cars. He had hundreds of them. His brain is amazing. Dh and I would line about fifty up on the floor, he'd scan them for a minute then leave the room, then we'd remove two cars and push them together so there were no gaps and he'd immediately know which ones had gone.

@Prokupatuscrakedatus

life As soon as DS had taught himself to read when he was four (German, so not that difficult) he started on our system of public transport (lines, types of trains, models etc.). I could have dropped him anywhere and he could have made his way home. I spent hours on weekends riding the underground, S-Bahn and tram with him - as he got car sick on busses he skipped those.

This was my son too at the age of 4, but as we live in the UK it was, and still is, the UK transport system. He could tell me how to get from point A to point B ANYWHERE in the UK. he still can, shame there is no employment where he could use this knowledge. He could also identify any railway locomotive from the sound of the engine, he didn't even have to see it to know.

I have nearly 5 year old asd who is non verbal i always said if i had another child i would never tell them to stop talking as its so heartbreaking ur child not being able to talk to you. My 2 year old is developing typically and she waffles on all the time, half the time i have no idea what she is saying but i love it! I still will never tell her to stop.

@Newrunner29
DN was non-verbal until he was about 8 and got his 'talker' and about 10 when he started to make his whises known. It is still very limited and as he is now an adult will probably not get 'better' but there have been children in his group who were very very late talkers.
(We have a whole spectrum of what AS can look like in our family)

@Lifeispassingby

My DSS obsession is currently the BBC’s show ‘ambulance’, he watches them repeatedly on YouTube and quotes from it. When we see an ambulance out and about he starts quoting phone calls from the show. Before that we had Charlie and the chocolate factory (both versions) and all associated facts! Prior to that we have an obsession with the band take that. As a nursery teacher who works 1:1 with toddlers (age2-4yrs) with ASD, I am interested in whether you noticed obsessive interests in your DC when they were young? Some of the children I work with have strong interests and wonder if these will continue as they grow (albeit with different ‘themes’)

My son always had obsessive interests, letters and numbers so we had lots of toys around those but he'd use duplo to make E's and 7's. Then he liked lamp posts because they looked like 7s and TV aeriels because they looked like T's. He liked shutters so Sunday outing always ended with a trip to watch the shutters come down on Woolworths. He liked things that spun so he liked washing machines and wheels and would spin anything he could get his hands on. He liked maps and routes and would memorise journeys and direct us by clicking his tongue (was non verbal) to signify we needed to indicate and turn his head to the direction we needed to go. He once age five directed us faultlessly on a 200 mile trip that he had done only once two years previously. Maps and routes led to a love of road signs and traffic lights. Nowadays at 26 it's football and Grand Prix statistics. He also collects keyrings, he has them from every football club in the UK and is making his way through the European leagues and model formula one cars.

Could he do a project on his latest obsession and you read/ look at it when it's done ???
Not sure how capable of this a 9 yr old boy is ...

[quote Prokupatuscrakedatus]@Newrunner29
DN was non-verbal until he was about 8 and got his 'talker' and about 10 when he started to make his whises known. It is still very limited and as he is now an adult will probably not get 'better' but there have been children in his group who were very very late talkers.
(We have a whole spectrum of what AS can look like in our family)[/quote]
Thank u i have not lost hope i will always hope 💗

@MintJulia

I've been having whole conversations with my DS about MineCraft or Pokemon or Terraria for years now. I have absolutely no idea what I'm talking about but I try to show an interest and he seems happy enough He changes topic occasionally.

I assume they grow out of it.

Pokémon was one of my first special interests back in 1997 and I’m still obsessed. I hyperfocused on Pokémon Go when it came out, now I get just as lost in the new Switch games. My next tattoo is going to be Eevee

@Newrunner29 ds was seven when he started talking. By eleven he had a semblance of normal speech. He's an adult now and when not talking football and Grand Prix statistics he prefers to text or email rather than speak. I probably say the same half dozen things to him every day and get the same responses every day.If there is something he needs me to know he leaves me a note.

Believe me I'm right there with you @PrancingQueen except my kid is nonverbal and communicates using an iPad with a communication app on it and he has perseveration so hits certain subjects over and over and some days I want to throw the iPad out the window! The only way to survive is honestly time away by taking a walk or hiding somewhere and counting to 100.