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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To think this really isn't normal?

143 replies

Rosie129 · 12/08/2024 00:41

My friend admitted today that her DD (5) hasn't done anything all summer holidays. Just stayed inside on her tablet. Apparently her DD hasn't wanted to go anywhere. They said if they do 'can they bring the tablet?' She said she's been staying up till 1-2am every night just on the tablet and not sleeping. She lets her watch the tablet whilst having her dinner. My friend said she won't eat anything if she's not watching something during it. I have witnessed it and she doesn't respond to anyone whilst on the tablet, she's just completely fixated on the screen and ignores everyone

OP posts:
GoodLordyTheExcusesWeMakeForThem · 15/08/2024 02:31

GoodLordyTheExcusesWeMakeForThem · 15/08/2024 02:14

Thats not what im suggesting at all. What im trying to get across in my posts is that what they need is friends. Access to people/friends who have experience with ND and NT children, and everything inbetween. Im not hell bent on diagnosing the child, it actually sounds like they both might be ND however what im saying is that one of my ND children refused to go anywhere, talk to anyone, eat normal foods, even breast feed or sleep properly. She is my second born and i persevered in the same methods i used with my son. Not recognising or understanding that they would be different. There is 11 months between them. My son breastfed perfectly every 4-5 hours for 30-45 minutes, was quiet and content, by 7 weeks he was sleeping 8 hours a night, he moved into his own room at 3 months with just 10 minutes of controlled crying on the first night and 3 on the second night. Sleeping for 12-13 hours at night with another 1 1/2 nap during the day. He walked at 10 months. He was incredibly hyperactive and it was very obvious with him. He was diagnosed early but not especially early owing to the fact that he had no learning difficulties or global developmental delay, like my godson had. My daughter fed for 5 minutes every hour 24 hours a day. She would not wean. Would not tolerate food textures. Would not sleep. Controlled crying took 30-45 mins a night for 2 weeks and making a mistake in her routine put us right back at square 1. We had a mantra, 10 days to make a routine 1 day to break it. My children and my godson all have AuADHD but different types. As do i and my mother. Yes we have ALL been diagnosed. My godson was 18 months old, my son was 5 my daughter was 17 (but i was fighting for her since she was 10) i was 43 and my mum was 65. We are ALL hypermobile. We ALL have genetic connective tissue disorders and dysautonomia. What im saying is that this lady has zero experience with anything parenting or medical. Yet she has made a judgement, she has come to a conclusion that what this girl is being allowed to do, is not good for her. She cant make that statement. She has no clue if it is or not. I do think its prudent that both the mother and child get assessed asap before the childs masking capabilities become so ingrained she cant even tell who she us anymore and her entire educational life is thrown down the toilet. Spending her whole life knowing shes different but not knowing why so just copying everyone around her and hoping she doesnt get found out. Because that was my experience. My mothers too. Smh. Just because more people are educated in what autism and adhd and all the other spectrum disorders are now, therefore more people are getting diagnosed, doesn't make the diagnosis any less valid. It just means that everyone is a little on the spectrum (hence why its now graded rather than just a simple ‘its autism, its adhd’ diagnosis) and until that is recognised we will continue to try and fit everyone into the same mould and cause increasing levels if mental health issues and self harm and suicide. Carry on telling this mother she is lazy, abusive & a bad mum. See where that gets this family vecause the one thing i can guarantee it wont get is support. Ive gought for 8 years to get support for my high functioning, ridiculously intelligent daughter, who is incapable of functioning without the tv on and her phone in her hand. Yet she started her own very successful business at 13, didn't have any education from year 9 to year 11 due to covid and long covid causing her to sleep 18-20 hours a day for 15 months and yet passed maths engligh and sciences with 4’s. Which she took in our dining room because she still couldn't face people. She doesnt like to go out, or talk to people, be touched or talked to. My son, totally different. My other 8 godchildren totally different. Until she was older and i recognised the signs i used to try and force her to fit in to make everyone else happy. I say everyone else, because i used to do the same to me too. i would fo things i didn't like, things that made me uncomfortable, so that i fitted in with everyone, so i didn't stand out as different. so i wouldn't be a burden or make other people uncomfortable. I'm ashamed to say i even said this to her once (i told her we all have to do things we dont want to sometimes because other people do want to and we cant always say no, sometimes we have to make other people happy too) i walked away thinking now ig thats not setting my daughter up to get raped, wtaf am i teaching her ffs and i immediately went back yold her i was sorry and that i was wtong and i allowed her to live authentically from that day. She stopped self harming almost the same day because she suddenly felt ‘seen’ and valid as a person. I hope that goes in. It was a lightbulb moment for me and i swore to make sure id never see signs of ND in anyone and ignore them ever again no matter how uncomfortable it might make other people. I chose to live authentically too. Suck it up buttercup. This family needs to see an nhs registered private psychiatry specialist who is able to make a formal diagnosis so that it can be recognised and medications started/support put in place. then the LA and the nhs will expedite the nhs and educational psychiatrist diagnosis. It will cost her about £3000 for the child and £400 for herself and its a total waste because it accepted on its own, it has to be confirmed by the nhs. That takes time though so doing the private route bypasses that initial wait. Oh and just for reference. I am currently writing this on my phone, switching back and forth between 3 different apps, messaging my daughter, who is still up, i have my headphones on playing music as loud as they will go. Im singing whilst also reading every word i write out loud in my head, the tv is on im watching tv with the subtitles on and im not missing any of it. Now try living inside me for a moment, just imagine that hell having yo grow up without ANY of those things that i now use to be able to stop the racing mindfuck that is my brain. I grew up without screens my daughter grew up with them my mum was 47 before the first home pc’s and iphones were released and do you know what? We are the same person (as my son once told us after listening to us talking together for 10 minutes and having to walk away because it span his head) my mum left school at 13 moved in with a 27 year old and had her first child at 16. Yet has an IQ of 158 and the largest EQ and empathy most people could only ever hope for. She always felt different and was never supported. I left school at 17 but i had left home at 16. I joined the navy at 18 got married at 23 had my first child at 25 etc etc etc i always felt different but was only supported by my mum, i have an IQ of 146 high EQ and empathy. My daughter however? Well she is still in college at 18, still lives at home, has no intention of ever getting pregnant, is planning on going to university next year, also has no intention of ever having a boyfriend or husband as she is gay/pan has an IQ of 160 (just tested now that shes 18) high EQ and empathy. My mum has written books, my daughter runs a business and i am an advocate for social justice, benefits advisor and an HLTA. Screens mean dick. My mum and i grew up being FORCED to go out, do things, be sociable etc etc (me much less than her of course as she was a very different parent than her own) however she will stay in a dark room with lights off (big light eapecially) curtains closed and she is not depressed, she is happy. She is comfortable. She is doing what she wants to do but was never allowed to do. I almost never leave the house, I also prefer to be in my actual bed, curtains closed, animals sleeping next to me, i am not depressed. I am happy, i like my life and me very much. I am doing what makes me comfortable. I am able to do this because i am a veteran, I receive a war pension and naval disability pension and no longer need to work. My daughter never used want to leave the house. Or go to places, have friends, etc etc however she was also never made to and now she chooses to. Call it ND or not the truth here is that if you continue to force your children to do things that they aren't comfortable with and dont teach them accountability and decision making skills, what a natural consequence is, then thats the problem with the kids today. Not omg lazy parenting and screen addiction! Its the tv crisis of the 60’s for crying out loud and the playstation crisis of the 2000’s learn to actually parent your kids. Learn to recognise that your children are people in their own right with valid thoughts, feelings and skills and that if they dont meet the standards set by some arbitrary patriarchal capitalist society over 100 plus years ago, they can still be valuable, successful, happy people. If your child is a square peg and your trying to make them fit into a round hole, it isny time to shave the corners off of the child to make them fit. Its time for you as a parent to change the game so that tgere are square holes. I told my nan that when i was 15, about her foster daughter. She never spoke to me again. She died when i was 35. Some people dont like being told they are the problem in their life. Thats the thing with us AuADHD people though, we really couldnt give a fucking because once we cant see you, we dont think about you at all tbf. We go days in a hyperfocus without eating, sleeping or even going to the toilet. You think we’re going to stand up straight, pay attention, stop talking etc wtc because someone tells us to? Spend hours doing homework when 5 mins on the bus in the morning on the way to school/work etc still gets us an A? No. Dont be a lazy parent, pay attention to YOUR child, not crappy friends or people on here who dont know this child from adam and arent invested in any way.

My point if it’s not clear is that we need to allow prople to live authentically regardless of ND or NT. there is an emerging consensus that ND is actually the true state of humans and that we had it trained/broken out of us to make us into standard carbon copies of eachother who wouldn't question and would be good little workers and get married and have babies etc etc its back fired. The internet played a big part as did covid the me too movement, black lives matter, i stand with her, gender identity recognition, sexuality freedoms etc they've all shown people that ‘normal’ doesn't exist. That we can be, do, say, what we want and we are allowed to be happy. Rather than being a bad mother or a lazy parent, maybe this woman just learned that having a happy, living child is better than a ‘well adjusted and sociable’ but dead one from suicide because they weren't happy? And hadn't been taught what happiness was or how to be happy by parents who were just too preoccupied with making sure they fitted in and did what all the other children did. You may think thats a bit dramatic but look up the statistic on suicide aand attempted suicide each year and then tell me i’m wrong. Most of the responses ive read here sound like lazy parenting to me because they all say the same thing, like sheep. No one actually thinking, all just doing what they were told to. Ive quoted myself btw in the hopes that if anyone actually managed to read what i wrote without wanting to rip out their own eyes and decided yo reply, having the whole thing posted again underneath would make them think twice. Its an awful thread from original post to the end and i think people need to wake the fuck up

Odearr · 15/08/2024 03:26

I think it does a disservice to ND kids that people think they need to be on a tablet 24/7
Autistic kids existed long before iPads.
they won't be able to learn any other kind of self soothing/self regulation if that's all they're given. I'm autistic and so is my kid, we both could easily sit on screens all day every day but we don't, there was a period of time where he was on it a lot because I was in the middle of a mental health crisis and it was not good for his behaviour or mood at all to have so much screen time.
there's been times I've struggled to get off my phone especially when hyper fixated on something but it does my mental Helen no good either. So we limit it and do other things

Hunglikeapolevaulter · 15/08/2024 07:18

@GoodLordyTheExcusesWeMakeForThem

That is some Olympic gold medal level me-railing.
No of course ND children shouldn't be glued to devices 24/7 either.

PerkyMintDeer · 15/08/2024 07:29

Odearr · 15/08/2024 03:26

I think it does a disservice to ND kids that people think they need to be on a tablet 24/7
Autistic kids existed long before iPads.
they won't be able to learn any other kind of self soothing/self regulation if that's all they're given. I'm autistic and so is my kid, we both could easily sit on screens all day every day but we don't, there was a period of time where he was on it a lot because I was in the middle of a mental health crisis and it was not good for his behaviour or mood at all to have so much screen time.
there's been times I've struggled to get off my phone especially when hyper fixated on something but it does my mental Helen no good either. So we limit it and do other things

As an AuDHDer I completely agree. I'm glad my own parents were strict with screen time and routines. It very literally would have ruined my life had I been allowed free reign to do whatever I wanted. I never would have got through school or been able to be financially independent. I probably wouldn't have had any friends, or even a close relationship with family. I just would have constantly been on screens. I use my phone a bit now to self regulate after work but again, I have to be strict about a cut off time or I will quite literally be awake all night and my students won't have a lecturer in the morning and I'd be out of a job and home eventually.

There is a very definite correlation in my case between more screen time and worsening mental and physical health as well as much poorer executive functioning. Giving me a tablet/phone whenever I want one would actually be a cruel thing to do. I need boundaries and cut offs.

And I know how to have a cut off because my parents taught me, from childhood. It was absolutely the best thing for me even though it was probably very difficult for them to instigate with an AuDHD child who was really struggling.

usernother · 15/08/2024 07:30

Your friend is a rubbish, lazy parent.

BlueBlahBlah · 15/08/2024 08:51

Well we can see why @GoodLordyTheExcusesWeMakeForThem is advocating for all the screen time! You need to get off the internet and get some sleep hun!

Pippetypoppity · 15/08/2024 09:59

mollyfolk · 12/08/2024 01:34

What was the full conversation. Was worried about this? Honestly if they have both spend the whole summer in their house with the 5 year old on her tablet then I would be thinking your friend is depressed or suffering in some way.

Well said. She probably needs your friendship not criticism Op.

GoodLordyTheExcusesWeMakeForThem · 15/08/2024 10:43

BlueBlahBlah · 15/08/2024 08:51

Well we can see why @GoodLordyTheExcusesWeMakeForThem is advocating for all the screen time! You need to get off the internet and get some sleep hun!

People like you are the reason people like me suffer so much in this world. AuADHD doesn’t require screentime. Individuals are exactly that, individuals. We are all different and the fact that my specific health conditions mean im up for 3-4 days straight and then crash for two full days, shouldnt be something you feel the need to comment on. The fact is that my brain needs 5 or 6 external things to be going on to distract it so that i am able to concentrate. There are many different types and degrees of AuADHD and medical conditions that people suffer from and im ashamed on behalf of all the godawful posters who are so judgemental and stuck in their ways that they cant see a person as a person and are only able to see them in terms of what they are doing right or wrong based on a social construct dictated by a patriarchal, capitalist agenda designed to keep the masses behaving like sheep. Well done sheeple….. baaah baah baah. Keep it up, you're doing great!

BlueBlahBlah · 15/08/2024 10:52

GoodLordyTheExcusesWeMakeForThem · 15/08/2024 10:43

People like you are the reason people like me suffer so much in this world. AuADHD doesn’t require screentime. Individuals are exactly that, individuals. We are all different and the fact that my specific health conditions mean im up for 3-4 days straight and then crash for two full days, shouldnt be something you feel the need to comment on. The fact is that my brain needs 5 or 6 external things to be going on to distract it so that i am able to concentrate. There are many different types and degrees of AuADHD and medical conditions that people suffer from and im ashamed on behalf of all the godawful posters who are so judgemental and stuck in their ways that they cant see a person as a person and are only able to see them in terms of what they are doing right or wrong based on a social construct dictated by a patriarchal, capitalist agenda designed to keep the masses behaving like sheep. Well done sheeple….. baaah baah baah. Keep it up, you're doing great!

Honestly @GoodLordyTheExcusesWeMakeForThem , I only read maybe your first or second post, I haven’t bothered after that - there’s just too much and I can’t be bothered/am not particularly interested. I will just say I think you’re probably a bit too invested in this thread and you should possibly just concentrate on yourself. The thread wasn’t about you or “people like you” so it really feels like your wasting your time somewhat.

Miaowm · 15/08/2024 10:56

There is so much to do with a 5 year old:

  • walk to the shop
  • local playgrounds
  • puddle jumping
  • colouring and stickers
  • helping with household jobs
  • baking
  • puzzles
  • playdough
  • film afternoon
  • playing games
  • reading
  • trip to library or ducks
WhatNoRaisins · 15/08/2024 11:02

If this person is so depressed that they can't take their 5 year old out or interact with them very much to the point that they spend all their time on screens then that family had issues that won't be resolved with kind words from friends. They need proper intervention.

GoodLordyTheExcusesWeMakeForThem · 15/08/2024 11:04

BlueBlahBlah · 15/08/2024 10:52

Honestly @GoodLordyTheExcusesWeMakeForThem , I only read maybe your first or second post, I haven’t bothered after that - there’s just too much and I can’t be bothered/am not particularly interested. I will just say I think you’re probably a bit too invested in this thread and you should possibly just concentrate on yourself. The thread wasn’t about you or “people like you” so it really feels like your wasting your time somewhat.

Like i said, you are what causes ND people to suffer. If you had any clue what it’s like to live inside a ND brain, youd understand the reason i feel invested. The fact that you. Ant be bothered to understand just proves my point. Sheeple. Id rather be me than you. At least i can say i live authentically and i like me. I can tell from your posts you cant say the same. This thread is for the most part thoroughly disgusting and it’s shameful. Im ashamed for you.

BlueBlahBlah · 15/08/2024 11:09

Just read the first sentence: “you are what causes ND people to suffer”
Am I? Okaaaaaayyyyy.

BlueBlahBlah · 15/08/2024 11:11

@GoodLordyTheExcusesWeMakeForThem I can see that perhaps you’re not very well so I’ll refrain from saying what I am fully thinking, but honestly I think it’s probably in your best interests to step away from this now.

GoodLordyTheExcusesWeMakeForThem · 15/08/2024 13:28

BlueBlahBlah · 15/08/2024 11:11

@GoodLordyTheExcusesWeMakeForThem I can see that perhaps you’re not very well so I’ll refrain from saying what I am fully thinking, but honestly I think it’s probably in your best interests to step away from this now.

go fuck yourself middle finger GIF

I ciupdnt agree more, but please dint hold back on my account. Nothing you say will make any difference to me or my mental wellbeing or health. Ive been dealing with ignorant people my entire life. I dont hold back when trying to educate them and i expect no different in return. Of course ive not read anything the least bit educational here just awful judgement and an ‘i know best and that woman is lazy, abusive etc etc and needs proper interventions, her 5 year old needs better parents’ yet none of you, or i, actually know anything more than what a clearly uneducated and judgemental ‘friend’ has chosen to share. It flaberghasts me how you all sleep at night when this level of ignorance would keep me up at night in a hyper focus trying to learn everything i could to give the best possible advice. If i wasn't already forced to stay awake for days at a time. I still try to give rhe best advice and educate not throw derisive bitchiness at people because they might have a better understanding of parenting than i do. I wonder how many of these posters have the qualifications to make the comments they have? I do and i chose to undertake that education and gain those qualifications so that i could be a better parent. How many of you can say the same? How many of you consider the child and their individual needs, first and foremost? Not many from what ive read. Im just glad im not the ops friend. We wouldn't be friends for long because id have ripped her a fucking new one by now. With friends like her you dont beed enemies. I personally wish i knew this woman and could advocate on her and her childs behalf against the sea of ignorance being shoved in her face. She deserves better and you all deserve the sheeple existence you're content to live in. Fuck about find out. Statistics show the life you’re you are creating for your children. Good luck, suck it

GoodLordyTheExcusesWeMakeForThem · 15/08/2024 13:37
sheeple herding GIF

Please don't @ me, respond or quote. I can see that you're not worth the energy i need to expend trying to explain a concept you’re not capable of understanding. I am currently lying here in the end stages of genetic pancreatitis at 44, my father died of it at age 46 and i won’t outlast him. Yet i still took time and energy to try and actually help. That is why i am so disgusted by this thread. The idea of dying while this level of ignorance still exists in the world makes me incredibly sad. Still, at least i know I’ve made sure my children will be happy and well adjusted people and not because i forced them to be but because i encouraged them to learn the right way to do things for themselves.

Hunglikeapolevaulter · 15/08/2024 13:48

Yet i still took time and energy to try and actually help.

I'm sorry you're very unwell but you didn't help on this thread, you berated and massively derailed.
I'd genuinely suggest saving your energy to look after yourself and your immediate circle, no-one changed the world by arguing on the internet.

Cheesecakelunch · 15/08/2024 15:39

FromAClosetInNorway · 12/08/2024 10:51

Not taking your child out to a single place during the holidays, allowing them to watch screens all day until 2am etc, is shit, lazy parenting. It's got nothing to do with ND. Yes screens can help children regulate and self sooth but it shouldn't be encouraged.

I will be flamed but I just don't understand how one can justify tablets and screens helping to regulate or self soothe even an ND child. That's basically an electronic dummy then.

I've witnessed a parent I know give an iPad to her young DC as they were having a meltdown and literally effing and blinding for the ipad. It was very sad to see it.

Vicious circle and a very sad slippery slope.

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