Active discussions

Please or to access all these features

Talk
SN children

Here are some suggested organisations that offer expert advice on special needs.

Original poster

Can you have AS without obsessions?

44 replies

Ben10isthespawnofthedevil · 08/04/2011 15:13

DS is ticking the boxes ie difficulties with transitions, communication and social issues, imaginative play etc except he does not have an overriding obsession. Has already got dyspraxia and sensory processing problems DX.

He likes to watch the same programmes and films over and over and listen to the same songs on repeat endlessly. He collects Bakugan and likes dinosaurs but not to obsessive extremes that I have read about.

If you have a DC with AS do they all have a obsession? I am off to the Paed in May and will be mentioning my concerns but I wonder whether I am reading too much into it if he does not to have the complete triad of impariments.... Confused

OP posts:
IndigoBell · 08/04/2011 15:15

Yes, you can have AS without obsessions.....

ArthurPewty · 08/04/2011 15:33

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

SanctiMoanyArse · 08/04/2011 15:58

It's just one example fo behavioural AS D traits, a common one but no more.

it's like sayiong you can have a cold without sneezing: of course you can.

ASD manifests differnetly in different people, it's a filter without the blocking the individual underneath (of course some fiulters are more opaque than others).

tabulahrasa · 08/04/2011 16:03

With DS I'd describe it as a very strong interest rather than an all encompassing obsession - if you see what I mean.

That's what he wants to do and talk about and thinks about quite a lot of the time, it's not always the same one though, some last a few months and some a few years, but he wouldn't not eat while doing it or have a meltdown if it wasn't convenient for him to do/watch whatever at that time, he'd moan though, lol. He'd object quite strongly to being interrupted while doing/watching/playing his current thing as well, but again not a complete meltdown. Oh and he does like things that need you to be a bit obsessive, collections of things (we've done nearly the whole set of Thomas, then Pokemon, then Yu-Gi-Oh)

But it is definitely a stronger than normal interest - it's a bit like, you know when toddlers first discover a TV programme? and they want everything they see in the shops for that character and want to carry them all round at once, they'll watch the programme all the time if they can - even if there are only ten episodes and they've seen them 600 times already and their bedtime story is a book about that programme, and they want to listen to the songs that come from it, they'll draw that character and scenes from the programme, but they'll quite happily go off and do something else they enjoy and it doesn't really interfere with day to day life...only he's 9 and it's dinosaurs or 12 and it's Yu-Gi-Oh or 14 and warhammer, lol (the current one)

moosemama · 08/04/2011 17:59

As tabluahrasa said, my ds has very strong interests rather than total obsessions and new ones come and go fairly regularly. He is consistent in adoring his nintendo dsi, but his favourite games come and go, with each one lasting a few months - during that time though, he has to learn everything he can about the game and will talk your ears of about the minutae of it.

When he was younger it mostly manifested in him repeatedly watching the same television programmes and dvds, but not just one programme iyswim, he always had several on the go (eg at one point it was Scooby Doo and/or The Flintstones and/or Top Cat). I rou (sp?) the day he discovered that the Virgin TV on-demand had a kids section. Grin He will watch whole series of things one episode after the other, then start again with another programme, then go back to the first one etc. He is lord and master of the remote control in this house. Hmm

According to ds2 this is one of the worst thing about having a brother who has AS - he'd love to be able to watch what he wants occasionally. Actually, they've just had a huge bust up, because ds1 came home from school set on watching the Dennis and Gnasher dvd. Unfortunately, it had been put back in the wrong case, so he couldn't find it. Ds2 suggested watching something else, but no - ds1 said D&G or nothing. In the end I had to ban them from watching a dvd and sit them in separate rooms, one building lego - the other reading a book. Hmm

... and they are only in school for 6 days in April ....

tabulahrasa · 08/04/2011 18:17

Sky plus is fantastic for that, one can watch, one can record and watch later - made my life so much easier, lol

EllenJane1 · 08/04/2011 18:23

Yes, I'm afraid one overriding obsession hasn't always been the case for my DS. He has rolling obsessions, which can last for a few days up to a few months, 2, 3 or 4 at a time. It's not like OCD in my DS's case, they aren't that strong, but he did like to watch the same scene in Harry Potter over and over when he was 3 for a few weeks, which I classed as an obsession. He'd watch lots of Spongbob and go on Spongbob websites a few years ago. That seemed more like a special interest than an obsession. Currently he is very obsessed with Final Fantasy, a computer game, (he's watching you tube clips of other people playing it on his I pod, as I type.) He's 11 now and this current obsession has been his strongest and most long lasting. Yawn!

So, it's a wide old spectrum. Lots of opposing symptoms in different people still lead to the same DX. Sorry, probably not what you want to hear.

StarlightMcKenzie · 08/04/2011 18:24

My ds doesn't have any obsessions. But I'm not sure if he doesn't or if we are just quick to move him on.

wraith · 08/04/2011 18:28

define obsession if by obsession you mean doing the same thing for a insane amount of time without regard to anything else... like reading 15 novels in a single sitting

then a non obsession could simply be the same with taking breaks for annoying requirments like eating toileting breathing..

you can have a strong interest without it being an obsession.

Toughasoldboots · 08/04/2011 18:39

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Ineedalife · 08/04/2011 18:49

Pretty similar story here too, Dd3 has lots of things which she obsesses about, ie her Go Go's have to be in a line and things have to be in the right place but she doesn't have an all consuming obsession.

The closest she comes is with her telly programmes, she has gone from Come outside to Horrid Henry and now it's Tracy Beaker.

I would say it is definatly possible to have an ASD but not a consuming obsession.

FollowMe · 08/04/2011 18:55

DS has AS and doesnt really have obsessions.
The only thing that comes close is computers/any kind of small hand held games things, which he is incredibly interested in and has to be limited on.
He watches the same DVDs over and over again and often the same parts within a DVD on repeat, but will change which DVD he is focused on every couple of months or so.

Original poster
Ben10isthespawnofthedevil · 08/04/2011 19:02

Thank you ladies.....

Am I wrong in actually wanting him to be dxed with AS/ASD? It would explain lots esp transition problems and having noone to play with in the playground. Also people "know" what AS/ASD is rather than what he has been DXed with so far. It would also help me access support groups of which there are none that we "qualify" for at the moment. He would still be the same boy whichever DX he has Confused

He plays with toys in the way that he has seen them on the TV or in cartoons and you can't for example play Bakugan in a different way than the way that they do in the cartoon. He can't lose at a game etc. It is definitely strong interests but probably not to the extent that some of your DCs have - maybe because he is only 5?

Not looking for an online DX BTW....just sounding out my thoughts having kicked off with the school again using phrases like "if he was in a wheelchair you wouldn't let him be treated like this, so why is it any different for an invisible disability". Also borrowed a phrase from someone on here (thank you whoever you were) about "entrusting my son to Miss S for his academic and emotional education and her failing in her duty of care to him". Feathers have been ruffled and I have asked for him to be moved class mid year but we shall see what happens...

Rant rant rant sorry....

OP posts:
Original poster
Ben10isthespawnofthedevil · 08/04/2011 19:03

At the moment it is the fish that eat the dead skin from your feet. I am not joking when I say that I have spent £30 this week on taking her to them. She doesn't even have hard skin- she says that she likes them 'snuffling' her feet.

The skin eating fish really give me the creeps just thinking about it Grin

OP posts:
Original poster
Ben10isthespawnofthedevil · 08/04/2011 19:07

Followme

I think our DS's should be friends. They can play DS/PS3/XBOX and replay the same DVD 3 times a week - if I have to sit through Hulk vs Thor again I might scream!

OP posts:
Original poster
Ben10isthespawnofthedevil · 08/04/2011 19:45

Sorry if I caused offence to anyone by saying that I was hoping for the DX due to the increasing understanding/ access to services etc. Have been thinking that it might have been insensitive to say that for some people who are struggling with accepting a DX. .

OP posts:
moosemama · 08/04/2011 19:55

My ds didn't have any obvious obsessions or special interests when he was 5, other than 'favourite' videos and dvds which were watched ad infinitum. Fortunately, at that age he hadn't yet discovered tv on-demand.

Original poster
Ben10isthespawnofthedevil · 08/04/2011 20:32

DS knows all of the numbers of all of the Sky channels and how to operate Sky+ Grin

OP posts:
moosemama · 08/04/2011 21:03

Grin Poor ds2 still can't work the remote controls (he's 7 next week) because ds'1 has never let him have a go!

He can't put dvds or videos on in their room by himself either, as ds1 always insists on doing it. Poor kid's going to leave home completely unable to use modern technology if this keeps up! Blush

Original poster
Ben10isthespawnofthedevil · 08/04/2011 21:05

Grin His big bro will have to come and "help" him Grin

OP posts:
moosemama · 08/04/2011 21:11

No chance, I reckon he'll leave home, change his name and head for the hills when the time comes. Grin

Its not easy being the ds1's little brother, poor boy.

StarlightMcKenzie · 10/04/2011 17:57

You should go all out for the dx that is the most useful to your ds, and nothing else.

justaboutWILLfinishherthesis · 10/04/2011 18:10

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster
Ben10isthespawnofthedevil · 10/04/2011 18:16

By this do you mean push for the AS/ASD DX?

OP posts:
justaboutWILLfinishherthesis · 10/04/2011 18:18

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.