King of the Castle

[mrsforgetful]

Alex was in the garden today and the next door little girl was on top her slide saying

"I'm the King of the Castle" etc

Alex was angry and shouting

"No HE's not"

I asked him why and he said "He is King of the SLIDE"

This is one of the many 'exacting' obsevations which are becoming more and more frequent at the moment...and also his insistance at calling HER a HE

(i hoped he'd say "She is Queen of the Castle!!!)

meant to add that he really could not accept that she was pretending to be on a catle...as far as he was concerned she was on her slide.

also before that she saw a butterfly which she called Angelina after a story where Angelina Ballereina puts a butterfly in a jar....and since then my little neighbour calls all butterflies angelina...now Alex was cross about this too.....he said "Angelina is a mouse....not a butterfly"....I said to him that this was what his friend wanted to pretend they were called and he could not accept this at all!

She is almost a year younger than Alex and he cannot understand her imaginary games....yesterday they were playing hide and seek and she was wearing his police costume...when she found him she wanted to put him inside the climing frame as a PRISON and he flatly refused....i suppose he sees it as a climbing frame and nothing else...like when he wears the police costume he simply wanders round wearing it...he does not 'pretend ' to be a police man.

TBH i feel i am just waiting for this to become a problem at school.....i am sure whrer this is heading....and i am not scared!!!!!! I am just out to prove the statistics all wrong!!!!! I am going to singlehandedly ensure that the town where we live has more than the 1% of autism that is said to be the case!!!

Mrsforgetful, you must have read my mind today! I was going to post earlier because I took my ds to Luton Carnival and I noticed his behaviour more than usual today.

The floats were coming by slowly and I was (stupidly perhaps) trying to talk to my sister standing beside me. Every time my ds noticed something he pointed it out, but he HAD to have me acknowledge what he said and look at what he'd seen or he would just repeat it over and over and over again until I did.

It was quite wearing - there was so much going on and he had to point EVERYthing out. Normally, he just points at things like "train" or "dog" or "cat", but you can imagine what he saw of interest at the carnival! He then started crying because he was cold and we had to go indoors.

I should be grateful that his speech is excellent for his age and people always comment on how polite he is, but I always wonder if they would say the same thing if they spent the whole day with him. It is the same if he can't read something and I HAVE to read it there and then or he throws a paddy. Doesn't matter if I am in the middle of a shower or taking hot stuff out of the oven, he has to be answered. Arrrghhhh! Ooh, that's better!

MrsF, 1%??? Is that the national stats or just for your town? Is it very small???? There must be a very high %age of autism in Luton, I feel sure.

i don't really know the percentages...... i just know they are wrong!!!!!!!!

It's just so hard when it is so constant isn't it......no break no respite and no giving in!

My mum has dropped subtle hints by phone to my husband that i have not been round for 3 weeks.....feel i am avoiding her as i get anoyed that she cannot accept the 'life' i have....feel she would if they were physically disabled...as it is she just thinks i let them play the playstation too much.I prefer to stay home- they are all happier and with alex being as he is at the moment i feel if i were there then i'd not relax as he'd be bound to touch or braek something!

your son has AS and ADHD and is on ritalin (or similar)???....well last night Thomas (AS ADHD) was awake most of the night....we were unaware of this till this morning when my husband compared notes with me as he and i had both been in to him several times in the night and we worked out between us he'd had less than 3 hours sleep.....he's on Melatonin....but as it's the holidays i think he's affected by the different routines etc....and i notice that melatonin cannot overide it all!

Damnit! I was going to ask the consultant about Melatonin! 3 hours is no good for anyone is it, you poor loves. My ds usually takes at least 2 hours - if not more to fall asleep and then he is up as the sun is rising, singing or chatting to himself - and waking me up in the process.

Is Thomas on Ritalin too? I remember thinking today, as I often do that my ds and myself couldn't cope without Ritalin...it is a necessary evil and I put off giving it to him for so long. He would not be in mainstream without it.

My ds is also on 4 EyeQ, for about 4.5 months and I cannot take him off this either as his behaviour deteriorates so quickly and he becomes more violent. It is usually directed at me and he has in the past given me a right pasting. £16 a month is a small price to pay for me not to look like I've done 10 rounds with Tyson, even if I feel like it.

You are probably right to expect this to become a problem at school - sorry, my memory is not as good as yours - is he at school yet? Is he/will he be in mainstream? Although my ds is extremely academic, his social behaviour is poor, and he has been bullied in the past because of it. The last incident was when he was screaming blue murder in the toilets and his TA came running. She found him hysterical, as 2 older boys had been looking under the cubicle door at him. He knows this isn't right and tbh he was doing a poo and HATES even me to be in the bathroom at the same time, bless him (I've smelled it all before!). Luckily the teacher took this very seriously (it could have been a girl, then all hell would have broken loose!) and they got severely reprimanded. They really didn't bargain on being made deaf by his screaming, but in my opinion, the incident affected him quite badly.

Yes, they are hard work but boy, aren't they just the most gorgeous when they are asleep?

Hi!

Go for the melatonin......it is only extremely on rare occaisions that he remains a 'bushbay'...bright eyed and bushy tailed.....melatonin is truly a miracle as far as i am concerned- thomas is on it through the paed and she also know leigh takes it 'unofficially'....i have to get some from america as she limits the prescription!!!

it's funny really but although tom had been awake so much the night before we were still shocked when by eight last night he was asleep- he was woken up at 11 this morning by me!! So guess this is where the melatonin helps as he'd had it at 7....and he obviously needed to catch up from the last night's performance....but pre melatonin he would have been lucky to have eve been asleep by 11 or 12 EVERY night. Today after such a long sleep he is very happy- but melatonin or not i cannot bank on him getting 12+ hours sleep every night as he is 10 and he'd not think much of me 'drugging' him early (say 5pm!!! )so in bed at 7 every night!!!!

yes Alex is in reception...and so far they have noted his poor attention (though suprised at his ability at despite appearing to be not listening he is retaining much imformation.)He fidgets alot and is rarely sits still and they have noticed his immature speech...and the way he shortens sentances to the minimal words...ie insted of "can i read a book" he will say "book"...at home he will say "drink" if he needs one....however he does talk in full sentances when he is 'just talking' ...this single word stuff seems to apply to 'requests'

leigh my 7 yr old will sometimes say "leigh hungry" etc....so there is a chance that alex is simply copying....i am trying to remain objective....but the way he plays in the garden is a concern