V worried DS Hearing voices in his head - anyone any experience?

[spacegirl]

DS has mentioned this a few times now that he has had voices in his head that tell him to do the wrong thing. I am more than a bit preturbed about it. I don't really know how to handle it and a reaaly worried. He is bright but struggles with school, no social skills and v low self esteem, he is emotionally v. flat. He has a very vivid unusual imagination. He is nearly 6. I just feel I can't ask other people if they have experienced this as it sounds crazy. So I don't know if it is common or what to do....?

His younger brother is probs going to be dx asd. Don't know if that is of relevence.

Don't panic as other children say this too. My ds has said it on more than one occasion. You mention his poor social skills etc. Do you think he may be on the autisitic spectrum?

My Mum is a senco and says that she has worked with children with ASD and ADHD who have also said stuff like this.

I don't know because he was quite early to talk and he has a good imagination (too vivid). He talks to other kids but is socially awkward. He is not great with affection or eye contact. My other son was v slow to speak has no imagination but is happy (minus tantrums) and not complicated. Something is not ok with DS don't know what but he doesn't like himself requires a lot of attention etc. The voices thing is realy worrying me and his unhappiness. Did you just ignore the voices thing?

ps Do you know if it just stops. He seems to be always having such a battle to do the right thing which he nearly always loses apart from when he has quality one to one. This worries him and he carries the weight of the world on shoulders.

Children with AS tend to have normal development of speech and generally want to be sociable although they often struggle due to poor social skills etc.

Ds has a good imagination and is very sociable although he often gets it wrong and now he is nearly 8 this is starting to cause problems with his peers. He has no dx but many traits of AS and ADHD.

I was a bit thrown when he first said to me about the voice in his head making him do things but Mum said that its not uncommon with children on the spectrum to describe it like this. Its not the same as auditory hallucinations that some experience with mental health problems.

It hasn't stopped for ds. He has 1:1 at school as he wouldn't cope without it. That doesn't mean that it will be the same with your ds though - every child is different.

I said to ds that the voice in his head was himself and that he didn't have to do the 'bad' thing but could choose to be 'good'.

Ds also suffers from a low self esteem and is often unhappy about the problems his behaviour causes him When he first started having real difficulties 2 1/2 years ago he told me that he wished he was dead so that he couldn't be naughty anymore. It broke my heart to hear him say that and even typing it now brings a lump to my throat. He was only 4 at the time and although I realise that he didn't understand what dead means it did show how very unhappy he was at the time Things are much better now but its still an ongoing battle for him.

Ta dusty. That makes sense. Have been panicking I haven't said the right thing as I didn't want to draw attention to it. Think I will get on with biting the bullet and trying to get some more help for all of us.

Dusty missed your second message. It is just gutting isn't it. Thanks for writing that down cause it so helps me just to know someone elses child has said similar things to mine. I have always been encouraging but DS can't seem to hear praise and store it for any length of time. Has you DS got a dx.

Not yet

It looks likely that he will get one of ADHD soon but not sure about AS as he doesn't quite tick all the boxes IYKWIM. He's definitely on the spectrum though.

I have heard that there is lots of over lap between AS and AD/HD. Hope your ds and you get the help you need.

I am not sure what to do next maybe start down the health route as he has been a worry/ challenge through out his little life. I just am a bit gutted as I know he is not following the "norm" and was more worried about him before all the stuff with DS2 took over. Just can't believe I have 2 son's that are going to need a bit of extra help. I love them but just wish life was more straight forward as it is hardwork and takes up lots of my head space. Even my little DD who I think is very NT copies their off beat behaviour.

They used to say it didn't run in families but the number of people on here who have more than one child with these sorts of problems shows that it can. I'm sorry that you are having to go through this again Probably the first step would be to talk to your GP and get a referral.

If you think back, lots of children at that age have imaginary friends or have voices in their head.

I would not get too alarmed too soon

It is more the the inner turmoil that he seems to constantly live in that worries me. The voices thing is prob a phase but it is negative stuff always not nice stuff. I am feeling more reassured that it is more normal than I thought!

Teacher has niggling concerns about him too, met with SENCO and her this week. Weird as my DH is close to denial about DS2 but has always said that there is something wrong with DS1. Maybe it is just his personality.