Our Aspergers Teenage Boy

Tommy isn’t allowing himself to sleep. What’s that mean? The possibilites: 1) he is tossing and turning to try to stay awake 2) he’s reading, playing (let’s leave that one open), or eatting or 3) he is genuinely restless and can’t sleep

Dad reports:
For the entire 20 minute car ride from school part way home back to the school and home Tommy sucked his lip making a noise like someone sipping a super thick milkshake through a straw.

He seems calm and apparently had a good day. Actually has homework! (that’s why we had to return to school. It was “left” there. No accusations were made.)

Tommy should have a hickey on his lip for all the sucking he did on it during the car ride to school. We had some chit chat and I got one slug bug on him. There’s a piece of me that likes to challenge him in the car with silence because I feel its the ONLY time he actually is quiet. He seemed calm entering the school.

Tommy is re-reading Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix He began with reading time on Tuesday night. This morning he was on page 611. I asked “Why did you skip ahead?” and he replies “I didn’t.” I have a hard time believing he read 611 pages in 1 day. Even if he skimmed that much, that can’t be pleasurable and he has to be missing things. Is he reading at all? Or using the book to hide in?

More banging upstairs. Absolutely no attempt to be quiet. Also mouth noises “woosh” and sucking noises.

This doesn’t seem like a formula for a good day. But! He is up and perhaps he’s dressed. That’s positive!

Ah. He’s now upstairs kicking the floor. This is the “Wake Everyone Gambit.” Tommy knows that if he threatens to wake the baby who should sleep until between 8 and 9 (she’s been getting up at 8 but we wish for 9) or wake his mother that I’ll have to go upstairs and intervene; ergo, the confrontation that he so desires. He’s pulling hard for negative attention right now. I suppose the correct response should be to overwhelm him with position attention. Interesting, he stopped on his own. Perhaps he just wanted me to know that he’s still lying in bed.

Dad reports this morning:
* Tommy has trouble on his face this morning
* Got meds at 6:45 and was told at 7:04 “Breakfast time. If you haven’t eatten by the time I return from carpool, you skip breakfast.” When I returned at 7:25 Tommy, lying in his pajamas in bed, says “I ate breakfast, the only thing is I gulped my milk.” I respond “so? You always gulp.” He replies “yes but I don’t feel good” And I tell him “gulping milk won’t make you ill, get up” and then part company to get some coffee. As I pass his room to go downstairs he gives a look that seems to say “why won’t you fight with me this morning?” I know the routine. He will now lie in bed until I’m ready to walk out of the house then he will get dressed at the last possible moment. If I go up there to try to get him to get dressed, he will look for battles. I also know the correct way to deal with this is to go upstairs and distract by having pleasant conversations about other things and within the conversations encourage him to get dressed; but I also know that if I just stay away from him that we will end up at the same place and staying away is less work but doesn’t help him learn.