Our Aspergers Teenage Boy

Dad reports:
Tommy was allowed to stay up last night and put himself to sleep when he pleased. He chose 3am. What mood do you think he’ll be in today?

The current tick. Tommy is into circles and spinning. Every few minutes he points his finger and spins it as if he were stirring some tea. Simultaneously he rolls his head and eye balls. It’s quite the sight. At dinner last night he couldn’t pickup up his glass to have a drink without moving the glass in a circle and every time he’d place an item on his fork he had to circle the plate once with the fork.

I’m not bothered by this tick. It’s quite interesting to watch but sometimes you do want to reach across the table and make him be still. Other questions that go through my mind are “is he exaggerating this to try to get a reaction?” Last night he picked up the placard on the restuarant table advertising the desserts and flicked his finger on the card making a loud popping noise. He instantly looked up to see if either Mom or myself took notice. A second later he did it again louder and quickly glanced up at Mom to see if he got a response. Then it was my turn. This went on a couple of minutes until he realized we were not going to react. So, he does do things specifically to try to get a reaction but I really don’t think he’s doing the circles for an audience. I think its comforting to him.

Mom reports: Tommy’s favorite expression these days is “You hear me but you are not listening to me.” It translates to “You are not agreeing with me like you should.” Also popular is “Why must we discuss everything” and “That is not my job.” The last one was told to me tonight because I have fallen behind on laundry (again) and he was beyond annoyed not to have his jammies clean, folded and waiting in his drawer. I had the impudence to suggest that he do his own laundry once in a while (instead of cramming it all under his bed and waiting for it to magically re-appear clean and folded in his dresser). According to Tommy, the laundry is all MY job and not his job. Thanks for clearing that up for me Tommy.

Dad reports:
For the past two nights we have forgotten to give Tommy his bedtime dose of 25mg Seroquel. Last night at 10:30 I had to take his book away from him as he snuck reading without glasses under the covers. This morning he rose at 6:30 on his own. He has been amiable and happy. Was it the reduced Seroquel or was it the promise of getting to eat a blueberry muffin? Tommy says it was the muffin.

Dad reports:
Here’s an example of how the Aspie mind works in our child.

Tommy is getting ready to have breakfast. He says “oh yeah. I forgot to tell you my bus driver called last night and said he will be here at 7:25. He pulls out the cereal, a spoon and milk. As he sets them on the table at 7:16 he sees his bus. He moans “oooouuuh. My bus is here.” and walks to the door. Task had to change. The thought of the milk spoiling on the table never crosses his mind. When asked about it he growls in frustration because he has to be going out the door to the bus and diverting his attention to a few seconds to put the milk away is counter to the task at hand. He manages to squeak out an almost polite request for me to put it away and I acquiesce.

Dad reports:
Yesterday there was no school so Tommy refused to get dressed. Since the aspie support group was tonight and Mom had a meeting I had hoped Tommy would join us for a trip to the library. He normally enjoys the library. Yesterday though he refused to bathe or get dressed and had such a smell to him that no exception could be made. He had to be left which I am certain has become a reward for him. “Oh! I’m staying home alone. You mean I can eat anything I want and watch anything I want?” Some battles aren’t worth fighting.

This morning he has barked at me each time I’ve tried to stir him.

Dad reports:
Tommy had a great time at Dungeons and Dragons but for the first half I’d say that the rest of us were not having nearly as good a time as he was. At one point he was talking such nonsense and laughting so hysterically that if I was not familar with Tommy and saw him at that moment I’d say he was stoned.

At first Tommy would not sit down and as he said inappropriate things such as responding with “I go play on the rocks” when the rest of the group said, “Let’s quickly break camp” he would pace through the house. I finally got him to park it on the couch. He found himself very amusing. Threats to send him to the car or leave did not seem to help.

Finally he pulled it together somewhat after I took the threat and turned it into a proposal. I addressed the group and said, “I propose we make this a stopping point as I don’t feel Tommy can hold it together.” Tommy got real serious for a bit.

In the end we had a talk with Tommy and told him that the game was more fun the second half of the night and that his shenanigans slow down the game and take the fun away. In the car I asked him, “did you realize that you were the only one laughing?” He responded with “I do now.”

Dad reports this morning:
Tommy started off his day by actually getting up then dropping his shoe on his foot so he proceeded with crying, howling and yelling but e’vr so briefly. He seems to want to slip into fussing about something but just doesn’t seem to be able to hold it. A few minutes later he tried to rouse a fight over who drank the last of the milk but again could not maintain the energy behind his anger. He quickly slips out of the anger into conversational happiness.

His psychiatrist has given us a go ahead to reduce his seroquel intake by 25mg if we want. His therapist thinks this will help his weight although his eatting is down. He even skipped breakfast this morning stating “I’m not hungry.” Since it is a dosage he takes at an odd time we have forgotten on several occasions and can’t be certain if the results of not taking it are good or not. However, things are going well enough right now that after talking it over Mom and I don’t want to rock the boat so we are continuing the dosage as is.

Dad reports this morning:
Tommy was given his medicine at 6:15 this morning. On his own he wandered into the kitchen at 6:45 for a drink. I had already served out scrambled eggs at that point and suggested that he sit and enjoy some breakfast. He had to get dressed first but instead of getting dressed he sat on his bed until the bus tooted its horn then he rushed to get dressed and ran out the door without food.

I wonder if he’ll spend the $5 he was given for lunch at bowling on breakfast instead?

Dad reports:
On Saturday nights we let Tommy stay up late watching dvds, reading and what not. On Sunday mornings (noon) he is always crabby. It could be the anticipation of Monday but I tend to think that if Tommy goes to bed after 8:30pm he’s a crab the next day.

Today seemed to start off well for Tommy. He actually got up and prepared himself for school. For a moment it appeared that he was going to try to work himself up but I think he is having a more difficult time maintaining that negative energy.

What causes a person to be so addicted to negativity and how do you teach them to like good things?

Dad reports:
Apparently Tommy needs to have a good upset in the morning to allow himself a good day at school. Today Tommy not only did not have problems but he worked in school and participated in class activities!