He is like any other boy...and he has autism.
E was born in 2005, and does not have autism. He acts in ways that I had no idea about, laughs at my jokes, acts like a clown, plays with toys and watches spongebob too.
He is like any other boy...just like his brother
This is my musings, experiances, and anything else as the mum of one son with autism, and one son without it. I hope it makes a difference.
Night anixety....Lets see what the Dr says
I'm taking S to the Doctors tomorrow. I never take him to see the GP about his autism, because, to be honest I rarely have to see anyone. Its not a curable disease or something that can be "treated" with medication so I just carry on and deal with what ever is thrown at me. However Ive decided to take him because I want a referral to the children's mental health team.
Why do I want this? Because S is developing what I call Night anxiety (there probably is a technical term but I prefer my own!)
As soon as it gets dark S changes into a frightened little child who is scared of his own shadow. Anything makes him jump, he will not leave my side whatsoever and all lights must be on in the room we are in and surrounding rooms. Any noise will make him jump, even if its me asking him something, he will start to cry saying "I've scared him". His eyes flicker around the room as if hes looking for something and he sits huddled up with a frightened look on his face. He also suffers more and more with bad dreams and thinks that monsters are going to come and get him so i have to make sure there are no gaps in the curtains.
His whole persona changes, his face has a "scared look" on it, he talks in a baby voice and he shows signs of anxiety....fiddling with his hands and his general body language
Its getting to the point now where its becoming a problem, for him and for me so I need to try and stop it in its tracks before it takes over.
He only does it at home, which leads me to believe I know what the cause is. He is fine when he stays at his Dads (he says because its a flat nothing will get him because the monsters are not sure which flat to pick)
This leads me to believe that the underlying cause is the fact that we privately rent this house and he knows that someone else owns it, not us. Maybe this insecurity is causing the problem, thinking that we could be "kicked out" as the saying goes.
I'm trying to get a council house because I think that then I could tell him it is "our" house and we are never going to move again and this will stop a lot of his thoughts/anxieties. (I say trying, I have no idea of when/ if this is going to happen...another story in itself)
So we will see if the Doctor will refer him or if he just dismisses it as nothing, and I'll post what happens....in the meantime if you have any thoughts please leave a comment.
- tracy_tp
- Im a full time single mum of 2 boys. My eldest son is 9 and has autism, my 4 year old does'nt! im studying creative writing with the ou, and i'm a sci fi geek...sorry!
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3 comments:
I had this with my son, it started around the same age and coincided with his dad leaving us. I tried some visualisation techniques with him (a mild hypnosis) to calm him and ready him for sleep. He was never a good sleeper though, but once he reached 14 yrs he stopped waking me in the night and just watched tv or played games. I did try Phenergen for a while to aid his sleep, but I try to avoid any type of drugs where possible. When my daughter had trouble sleeping through anxiety I found Bach's flower remedies worked, but they did nothing for my son. I'll be interested in what your dr says. Mine was rubbish but mental health team where a little more useful and of course you need a referral.
If you want me to send you some visualisation techniques to try just ask.
lovely pic btw :-)
its interesting that you said it started around the same time and I often wonder if its because me and his dad are seperated...i think he worries without realising and it manifests its self as other things...i.e. the dark...maybe! i have tried flower remedies in the past, no effect either! once he is asleep he is fine unless the dreams start and he just gets into bed with me.
We will see what happend tomoz...i'll let you know. :0)
We have two boys with High Functioning Autism and a lot of what you write resonates with us. Our younger son, Cameron, has had difficulties with sleep since birth. It appears that his body clock just works differently, we were prescribed MELATONIN. Melatonin is a naturally occurring hormone that releases the right chemicals to induce sleep. It is non-addictive and completely safe and the dosage can be altered to suit circumstances. The only issue we have is that it can only be prescribed by a paediatrician and not a GP.
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