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Help!

alan kelly's picture
Submitted by alan kelly on Thu, 06/07/2012 - 11:43

I have an eleven year old boy with autism and am just wodering if anyone can help us with the following problem. My son has a huge collection of toys that he insists stay on his bed, they are like his comfort blanket and they take up the whole bed. Really uncomfortable but he refuses to sleep without them. To make matters worse he also wants his younger brother to share the bed with him and obviously younger sibling complains about the discomfort etc and general mayhem ensues. Mark has irrational fears and is scared of ghosts and monsters etc. On the occasional night where bribery has worked and younger brother has been allowed sleep in his own bed Mark has accepted the bribe, hardly slept at all seeking constant reassurance that brother will rejoin him the next night. Any helpful suggestions?

Comments

3
seebert's picture
Submitted by seebert on Fri, 06/08/2012 - 11:20

Four good suggestions:

1.  A super soaker full of "Monster Spray"- mix a little peppermint oil with water for him to shoot ghosts and monsters with.

2.  Additional shelving for the toys *within reach of the bed*.  Cheap plastic shelving units is what worked for my son.  Additional idea for coping with the unreasonable fears- LED ropes on the shelving for "Monster and Ghost Fencing" (might include a viewing of the original Ghostbusters movie with this change).

3.  Younger sibling in same room in *different* bed, but with the same toy armament against ghosts and monsters.

4.  Bigger bed :-).  Ok, that last is more of a farce than a suggestion- the other things I suggested are relatively cheap in comparison.

alan kelly's picture
Submitted by alan kelly on Mon, 06/11/2012 - 12:55

Thanks for your suggestions! Have tried the shelving but love the led light fencing idea. Will definitely give it a try.

Ngon Cat's picture
Submitted by Ngon Cat on Thu, 06/14/2012 - 01:02

Hello!

 

I think it would be nice if you have a "walkie talkie",  this way if anything happen he know you can always be there for him.  Also, it would be nice if you let your child choose his own night light. This way you can say" The night light can keep the monster and ghost away. So if the monster/ ghost still bother you, use the walkie talkie and I will be there to right away. Before that, it would be nice if you did a little role play to give your child an idea how it is. This will be a nice way to  reassurance for your child. I hope this help .Also,  I was wondering if you can help me answer what are the 3 reason/ trend that you decided to sign up for this blog site? I am working on a project and it be very nice to read your concerns and comment. 

Thank you, 

 

Ngon Cat