Ever wonder what it's like to live with Trey?

[GEBS]

Check out this video he posted on YouTube. This is a perfect example of what it's like to live with our Asperger's ADHD boy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rjx28QQXWg


:loveduv:


I love our little strange one.

[WitchOfEndor]

Man, does he have stamina! LOL He's cool :)

[GEBS]

Yes, he does. I've only seen him really tired a handful of times. His energy level is amazing.

:)

[WitchOfEndor]

I wish someone could bottle that energy & send some of it to me. Especially these past few weeks. Just had round one with the school district to get Katie into a special programs for Aspergers. By the way, Trey is a cutie pie!! Gonna have to watch out for those girls. :)

[Lylian]

I have a son that has ADHD. I found myself very frustrated when he was younger. Now that he is a teen he has learned to channel the energy. He has learned to play the bass guitar and found he is pretty good at it. Just think what will happen if Trey can learn to channel his energy into something creative. Hopefully it will come soon. He is a cutie. Hang in there GEBS.

[GEBS]

I wish someone could bottle that energy & send some of it to me. Especially these past few weeks. Just had round one with the school district to get Katie into a special programs for Aspergers. By the way, Trey is a cutie pie!! Gonna have to watch out for those girls. :)

Are they cooperating yet?
I feel very lucky to have Trey in school in this district. They have been very supportive.

Trey calls himself a "chick magnet" :lol:
When I am trying to get him to understand the importance of things like brushing his teeth or wearing clean clothes (always a challenge to get him out of his favorites when they are dirty) I know the easiest way is "how do you think the girls feel about seeing a guy in dirty clothes" or "Do you think that girls want to be close to someone with stinky breath?"
Whenever I can't get him to remember to do those things on his own I always have the girl factor to fall back on. I try not to but when nothing else works that does.

I do something similar when it's time for a haircut. We need it short because he won't comb it.
He hates getting his hair cut. I take a picture of him at the start of our talk. Then I show him a picture of himself with a haircut. I ask him to decide which he thinks looks better. He always picks the one with the neater hair. Then I point out again the picture of the current look. He always says "Can we go get my hair cut now?"

Speaking of that, he's past due for a haircut.


I have a son that has ADHD. I found myself very frustrated when he was younger. Now that he is a teen he has learned to channel the energy. He has learned to play the bass guitar and found he is pretty good at it. Just think what will happen if Trey can learn to channel his energy into something creative. Hopefully it will come soon. He is a cutie. Hang in there GEBS.

:) Thank you.

He has made a lot of progress over the last year. He's making music now as well as making small flash animations. It's great to see him expressing himself in positive was.

Like your son, music seems to be a great outlet for him. I was thinking of uploading one of his latest songs. We love it but others might think it strange. It's called Satanic Punishment. :giggle: It's a cross between death metal and industrial he says.

[Lunacie]

That is not so very different from Katlin (she is 10 now, dx with ADHD) except she is much more verbal. Typical day at our house - she turns on the tv in the living room - watches for awhile, goes off to the bathroom and leaves the light on in there when she's done - goes into her room and turns up the radio (which she never ever turns off) - wanders back out to the living room to watch more tv or CDs (leaving the lights on in the bathroom and her room and the radio on) - then leaving the tv on along with everything else she heads for her mom's room and asks to go online - she turns up the volume on the speakers and in a few minutes begins singing whatever she was listening to on the radio earlier.

So... now we have radio, tv, computer beeping and buzzing, and Katlin singing. After awhile she comes out here and asks for something to eat and wants to "chat" which basically means her having a dialogue with someone who will listen. No wonder I often end up in sensory overload and stop asking her to turn things off and begin yelling, eh.

Then add in her 6 year old Autistic sister and sometimes I just go off to my room and close the door for an hour (as long as their mom is home).


Nove'Mber doesn't get manic like that very often. But we are still dealing with the occasional meltdown. Wish I knew how to download the video her mom took of us trying to wash her hair. We do it once a week, and her dad does it once on the weekend. Issues with hair washing and brushing are very common with kids on the Autism spectrum. And we have enough meltdowns over other things to try to cope with it more often than once a week.

Speaking of hair, the last time I saw Trey (3 years ago?) he had hair down into his eyes. He really is a cute guy when you can see his face. ;)

[Lunacie]

Are they cooperating yet?
I feel very lucky to have Trey in school in this district. They have been very supportive.

Trey calls himself a "chick magnet" :lol:
When I am trying to get him to understand the importance of things like brushing his teeth or wearing clean clothes (always a challenge to get him out of his favorites when they are dirty) I know the easiest way is "how do you think the girls feel about seeing a guy in dirty clothes" or "Do you think that girls want to be close to someone with stinky breath?"
Whenever I can't get him to remember to do those things on his own I always have the girl factor to fall back on. I try not to but when nothing else works that does.

I do something similar when it's time for a haircut. We need it short because he won't comb it.
He hates getting his hair cut. I take a picture of him at the start of our talk. Then I show him a picture of himself with a haircut. I ask him to decide which he thinks looks better. He always picks the one with the neater hair. Then I point out again the picture of the current look. He always says "Can we go get my hair cut now?"

Speaking of that, he's past due for a haircut.




:) Thank you.

He has made a lot of progress over the last year. He's making music now as well as making small flash animations. It's great to see him expressing himself in positive was.

Like your son, music seems to be a great outlet for him. I was thinking of uploading one of his latest songs. We love it but others might think it strange. It's called Satanic Punishment. :giggle: It's a cross between death metal and industrial he says.

The folks at our school want to integrate Nove'Mber into a regular class this fall for 1st grade. She will still get about an hour a day with the special aides. We will have to talk to the school about dealing with her when she's having a meltdown. They let her cry herself to sleep early this month because the principal wasn't in the building to confirm that she would be getting a one day suspension for hitting an aide. If she was going to be sent home anyway, why couldn't she have come home 3 hours sooner? Arrgghhh.


Katlin is also terrible about putting on clean underwear, even though the kids tease her and we have talked with her. Do these kids ever outgrow this phase?


I love the idea of showing Trey a photo of him with a sharp haircut. Maybe that would help with Nove' - I'll talk to her mommy about giving that a try.

[Childof_theMorrigan]

his laugh is infectious! I was giggling right along! and wow, I can't believe he kept that 'spazzing' up for 2 1/2 minutes straight LOL! what a cutiepie!

I'm sure he's more than a handful but I'm also sure there's never a dull moment when he's around :smile:

[GEBS]

So... now we have radio, tv, computer beeping and buzzing, and Katlin singing. After awhile she comes out here and asks for something to eat and wants to "chat" which basically means her having a dialogue with someone who will listen. No wonder I often end up in sensory overload and stop asking her to turn things off and begin yelling, eh.[snip]

Speaking of hair, the last time I saw Trey (3 years ago?) he had hair down into his eyes. He really is a cute guy when you can see his face. ;)

We deduct a quarter from Trey's allowance every time he leaves something on when he leaves the room. He is slowly getting the hang of it. We do that for both boys but Trey has always been the worst offender with electricity waste. Between January and now we have reduced our electric bill by over $100 a month. :thumbsup:

I would go insane with all the noise you have to deal with. I don't do well with sound. I'm too sensitive or something. I sit in a silent house in the dark all day while the boys are at school. (light, sound and smell bother me a lot. most touch does too, unless it's very soft)


I agree Trey is a cutie. How could not be though? His parents are both beautiful people :)

(for those of you that don't know, he's my step son. So that's not narcissism.)



Katlin is also terrible about putting on clean underwear, even though the kids tease her and we have talked with her. Do these kids ever outgrow this phase?


At least she wears underwear! :lol:

We had an issue not long ago with Trey forgetting his underwear. I make him show me the band of it now before school. He's so thin his little bottom would show every time he would bend over.

Have you tried laying out a full set of clothes for her before bed? That helps Trey to remember to put everything on. Maybe if she knows she has to put on the full set and clean ones are laying there she will change them.

Or is it an issue with her private areas being exposed while she's changing? When I was little I refused to take things off because I didn't want anyone to see. Even when I was in the room alone I would rush through changing so I wouldn't be undressed for very long. My baby sister was the opposite. We couldn't keep clothes on that child.

[GEBS]

his laugh is infectious! I was giggling right along! and wow, I can't believe he kept that 'spazzing' up for 2 1/2 minutes straight LOL! what a cutiepie!

I'm sure he's more than a handful but I'm also sure there's never a dull moment when he's around :smile:
very true!
When we wait for the subway he entertains the whole group of us with skits he's created.

[Lunacie]

We deduct a quarter from Trey's allowance every time he leaves something on when he leaves the room. He is slowly getting the hang of it. We do that for both boys but Trey has always been the worst offender with electricity waste. Between January and now we have reduced our electric bill by over $100 a month. :thumbsup:

I would go insane with all the noise you have to deal with. I don't do well with sound. I'm too sensitive or something. I sit in a silent house in the dark all day while the boys are at school. (light, sound and smell bother me a lot. most touch does too, unless it's very soft)


I agree Trey is a cutie. How could not be though? His parents are both beautiful people :)

(for those of you that don't know, he's my step son. So that's not narcissism.)





At least she wears underwear! :lol:

We had an issue not long ago with Trey forgetting his underwear. I make him show me the band of it now before school. He's so thin his little bottom would show every time he would bend over.

Have you tried laying out a full set of clothes for her before bed? That helps Trey to remember to put everything on. Maybe if she knows she has to put on the full set and clean ones are laying there she will change them.

Or is it an issue with her private areas being exposed while she's changing? When I was little I refused to take things off because I didn't want anyone to see. Even when I was in the room alone I would rush through changing so I wouldn't be undressed for very long. My baby sister was the opposite. We couldn't keep clothes on that child.


The girls don't get an allowance. Wonder how else we could motivate her to turn things off?

Yes, I'm very sensitive to noises and lights. It's a straight shot down the hallway to the bathroom door from where I sit here at my computer so that one bothers me the most. But something the therapist said a couple of weeks ago finally got me to see that this clearly isn't an issue for her, only for me. So it's up to me whether to get upset and yell at her to turn the light off, or just go turn it off myself.

It's very hard to get her attention, but when we can we ask her to go and turn things off herself. Sometimes it works and she gets it done before she gets distracted and gets busy with something else.

She doesn't always want to wear a bra, and she really needs to now. We haven't laid out her clothes for her in about 4 years, and really don't have to make her go back and change very often. Sometimes she will get into the stuff she's outgrown, that we're saving for Nove'Mber, and we have to make her put on something that fits. Not a fun battle to have when it's time to head out the door and catch the school bus.

But once a week, usually, when she helps to do her laundry, I comment on there not being a full weeks worth of dirty underpants. So far, nothing has helped. I suspect it's easier for her to pick up the dirty clothing that's laying on her floor than to get out a clean pair of undies.

[Lylian]

My son went from never wanting to change his clothes or take a bath to 3 baths a day. One extreme to the next. I think it is hard for them to reach a middle ground. He is down to 2 showers a day lol. But now he is always drenched in cologne. I could never understand how he can't smell how strong it was. Then I found out most men aren't as sensitive to smell as we women are. So he now lets me put it on him.

[Teresa]

He is still the sweet boy he has always been. I think you guys are doing a wonderful job with the boys and letting him express himself on video is a great outlet for Trey. :thumbsup:


Tony and I have a couple as friends that actually teach special needs children in the public school system. They talk to us about things that happen regularly. They are so caring and passionate about what they do. Talking to them has given me some good insight on dealing with children special needs or not.


I have not spent 4 years raising Andy and 2 years raising Candy. They came with the marriage, but I love them as if I had birthed them myself! They are a very secret and precious gift from the Universe to me, one of my innermost desires. I am still a bit new to parenting but I have been an Auntie for 24 years now and helped raise 14 nieces and nephews. Things are just a bit different when it is just you and them. Right now I am still in the setting boundaries stages. These two know that I am tender hearted and that I can be manipulated because I love them so much, so of course they are going to try me to see what they can get by with.

[Lylian]

I have so much respect for step parents. It's hard enough to deal with your own children. I was a terrible step child. I was mean and obnoxious how my stepdad put up with me I will never know. We are very close now that I have grown up. But I put him through hell. It takes a special person to be able to blend a family.

[BlackLili]

LOL - i used to do stuff like that as a kid. i couldn't go for as long though. he's quite impressive. :thumbsup: