Guest guest Posted May 20, 2006 Report Share Posted May 20, 2006 My 3 3/4 year old son, diagnosed with Aspergers Syndrome several months ago, has developed a disturbing habit of attaching himself to another child and following/copying that child's lead. At his preschool, he is obsessed with one other child, who he follows constantly. If he's unable to sit next to this child at snack time, he becomes very upset and can have a melt down. He's also attached himself to another child in his gymnastics class and just tags behind this child, even if it means not listening to the teacher at all. Does any one have any experience with this kind of behavior? Any ideas? Gail Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 21, 2006 Report Share Posted May 21, 2006 In a message dated 5/20/2006 11:15:13 PM Eastern Daylight Time, Gasok@... writes: Does any one have any experience with this kind of behavior? Any ideas? Perhaps they could come up with a plan that he is assigned to a different child everyday (like a peer buddy). That may help him with becoming attached to just one child. Also, you may ask the school to do an Functional Behavior Assessment around any of those types of behavior that come across as challenging in the school setting. Pam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 21, 2006 Report Share Posted May 21, 2006 My son, now 8, did this too-he still does to a degree. They have a hard time reading peoples expressions and body language- they know what kind of responses they would like from people but sometimes don't understand how to get them. My son would do a lot of mimicking -copying other children or reacting in a prescribed way to a situation -whether it called for it or not. exp. If you said you were going to tell him a joke- he would laugh(sort of) no matter what bit of nonsense you told him. The world in general can be pretty chaotic for them- sometimes it is just easier and less stressfull for them to focus on one thing or person.My son has a new obsession every year or so (since about age 2). When starts getting too focused on any one person or personality I try to emphasise to him on the things that are really great about him- his true abilities that are not associated with this other person or character.The behavior specialist at school has helped tremendously too.It may require a bit of a wait on your part- but when he starts- let the school know about this so they can help make it easier for him and his " focus person. " -Jess- . gsokoloff1 <Gasok@...> wrote: My 3 3/4 year old son, diagnosed with Aspergers Syndrome several months ago, has developed a disturbing habit of attaching himself to another child and following/copying that child's lead. At his preschool, he is obsessed with one other child, who he follows constantly. If he's unable to sit next to this child at snack time, he becomes very upset and can have a melt down. He's also attached himself to another child in his gymnastics class and just tags behind this child, even if it means not listening to the teacher at all. Does any one have any experience with this kind of behavior? Any ideas? Gail Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 22, 2006 Report Share Posted May 22, 2006 omg, are you sure you're not talking about my 5 yos??? This is him *exactly.* If it helps, you're not alone! I don't have a lot of advice though, sorry, just commiseration! Ds's teacher is working on this with him, but it's not necessarily a permanent fix -- it just helps with that particular situation itself. Ds doesn't pick up on social cues so he doesn't know that he's annoying someone, and he just gets mad when this person doesn't go along with him. The teacher works on compromise, which is teaching the obsessee (lol, for lack of a better word) how to work with him sometimes but other times, pushes him to sit elsewhere. It can be aggravating. Sometimes it's the reverse, too, he's obsessed with someone for a bad reason -- the child upset him for some reason, and he blames everything on that child, talks about him, even blames him for things that occur when the child is not even around, e.g. we're at home after school. Our behaviorist is working on some things to address the anger issues, but has told us 'baby steps.' A 'big fix' is just too much. gsokoloff1 wrote: > My 3 3/4 year old son, diagnosed with Aspergers Syndrome several > months ago, has developed a disturbing habit of attaching himself to > another child and following/copying that child's lead. At his > preschool, he is obsessed with one other child, who he follows > constantly. If he's unable to sit next to this child at snack time, he > becomes very upset and can have a melt down. He's also attached > himself to another child in his gymnastics class and just tags behind > this child, even if it means not listening to the teacher at all. > > Does any one have any experience with this kind of behavior? Any ideas? > > Gail > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 22, 2006 Report Share Posted May 22, 2006 I find that very interesting:) I have seen even my oldest do this during just a one day class. I think , going on what I have experianced, and how I feel myself ONLY, that perhaps this is comforting for him. I know, in my 'world' I am very uncomfortable in social situations. If I can find someone that seems to get me, and likes talking to me, I tend to stick to them. Perhaps you can really work with his new 'friend' and see if a friendship is growing. If so, then maybe you will be able to teach some valuable lessons for your son (Space issues, etc) sort of using this friend. I definitely would make good use of this, if the other children are up to it, somehow. Making it a positive would be great for your little guy:) To make the other little one comfortable, you could also say something like " wow. My son really likes you. You must be a really nice boy!) I don't know,,, just something that I would do. I always want to think of the other child, too. just a thought:) *smiles* B > > My 3 3/4 year old son, diagnosed with Aspergers Syndrome several > months ago, has developed a disturbing habit of attaching himself to > another child and following/copying that child's lead. At his > preschool, he is obsessed with one other child, who he follows > constantly. If he's unable to sit next to this child at snack time, he > becomes very upset and can have a melt down. He's also attached > himself to another child in his gymnastics class and just tags behind > this child, even if it means not listening to the teacher at all. > > Does any one have any experience with this kind of behavior? Any ideas? > > Gail > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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