How long??

Post Reply New Topic

Does it take him to eat, go to the restroom, finish a task?

He takes literally an HOUR to eat lunch at school. He gets so distracted and takes everything in from his environment, food becomes secondary. He is skinny boy. He only weighs 33 pounds and he is 5 1/2. He is also shorter. He takes after me. I found out today that his school does accommodate for him and lets him take an hour to eat but WOW - an hour to eat? I really need to pack the weight gainer shakes with him like pedisure.

but - today

When it was time to go out and fly their kites, he quickly shoved his sandwich in his mouth and ate it in literally three minutes. A few days ago he also completed another academic task when he was under pressure - when there is something proceeding that task that he really wants to do. If there is not a motivator, he will take forever. His dad is like this as well (undx aspergers or close to it).

When he goes to the bathroom at school, he takes about five to ten minutes. This is just to go pee. He goes pee and then gets distracted in the extremely boring, plain white bathroom. He talks to himself and just putts around. He washes his hands perfectly and then leaves. When I pick him up from the schools after school care, that is what he does.

You should read about mindfulness. It's very hard for those of us on the spectrum to concentrate on tasks because of all the extra clutter going on. I space out really bad in the shower sometimes, partially because of all the sensory input, partially because my head just spins with all my dreams from the night when I first wake up.

I practice mindfulness by trying to wipe clean my head, then I think about only what I am supposed to be doing. Instead of "I need to take a shower then brush my teeth then what am I going to wear and eat..." it's more like this.

"I am putting shampoo in my hand".

"I am rubbing shampoo into my hair".

"I am rinsing the shampoo out of my hair."

Boy, do I know what you are going through! Been there, done that, with TWO boys.

I can tell you -- it can improve with age.

With showers, for a while I used a timer, because his showers could take an hour. That gets expensive after a while! We just used the timer to let him know how much time passes by, and what is an appropriate time for a shower -- it was not used as a punishment.

Also -- MOTIVATORS are amazing. You're description of how fast your son could eat when excited about going kite-flying after lunch, well, that teaches you how important motivators are for these kids. When my son was younger, and loved collecting mighty beans, we would give him a task at the beginning of the day, and as he left for school I would write on his hand the name of the mighty bean he would get if he did said task appropriately. As I write this, this seemed pretty Pavlovian and kind of disgusting, really, but we only had to do it for a year or so, AND IT WORKED! I think that motivators should be used like crazy when our children are young. For some odd reason, if used correctly, they aren't necessary as they get older.

Also, Mage's post is really interesting -- to hear how someone on the spectrum has to literally force themselves to concentrate. Those of us not on the spectrum have NO IDEA how physically hard it is for people on the spectrum to force their minds on a task that they don't necessarily have interest in. My mind just can't wrap itself around this problem. I have my own small problems with concentrating, but basically I have to give myself motivators all day long to get myself to accomplish things. I'm trying to teach my 12 year old how to do this now. Hopefully, it's a skill that will stick.

I MIGHT take as long in the bathroom. MAN, I'm going to have to time it!

As for the gainers? I started taking "up your mass". ( http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/mhp/mass.html ) I don't know how good it would be for little kids, but it WOULD get his weight up! If he took the amount people suggest, adjusted for his weight, it would work out to a serving a day(510 calories total). You could give him a third for breakfast lunch, and dinner. I tried the fudge brownie, and the cookies and cream and it is not only the best tasting, but like a dessert! I don't even think there is anything likely to trigger an alergy in most here, and I am practically living on the stuff.

My husband works at Bodybuilding.com as a computer programmer!!
He mainly works on the bodyspace webpage. We get discounts on all items.

I am going to try some of that weightgainer stuff for myself. I am only 103 pounds at 5'4. THANKS. I will check with Nate's doctor to see if it's alright that he takes it, too. I will try those flavors you suggested. Currently I have some soy protein twice a day but it's not helping me any. I have been wanting to do that with nate but haven't asked the doctor. You reminded me to see if nate is able to drink those.

I will read about mindfulness. Mage, you described my son!! Thanks for responding

WOW, SMALL WORLD! I wish *I* got a discount!

It's just an educated guess, but I take upwards of 3 servings a day, and plan to take 5. I am feeling a LOT better than I did before, gainiing some muscle, losing some fat, NEVER hungry for snacks(I used to get a candy bar 2-3 times a day), My INR is pretty consistant, and my blood sugar is level and even passible for a FASTING glucose! Most of the vitamins are JUST below MDR. Iron is 55%. That is about 10mg. That is almost 3 times the quantity in a flintstones vitamin with iron. Still, the iron is probably OK(I know little kids are more susceptible to an overdose, and it is one of the leading causes of death) So I would be surprised if it isn't OK. But let us know what the doctor says. BTW, as a point of reference, supposedly there are .45mg in 1 liter of cows milk, and one serving of carnation instant breakfast has about 4.5mg! WOW, what a coincidence! CIB has 10 times as much.