Slightly OT, but suggestions??

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-31-2003
Slightly OT, but suggestions??
1
Tue, 10-23-2007 - 10:24am

My kids situation is somewhat unique - I have twins (AS DS and a DD) who are 7

Avatar for betz67
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Tue, 10-23-2007 - 12:04pm

I'm the parent of 5. Mine are spaced between 2 years and 2 yrs 10 months apart. boy 16, girl 14 next week, boy 11, girl 8, and boy5 (6 in Dec). My oldest 2 are just 2 yrs apart and have always been very close. He's an introvert (flirts w/ the edges of the spectrum, dx ADD, has intense obsessions, talks like a little professor, has difficulties w/ conversation w/ peers) she is and extrovert, tons of friends, smart, a leader, etc. He has always leaned heavily on her for support in social situations, they share many of the same friends, people think they're twins. My son w/ ASD doesn't tend to use his siblings in the same way. He's always kind of been an island, they try hard to come and visit, but he has his own little world. He will retire to his room to obsess over books or teddy bears or stim when he's overwhelmed, but we have just started having to suggest him going there so he doesn't go over the edge.

I have always been intensely opposed to kids having TV and DVD or game systems in their rooms. I feel like they need to have down time in their rooms or the play room w/o the media distraction or the constantly changing images or fast paced video or commercials. I also feel that watching TV is a family or at least sibling group thing. We have always encouraged our kids to develop their own interests through lessons, reading/library research, toys, internet. We haven't had to push any of our kids into it (and most of them have their own obsessions whether ASD or not).

My oldest takes bass lessons (upright string bass) and is in an orchestra, for him this is stress relieving, he plays well and easily, practice time is also something that relieves stress for him. My autistic child has taken to running to relieve stress. They also shoot baskets (w/o anyone else around) or do something else that involves heavy work and aerobic exercise (we have bouncy balls that they ride on, or the sit and spin, or the mini trampoline, or during the summer we take them swimming). ASD son earns 40 min increments of computer time which is very calming for him. He also took piano lessons for awhile. When he's really stressed he'll play the same 2-3 songs over and over again. He also will play the recorder at times which is NOT anti-stress for mom! My older 3 will read or all my kids draw when they're de-stressing. Legos can be very calming or very stressing depending on the day.

HTH!

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