AS/HFA Son Complains of Household Objects Touching/Bothering

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My son keeps complaining of household objects "bothering" or "touching" him. He's constantly pounding on chairs, tables, rugs, sofas and blankets, etc. (oh my goodness, he especially likes to beat the crap out of pillows). All this banging and pounding (he's trying to get the objects to leave him alone) is kinda unsettleing for us all. I know it's really frustrating for him to constantly feel like something is touching him. My mind equates this "sensation" or "experience" to something kinda like looking at a really bright and really closely striped pattern and the stripes will kinda play tricks on your eyes, kinda move in at you and make you dizzy. Hasn't everyone has some sort of pattern to kinda "wig you out" at some point?

He's seven and starting first grade soon and I keep trying to explain that this isn't acceptable behavior, especially at school. Society is so judgmental, I just can't stand for the kids, parents (they're the worst, by the way) and teachers to criticize him. I am certain some of the complaining parents (there always are) and some of the teachers will view this as threatening and he'll end up in the Assistant Principal's office. This will be our third year at this school (he was in Kindergarten for two years) and he was suspended several times. Wonder what that does for a seven year old's self-esteem?

The main thing is that I cannot stand for him to be constantly tortured by inanimate objects. That has to be really exhausting for him. Has anyone experienced anything like this? I really would like to better understand and to compensate for this in any way possible. Please let me know if anyone has suggestions.

Do you watch Dr. Phil? I'm going to tell you what I think Dr. Phil would say. I believe that the first question Dr. Phil would ask is whether there are times when the behavior does NOT occur. If there are, then you can rule out brain damage and personality disorders (including Asperger's). If the behavior is constant, in all environments, all contexts, and at all times of the day and night, you may be looking at a diagnosis. If that is the case, your son needs to be examined by a specialist. Beware the tendency to self-diagnose. Doesn't work.

On the other hand, if the behavior is intermittent, depending on circumstances or whatever, then you have to look a family problem. Dr. Phil usually points out that sometimes you get what he calls the "target patient." They're the one doing the acting out. But the deviant behavior is symptomatic of a larger disfunction in the family unit. If this is the case, it's the family system that needs to be fixed. The key question here is are you and the other members of the family willing to acknowledge that you may be part of the problem -- and therefore part of the solution?

I don't know which it is with you and yours, but those are two of the possibilities.

Good luck,

geezer

Dr Phil did a program in which he rejected ADHD. Do a medline search with
"ADHD" and see you get 10783 hits. You will only find a few people here who
veiw Dr Phil as more that just a TV entertainer. If Dr Phil is a typical expert
out there then by all means try self-diagnostics first.
-------------
update: Dr Phil rejected ADHD medications. He is not a medical doctor.

http://www.medicalnewsservice.com/ARCHIVE/MNS2669.cfm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Phil

Last edited by TheMachine1 on 31 Jul 2006, 11:54 am, edited 2 times in total.

Lots of things about being autistic are "intermittent" and "depend on circumstances".

And Dr. Phil has a horrible track record on disability of all kinds. (He won't even let physically disabled people be visible in his studio, and people with psych diagnoses at any time in their lives are not allowed to be in the audience at all unless they agree to remain absolutely silent and not talk at all during the show.) With that sort of thing going on, I wouldn't trust him on any disability issue.

WTF???????????

http://www.raggededgemagazine.com/extra ... tmare.html
http://www.raggededgemagazine.com/media ... z0804.html

My God... I just read those....
Sometimes people just make me feel sick. How can anyone with the slightest spark of empathy treat people like that?

Thanks for the suggestion, but good old Dr. Phil is one of those "at" talkers. He talks "at" people rather than "to" people (in my opinion). What comes out of his mouth originates in his head and I just don't appreciate his approach. Thanks for taking the time to reply.

Thanks to all for the article links. I agree. Oh, and I hope I interprited the "WTF..." correctly because I agree w/that, too (or at least my version of WTF).

If anyone has experienced any sensory issues with patterns, lines, inanimate objects I'd love to hear from you.

Yeah WTF means what you think it means.

Is this like a deep-pressure issue or something? Could he just train himself to lean on things fairly hard so they don't get a chance to touch him lightly?

The only thing I can think of to relate this to is my own overstrong tickle-reflex which sometimes I will feel any touch as something to react to, if it is a light tickling touch, whereas if it's real pressure I have no problem. I think this happens to a small extent with inanimate objects, if I lightly brush against them without knowing that I am about to do that. Like if you're not real aware of where your body is until it touches something, that could happen.

I could be totally off-track with this but just in case it works i thought i should mention it.

I think that is really common, isn't it?

8675309 you didnt mention if your son is diagnosed with AS or not. I would try to get a diagnoses so you can begin to get help in school. Also have you tried posting on the parents form here? There are lots of mothers and fathers that might have had this same issue and Im not sure if they will see this.

"Constantly tortured by inanimate objects" is right on. Except instead of being bothered by touching things, I was afraid of some things in my childhood apartment. The biggest fear was a chandelier; it was a replica of chandeliers used in 19th-century railroad stations. I was terrified of it like nothing else. I mean, really terrified, especially at night. Whenever I passed through the room where it hung, I'd put my hands at the sides of my face, look down at the floor, and run as fast as I could. Eventually, it stopped "bothering" me during the day, but I was afraid of it at night until I moved out right before 5th grade.

Some of the other things I was scared of was a coat rack in the hall (when it wasn't covered by a coat), the rabbit ears antenna on the TV (only in the dark), and a few others I don't remember. These fears, unlike the chandelier, were much weaker and disappeared around 1st grade.

So to address your question, 8675309, this is pretty much what it's like to be tortured by inanimate objects. The reaction may have been different---fear, as opposed to rage---but the torture is just the same. I hope this trip down the memory lane helped.

I have and have always had an issue with corners, peg hooks in stores and sometimes just everything around me. I was dx'd with ADD in high school wanted nothing to do with medication though. Recently have been getting worse am 36 now. I really noticed the issue when I worked retail, the peg hooks were painful just being around them made it feel like something was pressing on my eyeball. I am coming to believe that these are actually sensory issues. Earlier this year I went to get diagnosed I figured it was ADD and I would get meds for it. Initially that is what they thought, got put on a anti anxiety (Zoloft) med. It helped but not a ton, changed doses a few times then doctor said ok lets try Adderall immediate vast improvement and many of the sensory issues went away. Before I constantly felt like I had taken tons of stims and just couldn't think, I would run through a thought over and over knowing there is nothing new to be discovered but could not help to keep doing it. I would get very little done at work no matter how hard I tried (like you cannot control your own thoughts) and after I am calm, relaxed and able to think.

My doctor believe I am on the spectrum based on everything I have told her, as well as how I act during the appointments so going forward with getting officially tested.

I am currently on Effexor and Adderall, the 2 together seem to work well I am calmer on average and it is easier to think and focus however I still do have meltdowns. It takes a little more for a meltdown to occur now but not a tremendous difference there.