Re: Suggestions for motivating son to fight ocd

[Guest guest]

Hi Robin, wish I had more time (peeking in from work). My son just

turned 19, OCD and Aspergers too. He's in his 1st year at college.

(I know what you mean about motivation with an Aspie!)

His OCD is the scrupulosity type right now. Was different years

ago.

What type of OC behaviors is your son having?

>

>

> I am the mother of an eighteen year old son who does not seem to

be

> at all interested in fighting his OCD. I am hoping for some

> suggestions from parents or anyone who can help. We have tried

ERT,

> traditional drugs, hospitalization, and are currently in a

clinical

> trial for riluzole at NIH in Bethesda. My son also has Asperger's

> Syndrome and a very " laid-back " personality which add to the

> motivation problem. When I ask him why he doesn't try to fight

> his " habits " , he just says it is too hard.

>

> We are hoping that our sonmay be able to go to a local college

next

> year, but at this point, that dream looks nearly impossible. (This

> morning,I can't even get him to get out of bed.)

>

> Could you please share with me any ideas?

>

> Thanks.

> Robin

>

[Guest guest]

Robin,

We have the same problem with our son. He is 17; senior in high

school. He is not in school right now; doing homebound thru the

school district. Since he does not have to get up and go to school

each day, he thinks he can sleep till noon. It has been a constant

struggle trying to get him to get up in the mornings. One thing

that helped was talking to his therapist about how much sleep he is

getting (way too much). She explained to him how much sleep an

average teen should get each night. Information we had given him,

but it helped coming from the therapist. Another thing we just

started was a system of rewards and consequences. We explained to

him that the TV, his cell phone, and his laptop are all privileges

he must earn. We set some ground rules for him, like getting up by

a certain time in the morning. If he doesn't follow the ground

rules, his privileges are revoked. We also agreed on a reward. He

really enjoys listening to music. He has an MP3 player and his cell

phone is MP3 enabled. He is always wanting us to pay for music

downloads. So, his reward is 1 music download, as well as getting

his privileges, each day he follows the ground rules. This has

helped so far.

Recently there was a discussion on rewards. Some of the parents

were saying rewards didn't work for their kids. The kids would

rather give in to OCD then get the rewards. For us, our son really

wants the reward and his privileges; so it is working. It might

take some trial and error to find the correct reward for your child

or your child may just not want any reward. What works for one

child doesn't work for all children. So, this is just a suggestion

to try.

Connie

[Guest guest]

Robin,

We have the same problem with our son. He is 17; senior in high

school. He is not in school right now; doing homebound thru the

school district. Since he does not have to get up and go to school

each day, he thinks he can sleep till noon. It has been a constant

struggle trying to get him to get up in the mornings. One thing

that helped was talking to his therapist about how much sleep he is

getting (way too much). She explained to him how much sleep an

average teen should get each night. Information we had given him,

but it helped coming from the therapist. Another thing we just

started was a system of rewards and consequences. We explained to

him that the TV, his cell phone, and his laptop are all privileges

he must earn. We set some ground rules for him, like getting up by

a certain time in the morning. If he doesn't follow the ground

rules, his privileges are revoked. We also agreed on a reward. He

really enjoys listening to music. He has an MP3 player and his cell

phone is MP3 enabled. He is always wanting us to pay for music

downloads. So, his reward is 1 music download, as well as getting

his privileges, each day he follows the ground rules. This has

helped so far.

Recently there was a discussion on rewards. Some of the parents

were saying rewards didn't work for their kids. The kids would

rather give in to OCD then get the rewards. For us, our son really

wants the reward and his privileges; so it is working. It might

take some trial and error to find the correct reward for your child

or your child may just not want any reward. What works for one

child doesn't work for all children. So, this is just a suggestion

to try.

Connie