Re: More about our OCD adventures

February 10, 2008

Hi again, well I certainly see a bit of those " autistic type " traits

in him, and then throw in the OCD bit! Especially when it comes to

interests/obsessions.

Glad he is still doing well in school. OCD really messed up

with schoolwork when it began (writing, reading...). How does

do socially at school at this age? We found high school much

easier than middle school; although OCD did begin in 6th grade and

was rough the first year or two.

did a bit of hoarding also when younger. I guess each of my

sons had things they collected. But hated to throw anything

away. And, for instance, back then he liked Hersheys Kisses. I know

one year I wrapped up a bag for him at Christmas; he knew what it

was. Wouldn't open it to eat them, wouldn't let me.... That bag

stayed set aside in his room until around the next Christmas when I

finally tossed it when he wasn't home one day (luckily he didn't

notice or at least didn't comment); but he was that way about some

things. Or if they got some type of wrapped candy/snack somewhere

and he wouldn't eat it, one of his brothers might ask him if they

could have it. No. He wouldn't eat it but no one else could have

it. Still have...Easter Candy at Halloween uneaten, etc. SIGH! (He

did the typical Pokemon or other type kid collections too) Still

wants to save ALL papers from school and church (he does NOT need to

save the weekly church bulletin and the stack is getting to be a bit

too much; luckily he isn't so interested that he's sorting them by

date since I've tossed a few)

My mom had a horrible problem with hoarding but these days not as

much a problem (ill health so we can at some point throw some more

things out without her knowing but still an overwhelming amount of

stuff to go through...whenever I think I'll make/get the time and

energy).

So - what do you do at home if he can't wear certain clothes: hang

them back up when he isn't looking or wash them first?

>

> First, a heartfelt thanks to those who welcomed me here! I have

ALOT

> more material where THAT came from. I have to keep a sense of

humor,

> or I would need more medications than does.

>

February 10, 2008

As I've read descriptions in here of Aspergers, I've wondered if docs

have missed this in our son. He had obsessions with things as he was

little, but usually things he was fascinated/frightened of. At two

years of age, he was absolutely obsessed with vacuums. We had to

visit the vacuum section of every store. He went over them with a

fine tooth comb and he could tell you EVERYTHING about them. He was

spelling the names of them by the age of three. The first word he

wrote was Hoover. But, turn one on around him and he became very

frightened. After a few years he morphed to toilets. My husband

(also OCD) overreacted to a toilet that almost overflowed and Josh got

very scared watching his father. After that, he became obsessed with

toilets. Had to know the names, had to know all about them. . .But,

became scared to flush them. He COULDN'T use atomatic flushing

toilets. . .Way to scary. Is this type of behavior typically

Aspergers, rather than OCD. He seems to have outgrown it, so I often

wondered if he just became obsessed with things he was afraid of.

But, he always been exceptionally intelligent to the point of amazing

adults. And, I've often wondered how that factors in too, because it

seems some of you have mentioned that about your kids who have Aspergers.

BJ

>

> First, a heartfelt thanks to those who welcomed me here! I have ALOT

> more material where THAT came from. I have to keep a sense of humor,

> or I would need more medications than does.

>

> is also a hoarder. It started when he was around 8 or so

> where he hoarded Hot Wheels cars. We could not enter a Target, Wal-

> Mart, or toy store without buying a half-dozen or so different

> models. I would curse Hot Wheels at coming up with so many different

> types on a weekly basis.

>

> When the Hot Wheels fascination wore off at around age 12 or so, he

> developed an off the wall obsession with soap dispensers. Yes, soap

> dispensers, like SoftSoap, Dial, Tone, etc puts out. And again, these

> companies have the audicity to come up with every color, odor,

> texture, and ingredients known to mankind to put into every kind of

> creative soap dispenser container. We have containers and crates of

> the stuff. Enough to make sure the entire world is sanitized and odor-

> free. cannot enter a store without checking for new ones.

> Picture a 14-year-old boy carefully scrutinizing every available soap

> dispenser on aisle 9 in your neighborhood grocery store. I look

> through them also only as a cover to look like it is me picking out

> the soap and not him.

>

> Well, we moved on from soap dispensers, to, are you ready for this?

> Scented candles. And again, there is every variety known to mankind.

> Are we sensing a pattern here? Things that smell good. Yes, he is

> sensory challenged too. He gets O.T. for that once a week. He's just

> a Heinz-57 kind of guy.

>

> For the most part, I am able to dissuade him from going down some of

> these aisles. I'd have to mortgage my house to pay for every variety

> of candles and soaps he'd want. If the end of the world ever came, at

> least we'd all go smelling pretty nicely.

>

> The good thing is that he seems to keep his OCD to a minimum at

> school. He works hard and gets good grades and his very sociable. Of

> course, as it has been brought up here before, home is the " safe

> zone, " and that is where he lets it all hang out.

>

> We also have issues with his clothes. If someone touches him or even

> goes near clothes that are on the table, he says he needs new clothes

> because of the " breeze. " Again, at school, not an issue. But when I

> pick him up, he peels off his shirt immediately. Even if its 40

> degrees outside. If he really was bothered that someone touched his

> shorts, those come off in the car too. At least it is in the car. I'd

> have to leave town if he did this in public!

>

> And so, we're preparing for our weekly tradition of going to the mall

> this morning. Another routine, though we all enjoy it. We have to get

> the same table for lunch all of the time though. For this, we go

> early. I wish they served lunch at 9 am!

>

February 10, 2008

Jill,

Haven't officially welcomed you yet; so welcome! Our 17-yr old

son has OCD. His main obsession is with contamination from germs.

He was just diagnosed this passed Nov. He's had OCD symptoms

recently here for at least a year. He was doing a very good job of

hiding his symptoms, but we finally started noticing things. OCD is

new for our family. There is no family history of OCD. We do have

family history of other anxiety disorders, though. So, a year ago if

I had been in a store and saw your son scrutinizing soap dispensers

or scented candles to find the right one, I have to admit I would

have found it a bit odd. Now though, I completely understand and it

is not odd at all. Our son doesn't hoard, but because of his

contamination issues, he scrutinizes soaps, body washes, shampoos,

deoderants, etc. to make sure they don't contain anything " un-

natural " that would be a source of contamination. He also checks to

make sure none of that stuff has been tampered with. Deoderant

sticks seem to be the worst. They now come with a clear protective

cap under the outer cap. So, he must remove the outer cap of any

deoderant stick he is considering buying to make sure the clear cap

is in place and hasn't been tampered with. I do wonder what other

people in the store think; but I don't really let it bother me.

Well, this is a safe place where you can vent and talk about all

the " odd " stuff our kids do. Everyone here understands.

Connie

February 10, 2008

Hi Chris...Yes, unknown to , when he complains about his

clothes, I do my little " act. " I walk into his room, close the door

(he ALWAYS wants it closed), stand there for say, 6 seconds, open the

door, come back out with " new " clothes. If I did get him new clothes

each time he pulled this, I'd end up with more laundry than the New

York Giants. I am glad he never notices this. I could dress him in a

Hefty bag and he wouldn't care.

> >

> > First, a heartfelt thanks to those who welcomed me here! I have

> ALOT

> > more material where THAT came from. I have to keep a sense of

> humor,

> > or I would need more medications than does.

> >

>

February 10, 2008

Hi BJ, wow, your son's obsessions with the vacuums hit home to me

because this is how is with the elevators. Instead of being

into video games, DVDs, CD's, sports, all of the " typical " 14-year-

old interests, he is into every elevator manufacturer in the world. I

will never, ever think of an elevator quite the same way again.

While he loves them though, he is very anxious about the possibility

of being stuck in one. He has to ask me on a daily basis if there is

an intercom for him to call help DESPITE always having a cell phone

on him (what if the cell phone reception is bad?). He has made it a

ritual to ask me the reassurance each day I drop him off at school

along with " is my cell phone in there, and my lunch is there? " I feel

like super answer woman here to save the day!

> >

> > First, a heartfelt thanks to those who welcomed me here! I have

ALOT

> > more material where THAT came from. I have to keep a sense of

humor,

> > or I would need more medications than does.

> >

> > is also a hoarder. It started when he was around 8 or so

> > where he hoarded Hot Wheels cars. We could not enter a Target,

Wal-

> > Mart, or toy store without buying a half-dozen or so different

> > models. I would curse Hot Wheels at coming up with so many

different

> > types on a weekly basis.

> >

> > When the Hot Wheels fascination wore off at around age 12 or so,

he

> > developed an off the wall obsession with soap dispensers. Yes,

soap

> > dispensers, like SoftSoap, Dial, Tone, etc puts out. And again,

these

> > companies have the audicity to come up with every color, odor,

> > texture, and ingredients known to mankind to put into every kind

of

> > creative soap dispenser container. We have containers and crates

of

> > the stuff. Enough to make sure the entire world is sanitized and

odor-

> > free. cannot enter a store without checking for new ones.

> > Picture a 14-year-old boy carefully scrutinizing every available

soap

> > dispenser on aisle 9 in your neighborhood grocery store. I look

> > through them also only as a cover to look like it is me picking

out

> > the soap and not him.

> >

> > Well, we moved on from soap dispensers, to, are you ready for

this?

> > Scented candles. And again, there is every variety known to

mankind.

> > Are we sensing a pattern here? Things that smell good. Yes, he is

> > sensory challenged too. He gets O.T. for that once a week. He's

just

> > a Heinz-57 kind of guy.

> >

> > For the most part, I am able to dissuade him from going down some

of

> > these aisles. I'd have to mortgage my house to pay for every

variety

> > of candles and soaps he'd want. If the end of the world ever

came, at

> > least we'd all go smelling pretty nicely.

> >

> > The good thing is that he seems to keep his OCD to a minimum at

> > school. He works hard and gets good grades and his very sociable.

Of

> > course, as it has been brought up here before, home is the " safe

> > zone, " and that is where he lets it all hang out.

> >

> > We also have issues with his clothes. If someone touches him or

even

> > goes near clothes that are on the table, he says he needs new

clothes

> > because of the " breeze. " Again, at school, not an issue. But when

I

> > pick him up, he peels off his shirt immediately. Even if its 40

> > degrees outside. If he really was bothered that someone touched

his

> > shorts, those come off in the car too. At least it is in the car.

I'd

> > have to leave town if he did this in public!

> >

> > And so, we're preparing for our weekly tradition of going to the

mall

> > this morning. Another routine, though we all enjoy it. We have to

get

> > the same table for lunch all of the time though. For this, we go

> > early. I wish they served lunch at 9 am!

> >

>

February 10, 2008