Re: Obsession with one topic OCD or Aspergers?

September 18, 2011

Our family learned the hard way that very few professionals will pick up on

Asperger's, especially in girls. Our 17 year old daughter was being treated

by a prominent " expert " in OCD for 8 years and assured me, when I asked more

than a few times, that all of my daughter's problems were due to OCD. Not a

single professional in her elementary school suggested anything about

Aspergers, even though her symptoms and things that got in her way were

clearly Aspergers. Because I had an OCD expert telling me that all of her

issues could be explained by OCD, we spent years doing what our psychiatrist

" expert " claimed was the appropriate therapy for her (weekly attempts at

cognitive behavior therapy that were really being done in an amateur way),

and didn't deal with the types of therapy that she really needed (social

skills, sensory, emotional regulation, etc...). This summer she spent 5

weeks at the OCDI at McLean Hospital where thankfully she was diagnosed with

Asperger's syndrome. She does have OCD, it's just that it is comorbid with

Aspergers which to us is now clearly the prominent disorder. PLEASE look

into this for your daughter because she sounds a lot like our daughter when

she was young.

On Sun, Sep 18, 2011 at 2:15 PM, jennifercurnow@... <

jennifercurnow@...> wrote:

> **

>

> Hi everyone,

> I posted here several months back when my 3 year old was diagnosed with

> OCD. It started when she had/has this obsession with her fingers and toes to

> the point she became non functional in everyday activities.

> Check/re-checking, constant asking for reassurance her toes/fingers were

> going to be ok. She would need re-assurance once every 30 seconds.

> She started checking all the other kids fingers/toes in pre-school and her

> melt downs got so bad at school we had to pull her out.

>

> The DX never came as a shock to us because we have had problems with DD

> since she was born. She never slept through the night for years, extremely

> fussy/colicky baby, always had problems with her. She'd scream about

> anything. If I changed my hair or appearance she'd melt down. If her dad

> tries to brush her teeth or do ANYTHING for her she goes nuts. Everyday has

> always been a struggle.

>

> Anyway..

>

> We got her into play therapy where she was introduced to " Mr. Worry " but

> then she became obsessed with Mr. Worry. She started repeating " Mr. Worry go

> away " over and over and over! But, finally after 6 months of constantly

> talking about her fingers/toes she has gotten over it a bit. I still catch

> her checking her toes all the time but she's at least not verbalizing it

> like she use to.

>

> My main worry at this point is her obsession with her specific toy. She's

> always had obsessions with certain things (at 2 years old it was her

> crayons, but she never used them to draw she would just carry them around

> everywhere/line them up/divide them by brand, then by color, etc)

>

> For the past 7 or 8 months it's been the Littlest Pet Shop. It's literally

> the ONLY thing she talks about now and I am afraid it's the only thing she

> knows how to talk about. The first thing out of her mouth every morning is

> something to do with her pet shops and it's the last thing before bed. All

> day long she is asks repetitive questions about them which ones she

> likes/doesn't like. She won't talk about anything else! I don't think I can

> stress that enough.

> Also when she earns enough money to buy a new petshops (we give her little

> chores) that day she will repeat nothing but " When are we going to buy the

> petshop? " and I will say " 2:00 " and she will ask every minute or so the SAME

> question even though I already answered! It drives me crazy!

>

> I started getting worried about it when I noticed she would talk to other

> kids her age about them and they would tell her " I don't like petshops " and

> my daughter wouldn't get the hint and she would keep talking about them and

> then the other kids would then start ignoring her. Once my daughter was

> pestering my neighbors kid about petshops and I heard the kid go up to her

> mom and ask why the little girl (my daughter) won't stop talking about them.

> And she told my daughter to her face she hated petshops and my daughter

> didn't get it and carried on as usual. Even though the little girl JUST told

> her she hates petshops my daughter would ask her what petshops she has! My

> heart broke into a million pieces that day. Now that OTHER kids are noticing

> she is " different " it's a new can of worms for me.

>

> Also, there are these youtube videos about petshops she watches. My

> daughter has memorized each 10 minute episode and she will sit on the couch

> and say the whole episode out loud. She knows every word of them. She will

> just sit there and stare off into space saying the dialogue.

>

> I am wondering if there is something else going on besides OCD. I am

> starting to wonder if the obsessions she has could be due to aspergers??

>

> But if she had aspergers wouldn't someone (her pediatrician or therapist)

> would of said something by now?

>

> Do the things I mentioned just seem to fall under the OCD diagnosis or does

> anyone here think there could be something else going on?

>

September 18, 2011

I agree with , check into Aspergers. Sound like it to me too. She could

still have some OCD issues, maybe some anxiety issues too, but the Pet Shop

obsession, youtube reciting, sounds Aspie to me.

If she was asking questions, obsessing over, things like getting cancer or

worried about you & dad leaving the house without her, stuff like that I would

put down to anxiety or possible OCD. But when it comes to crayons, Pet Shop,

youtube, her ignoring (or not picking up on) the social cues she's getting -

Aspergers.

My son has OCD and Aspergers/HFA.

had the " cancer " obsession when young, constantly asking me about that

repetitively. So when she asks things like what time you'll leave and you've

said 2:00, next time she asks you might say " what did I say before? " and see how

she responds or " I already told you that. " You may need to tell her 2:00 and

then tell her to repeat it, " now what time are we leaving, tell me? " Sometimes

I had to tell him to stop, look at me, make sure I had his actual attention,

even would hold his face to make sure he was listening. Oh, I wasn't perfect,

sometimes said " you are driving me crazy asking again! "

Role playing - good idea for Aspergers/autism. Can do some " playing " with

having conversations. Have her ask you about Pet Shop, you say you don't like

it, prompt her to ask " what do you like to play? " and you say something, prompt

her what to say next.... Explain how people have same & different

likes/dislikes.

's 22 now, but we went through the constant talking about Pokemon,

Yu-Gi-Oh, video games...lots of stuff, all he would talk about. Got on his

brothers' nerves and mine. Over time, as he grew up, we worked on things. I

didn't know about Aspergers until he was in middle school, hadn't heard of it,

but even in elementary felt he had some autistic traits; felt he had traits but

probably not enough for a diagnosis. Got the diagnosis HFA/Aspergers in 8th

grade. But still I tried to approach some things when he was younger to handle

it from the perspective that I would if he had autism.

Sounds like she has a great memory with the youtube recall, has always

had a great memory too, smart!

Keep us updated, feel free to ask questions,

>

> Hi everyone,

> I posted here several months back when my 3 year old was diagnosed with OCD.

It started when she had/has this obsession with her fingers and toes to the

point she became non functional in everyday activities. Check/re-checking,

constant asking for reassurance her toes/fingers were going to be ok. She would

need re-assurance once every 30 seconds.

> She started checking all the other kids fingers/toes in pre-school and her

melt downs got so bad at school we had to pull her out.

September 18, 2011

I think she is young for an Aspergers diagnosis, but it certainly sounds like

the obsessive interest that Asperger kids have in a particular area and the lack

of awareness of whether others are interested or not. On the other hand, she is

just a preschooler, so it is probably too early to say. I have known little ones

with obsessive interests that outgrow it.

Obsession with one topic OCD or Aspergers?

Hi everyone,

I posted here several months back when my 3 year old was diagnosed with OCD. It

started when she had/has this obsession with her fingers and toes to the point

she became non functional in everyday activities. Check/re-checking, constant

asking for reassurance her toes/fingers were going to be ok. She would need

re-assurance once every 30 seconds.

She started checking all the other kids fingers/toes in pre-school and her melt

downs got so bad at school we had to pull her out.

The DX never came as a shock to us because we have had problems with DD since

she was born. She never slept through the night for years, extremely

fussy/colicky baby, always had problems with her. She'd scream about anything.

If I changed my hair or appearance she'd melt down. If her dad tries to brush

her teeth or do ANYTHING for her she goes nuts. Everyday has always been a

struggle.

Anyway..

We got her into play therapy where she was introduced to " Mr. Worry " but then

she became obsessed with Mr. Worry. She started repeating " Mr. Worry go away "

over and over and over! But, finally after 6 months of constantly talking about

her fingers/toes she has gotten over it a bit. I still catch her checking her

toes all the time but she's at least not verbalizing it like she use to.

My main worry at this point is her obsession with her specific toy. She's always

had obsessions with certain things (at 2 years old it was her crayons, but she

never used them to draw she would just carry them around everywhere/line them

up/divide them by brand, then by color, etc)

For the past 7 or 8 months it's been the Littlest Pet Shop. It's literally the

ONLY thing she talks about now and I am afraid it's the only thing she knows how

to talk about. The first thing out of her mouth every morning is something to do

with her pet shops and it's the last thing before bed. All day long she is asks

repetitive questions about them which ones she likes/doesn't like. She won't

talk about anything else! I don't think I can stress that enough.

Also when she earns enough money to buy a new petshops (we give her little

chores) that day she will repeat nothing but " When are we going to buy the

petshop? " and I will say " 2:00 " and she will ask every minute or so the SAME

question even though I already answered! It drives me crazy!

I started getting worried about it when I noticed she would talk to other kids

her age about them and they would tell her " I don't like petshops " and my

daughter wouldn't get the hint and she would keep talking about them and then

the other kids would then start ignoring her. Once my daughter was pestering my

neighbors kid about petshops and I heard the kid go up to her mom and ask why

the little girl (my daughter) won't stop talking about them. And she told my

daughter to her face she hated petshops and my daughter didn't get it and

carried on as usual. Even though the little girl JUST told her she hates

petshops my daughter would ask her what petshops she has! My heart broke into a

million pieces that day. Now that OTHER kids are noticing she is " different "

it's a new can of worms for me.

Also, there are these youtube videos about petshops she watches. My daughter has

memorized each 10 minute episode and she will sit on the couch and say the whole

episode out loud. She knows every word of them. She will just sit there and

stare off into space saying the dialogue.

I am wondering if there is something else going on besides OCD. I am starting to

wonder if the obsessions she has could be due to aspergers??

But if she had aspergers wouldn't someone (her pediatrician or therapist) would

of said something by now?

Do the things I mentioned just seem to fall under the OCD diagnosis or does

anyone here think there could be something else going on?

September 19, 2011

I HAVE to respond to you. You could be describing my DS exactly if you replaced

Petshops with the Tank Engine at that age. We even took him to

Disneyland, and all he'd talk about was . I thought his obsessions were

cute at the time.

Now he is 8, and I have watched patterns like this long enough to know he is

struggling with something. Each obsession lasts until he moves to a new one.

for a few years, Little Big Planet for a few years, and now it is Angry

Birds. There are lots of smaller obsessions too, like only using the color red,

but he isn't " bothered " by it at this point. He " likes " his obsessions, so I

have trouble believing it is OCD as well. (BTW I wish he'd never found YouTube)

It is a problem though. I have to homeschool him because he can't pay attention

in a school setting. All he will think about are his obsessions. He brings

home papers covered in Angry Bird doodles. If he has no paper, he uses his arms.

>

> Hi everyone,

> I posted here several months back when my 3 year old was diagnosed with OCD.

It started when she had/has this obsession with her fingers and toes to the

point she became non functional in everyday activities. Check/re-checking,

constant asking for reassurance her toes/fingers were going to be ok. She would

need re-assurance once every 30 seconds.

> She started checking all the other kids fingers/toes in pre-school and her

melt downs got so bad at school we had to pull her out.

>

> The DX never came as a shock to us because we have had problems with DD since

she was born. She never slept through the night for years, extremely

fussy/colicky baby, always had problems with her. She'd scream about anything.

If I changed my hair or appearance she'd melt down. If her dad tries to brush

her teeth or do ANYTHING for her she goes nuts. Everyday has always been a

struggle.

>

> Anyway..

>

> We got her into play therapy where she was introduced to " Mr. Worry " but then

she became obsessed with Mr. Worry. She started repeating " Mr. Worry go away "

over and over and over! But, finally after 6 months of constantly talking about

her fingers/toes she has gotten over it a bit. I still catch her checking her

toes all the time but she's at least not verbalizing it like she use to.

>

> My main worry at this point is her obsession with her specific toy. She's

always had obsessions with certain things (at 2 years old it was her crayons,

but she never used them to draw she would just carry them around everywhere/line

them up/divide them by brand, then by color, etc)

>

> For the past 7 or 8 months it's been the Littlest Pet Shop. It's literally the