"Why is my 6-year-old son (high functioning autistic) so engrossed in Minecraft, and how can I tell if it is an unhealthy obsession rather than just a fun time activity for him?"
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My child has been rejected by his peers, ridiculed and bullied !!!
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56 comments:
my son is the same but with skylanders....wish they were easier to get hold of though lol...
Mine is like that with Batman and zombies
Get used to Pokemon. It's a way of life. Let me know if you need a course on fire types, grass types, what they evolve into, etc. My son really REALLY enjoys being able to explain all their attributes, etc. to me. I say go with the flow!!
Mine is like that with fish.
my daughter is the same with hello kitty & moshi monsters x
We had a similar question when our son was little, what we did to help him get over the obsession part of his interests was help him identify other outlets related to his interests. Pokemon for example being from Japan, you may want to find other Japanese things for your son to do, origami, other Japanese games or shows or even learning how to speak Japanese are healthy activities that you could tell your son is "like Pokemon" My son was big time into robots when he was younger, so we helped him identify with other robot-type things. He began using legos and lego mindstorm. Later he started learning some computer coding that would help program a robot.
Mine is like that with British Monarchs and Motorways of England!!!!! Kinda useful but he really does get some funny looks off the other kids in the playground!! xx
Because its a fantastic game!!
Mine is into Pokemon as well. He is not allowed to play on School Nights or talk about it at the Dinner Table, otherwise he is good to go and it is not just the Video Games but also the Cards and Figurines. He doesn't like to go outside much because it does interfere with his Pokemon obsession but we have come to terms with it. There are times where we can get him outside but stopped forcing forcing him. It has been working better and better
Our 13 yr old is the same way with Pokemon. He explains them all and loves to draw each of them. They are also a comfort (security) to him when we travel. Have the school incorporate his art (which includes Pokemon and Mario & Luigi) into his school work but also try to guide him to draw other things too.
Ours is computers xx
My 13 year old was that way with Scooby-Doo. She isn't as bad as she when she was younger, but we still have to have a Scooby birthday cake every year. And she still draws him a lot. She loves art, and does branch out more, but she still draws Scooby at least once everyday. I even tried to get her to draw the other characters, but it's still Scooby.
My 9 year old is just obsessed with computers and games in general. He becomes distressed when he cannot play them. His school one to one often complains of him being in character mode but this makes him calm and happy. What should we do?
With us it's Star Wars and Doctor Who. LOL
Just an FYI...They person who invented Pokemon also had Aspergers. My daughter is obsessed with cats. She can see a cat and know exactly what the breed is. I say if it makes your child happy obsess away!
did you know that the person who made pokemon had aspergers. my daughter loved pokemon. there are worse obsessions to have.
My son is obsessed with Sponge Bob. He knows everything about him & has started a Sponge Bob fan club that our family is now part of after we answered questioned of course :).
For my 9 year old, it's WALMART! All he thinks about is buying toys at WalMart. He has explosive episodes when he is not allowed to go. Every time he becomes anxious about something he wants to go to WalMart. He has expressed already that he feels he needs new toys so kids would like him, but he seems to also feel like he always needs something new.
My 10yo Daughter is the same with Pokemon. She will spends hours researching, reading books and playing games. She also loves to watch you tube videos about the as well.
My daughter is the same with Pokemon. Cards, DS games, TV Shows, You Tube videos, plush toys and figurines. ANything POKEMON!
My son is obsessed with geology and Dr. Who!
My 12 yr old is that way with cars know everything about cars and the mechanics of them. And my 3 yr old is obsessed with horses and has been since she was a yr and a half. That's all she thinks about.
My 10 yr old daughter & 8 yr old son have Aspergers & they are that way with Pokemon & Skylanders. They know every kind, all the stats, everything. They have fantastic memories and I've found it to be a brilliant teaching example when learning new things. I was into carebears and rainbow brite. I grew out of them eventually. My opinion is if its all they want to play then I put a time limitation on it. My children play no video games during the week. Yeah they didn't like it at first but they got used to the routine. If I've learned anything it's consistency. They are always going to push the boundary, it's up to us parents to set the limitations early on. The trick for me has been to have a variety of activities to keep them busy so they aren't so focused on that one particular thing for long periods of time.
Put mine down for Trains. Lionel, real ones, and everything that might go with it. I now use trains as a reward.
same here my son can tell you who won the eurovision for the last 20 years, who sang the song where it was held. Can fix computers phones anything electrical.
My son is that way with any video game. He is not allowed to play during week and is limited to one hr
On weekends. Now if we ALOT of traveling to do duing week whether it be drs or what not i allow a little time in the car/ waiting room but still limit and make him read too. ( he loves to read so that helps)
If my son plays to many video games he gets aggitated and frustrated and it changes his behaviour in a neg way. And he is only allowed to play the rated E games. So find what works best for u and ur family but i agree with others. Consistency is important.
Believe, it seems harmless while they are young, but it will consume every waking hour if you allow it. They don't have a concept of real time. It is almost like they are getting lost in a fantasy world. Honestly, I do not know how to bridge that and make real life important to him.
my son is d same we even set up a pokemon group so if neone is interested please join
Satoshi Tajiri (born August 28, 1965) is a Japanese video game designer best known as the creator of Pokémon. Tajiri has also been diagnosed with Asperger syndrome. :) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satoshi_Tajiri
Mine use to be into trains big time then it became pokemon for a little while and now it is legos.
This is just a phase. Before you know it, he will be into something new.... ;)
Our Aspie is too! Before this it was Dinosaurs and before that LEGOs, and before even that Thomas the Tank Engine.
my kids don't 'play' pokemon...they study it!
seems like a pattern here. they obsess! Mine is 13 and has always obsessed over something. sometimes for a long time and then his interest would change. I don't think there's anything we can do to stop the obsession but yes, i agree we should help control it by limiting time or applying it to other aspects of life. the good thing is it is the PERFECT consequence for unacceptable behavior! Take away the obsession and they GET THE IDEA pretty quick!! Good luck!
My son's obsessions are Sponge Bob, Mario, and Nintendo. We limit him during week days, and when he becomes frustrated. Sometimes I have to remind him that fun things are supposed to be fun. :-)
The obsessions are part of it,driven by some ocd sometimes. They will change with age and my guy started with Pokemon and then many others along the way.Now,at 12 he always always will have his legoes,and he loves his electronics.
16 hours ago · Like
I'm sure its a "trait" of Aspergers...my son plays Minecraft & Roblox ALL the time...we have to pull him off the computer. He would be on there all day & all night if we allowed it. Force them to play outside! They'll hate it for 5 mins...then they won't come in! They obsess with everthing they put their mind to.
It started with Care Bears, My Little Ponies and , Littlest Pet Shop as a little girl now it's dinosaurs, dragons, anime and Manga comics....she's becoming an awesome artist now.
we have had kettles, irons, light switches, hoovers, jesus, scrooge now its power rangers he is so intense with it.
My six year old will actually get in arguements with grown ups over Star Wars. He knows every line, detail, and attribute that makes a jedi! If you ever want to know tornado statistics he's the one to ask. Although I'm not sure why this one developed, we live in California. One day we spent on the lake he talked someone with a boat that they were trying to fix. After talking to him for a while he became obsessed with learning all the parts of a boat's motor. He can tell you just about everything about repairing boats now. That one might be handy and profitable!
My 13 yr Aspie kiddo is obsessed with Sonic the hedgehog..from games to cartoons. All his classwork has some kind of small drawing of Sonic. sometimes he won't do classwork, teacher finds him doodling Sonic. He spends all his free time drawing him, and he is awesome at drawing him. He also runs like him. i tried to make him stop, but it's like punishing him for something he has no control over. So now we teach him when and where it is ok. It will take time to get this on track. For now, you just gotta love my kiddo.
Our 36 year-old enigma, is an amazing expert on actors, actresses, movies, when they were made etc; tractors, farm equipment cars, transport trucks, and on and on. He can tell you what kind of rims are on the wheels, can identify transports when they are just dots on the horizon to me.
The only time he's ever been unable to identify a tractor, was when we were visiting France when he was about 10 and he saw a Peugeot, which we don't have in our region of Canada. He knows if someone has changed the headlights on their car. Is never wrong!
A friend made " John Deere" placemats and napkins for him. I tease him sometimes and put the placemat with the tractor pictures facing upside down. I know he's not feeling well if he fails to right the placemat. ( Otherwise he won't say if he doesn't feel well, we have to guess.) There's a lot of observation and guesswork involved, on our parts.
My son was star wars from age 1 1/2 to 7, he blows adult fans' minds, he started obsessing over guns at about 2, building them from legos and is now an expert, he started obsessing over video games and legos at 4 and has had an obsession w/ JFK since black ops came out. He does not play with toys unless they are guns and has recently begun an obsession w/ Rob Dyrdek and minecraft. He makes wonderful sound effects and has always preferred imagination play w/no more than 1 other child and is becoming quite an artist drawing his obsessions. Is also light and sound sensitive, prefers talking adults ears off to children cause he is too much sometimes and adults will humor him. Must pull him off ppl, when he really gets going.
Does anyone else's child have an easier time focusing when sitting on carpet? It is the only way my son can do his school work w/out being blocked out behind furniture.
My son has an obsession with Indiana Jones and firearms. He can construct any kind of firearm out ofany piece of paper and clear adhesive tape and I'm talking about every single detail of the gun. He loves to watch the Indiana Jones movies and play the Lego Indians Jones video games.
My son has an obsession with Indiana Jones and firearms. He can construct any kind of firearm out ofany piece of paper and clear adhesive tape and I'm talking about every single detail of the gun. He loves to watch the Indiana Jones movies and play the Lego Indians Jones video games.
my 9 year old son has had many obsessions for long periods of time. Right now, it is guns and knives. This scares me a little. How do I know if this will last or if this is a bad obsession? He is a very kind boy who has more empathy than anyone I know. I know he won't intentionally hurt anyone and I know he has a very large imagination. How do I let him have his outlet of the love of guns and knives in a safe way? My husband and I have different opinions on this. I wouldn't choose to deny him of his love of certain weapons, but I would like to incorporate right and wrong of the weapons. He likes any plastic play guns and plastic knives. He loves to pretend he is in the army. Or he is shooting zombies. lol. My husband doesn't want people to think he is going to be THE kid who does school shootings. My son is a very unique and kind hearted aspergers child whose mind is beyond our comprehension. Video games, guns, and knives are his interest right now. I think we should be able to help him in his outlet by letting him learn the safe ways and right and wrong ways of using these things. Am I wrong?
I have autism, and I'm mostly into Politics! Whether it's injustice, or so,etching else, whether it's historic or current, that's me, you can't take that away from your kid! Try to talk about it, I know it's hard when you're not into the topic, but you can learn a lot!
my 9yr old son displayed asperger syndrome though he is very chatty (and everyone around me ensure me he is normal,but I know better!). his current obsession is indeed pokemon and also minecraft (will watch youtube videos of famous players and subscribe to them). if those are not available he plays lego (because it looks like minecraft) and angry birds..
At least your child is not obsessed with the Kardashians and Anna Nicole Smith like our 12 year old son. He has always been like this, It's gone from the movie Enchanted to Cars and Now it's Jonbenèt Ramesy, Keeping up with the Kardashians, Anna Nicole Smith and celebrities that died from drug overdoses
My Boy, now 10, is into guns, too. He is awesome in it and wants to join the military later. I'd say let him work towards his goal. Maybe it'll come in handy for it ;)
Sadly there are no kids to play with here that like him. Or weapons as much as be does :(
So my 11 year daughter has aspergers and she does obsess over the normal things but I am concerned that she obsesses over my boyfriend who has been like a father to my kids like she will FaceTime him for hours on end she won't let him show to much attention to her brother if he does she will get in the middle and become the center of attention again I'm concerned bout this anyone have any thoughts I have heard kids with aspergers has "a person" that they are centered around anyone else have this
Hi Missourimom! My name is Maddi. I I think I become centered around certain characters that have the same personality as me, so it's kind of like being centered around "a person". I am 15 years old and I have aspergers! I like mystery shows like Murdoch Mysteries and Criminal Minds because I can relate to a certain character from that shiw. I have loved shows like this ever since I was younger. I become obsessed with a certain character and I read everything about them and I watch every episode. I also like Elementary. I read every Sherlock Holmes books, too. I also like to collect silly things like shells, coins from different countries, and Pokemon cards.I don't think you should worry, unless she starts to think that she IS him because she's not. Have a good day. 😊
Has any one dealt with a 10 yr old boy who seems like he's unhealthy obsessed with mom
My 12 year old child is so obsessed with generators. It started when she was in 6th grade while learning how generators work in their science class. Everytime she sees generators she gets very excited. She would ask me if I could buy her one. She makes craft generators made of foams every single day. She gets loud if she sees generators around construction areas, behind buildings ,food stands.
I'm a caregiver of a teenage girl called Rita with autism, sensory processing disorder, diabetes, depression, anxiety, hearing loss and vision loss. She's obsessed with Klasky Csupo! If that name doesn't sound familiar, they're the people who created Rugrats on Nickelodeon. When she gets upset, I put on a Klasky Csupo logo history video and she'll calm right down. Every time she sees their logo, she makes a happy sounding noise. Every time she sees one of their shows or logos, she'll happily say "KLASKY CSUPO!" This obsession started recently and has helped her through a really rough depressive state. It's indescribable how happy it makes me and her family that she found something that makes her so happy in Klasky Csupo
Every time we watch Rugrats, she wants me to pause the opening credits so she can see Arlene Klasky and Gabor Csupo's names. She loves their shows and everything about them. She likes watching Rugrats and Aaahh!!! Real Monsters, both created by Klasky Csupo. I'm going to introduce another show created by them soon, so she'll have three.
Klasky Csupo has encouraged her to draw more, she loves to imitate their art style. She also pretends to be Arlene Klasky and will make up several drawings of their shows. I love that they've encouraged her imaginative, creative side! We do go along and call her Arlene Klasky when she's in this "pretending mode".
The thing I love most is Klasky Csupo makes her feel good about herself, they shown her it's okay to be different and that she's beautiful the way she is. If this obsession encourages her to be proud of herself, use her imagination and be creative- then I hope Klasky Csupo stays for a long time! <3
Best wishes,
Stella
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