Published on 12, July, 2020
My 15-yr child has exceptional intelligence but when it comes to make a right/appropriate decision, he tends to end up with decision which may jeopardise his safety. It is very obvious that it is not his intention to undermine his safety but he just can’t see consequences from his actions or understand its impact on his safety.
During weekends/school holidays, he only “moves” if he thinks it worth it, he only eats/drinks only when he feels he needs, he only go to bed when he feels he needs sleep. The problem is that he seldom feels that it worth “moving”, meaning that he is sitting on the sofa for his entire awaking time and only stands up and moves when he goes to toilet which is only once in a day and goes to the kitchen to eat food which is also only once in a day. He does not refuse the food all the time but only agree to eat when he feels he needs food which is only once a day. When he eats, he eats a proper amount for 15 years old, not like extremely small amount. His drinking is the same. He only drinks when he feels thirsty which usually occurs only 1 or twice in a day. He has once ended up with E&A, as he refused to take any fluid for 24 hours and he did not wee for 24 hours. He said he was not thirsty therefore he did not drink. He has also once fainted in school after having extreme immobile lifestyle for 1.5 months (during the summer holiday).
He is now in the middle of his adolescent and his behaviour has been affecting his physical developments. His BMI is far below the normal range and has been on high energy diet prescribed by a medical professional but he has been refusing to take them, as he feels it is not “yummy”. His extremely sedentary lifestyle has been significantly affecting his muscle/bone developments and his muscle is now so weak that he can’t even open a cap on pet bottles. He can’t walk more that 10 minutes, let alone run. We met numerous medical professionals and had a lot of tests but they could not find anything wrong with his body. Except his general muscle weakness (they thinks it is due to his extreme immobile lifestyle). His paediatrician told me that my child did not have an eating disorder, as he was still able to eat. His mental health professional told me that my child did hot have depression or any other psychiatric illnesses.
He can perfectly explain how body works scientifically e.g. why human body needs water or what will happen to his body if there is no sufficient food supply but he hardly uses his intelligence or knowledge to shape his action or make a right decision. Anybody here has a similar experience? I would particularly like to hear from someone who has ASD and have or had a similar experience? What your thoughts? Could anyone possibly advocate my child, explaining/suggesting that why he bypasses his knowledge/intelligence to shape his actions? I really appreciate any comments or suggestions. Thank you so much for reading my long post.
This sounds very like hyposensitive 'interoception', one of the internal senses about how your body is. If he can recognise that and read up about it, maybe he can find a routine for good nutrition and exercise. However, if he also has executive function problems... I could relate to that to an extent. I don't think anyone noticed I missed school lunch for several years because I was too busy.
I realise this is an old thread, so hope you're now less worried about this.
Pssst...happy Christmas DeepThought....or just plain old Happy Monday x
NAS35796 wrote:
Practically foolish and theoretically wise people have what is called poor Executive Function, with one way to introduce practical wisdom and greater executive function skills is by using actual board games with actual pieces, and lesser rewards for losses, and greater rewards for wins.
Maintaining a lesser or greater reward scheme in any activity or pursuit encourages practical wisdom because something concrete and real is actually being worked for and actually being gained either way. Consider for instance a packet of dried fruits or nuts for a win, or a few from the packet for a loss, or else an episode of a television series or a feature film, and so on and so forth with rewards in general.
Basically, the drinking water and urinating only once a day problem, involves Hypo-sensitivity, meaning that your son has to be particularly thirsty for the slightest sensation of thirst to register at all, much like having to raise the volume of the voice for someone who has hearing difficulties. In the case of urinating the same also applies~ the pressure in the bladder has to be higher in order to register and be attended to, and dehydration and the resulting toxicological build up makes receptivity to physiological needs less noticeable.
I really appreciate any comments or suggestions.
Please excuse the topic matter skip, as I am running out of writing energy, but one suggestion you might find useful is a book titled 'The Complete Guide To Asperger's Syndrome', by Tony Attwood ~ costing just short of twenty pounds sterling.
The book is written in such a way that people who are not autistic can learn to understand and relate better with those who are, and for those who are autistic it can help them to better relate with and understand those who are not ~ and that is just the writing style ~ with the subject matter explanations, suggestions and references for further resources being rather excellent, to say the least.
Hi , I just read you post so didn't want to just hop off, just to say I feel for you so much and your son. I think he needs to build up some endurance, do some light sport initially, trampoline is good ..or even just get outdoors, get some oxygen in his lungs, get his system moving, I know easier said than done sometimes, my son is only just nearly 4 but I had a year prior to his diagnosis where he just would not move off the sofa and the iPad , he was obsessed with the iPad, I basically cold turkeyed him off the iPad and turned all electrical devices off , tv etc.. I take him outdoors, walks etc.. yes it was tough and he had major meltdowns but he has now built up some strength and endurance and will walk round a lake now, little at a time , just maybe try break the rut he is in for him by encouraging him and then using a reinforcer after , if its iPad etc.. Take care