Awaiting Diagnosis

It sounds exactly like Autistic thinking. Attempting to shut down the brain from "calculating" at night becomes an enforced self practice as we get older and we don't always get it right. I will have orchestration playing in my head when I'm in the middle of a big work project and now in my 40's have just learned these are times where I take a very small dose of Xanax until the few days of serious mixing are done. If I accidentally work until 23.00 or later, it won't shut off and I'll have incredible anxiety from the intensity of impact and this repetition in my head. 

Here's a human problem: Anxiety is the flip side of Excitement. It's triggered the same and the body responds the same. So it sounds like your son absolutely loves learning - most of us do. In fact, our reward centre is far more set off by eureka moments - solving problems than anything else. Are there puzzles he can do at night to shift gears? Can he build lego bricks or work on sudoku for children? It should be important to help him do something else he can finish before bed, even reading physical books. I used to read my son to sleep at night and so long as there was no deep philosophical discussion involved (Chronicles of Narnia for instance), he would fall asleep. I probably did this until he was 9. It just helps refocus on something else. 

My father and all my brothers chew on things, this can be Autistic movement, especially if the head is constantly calculating. My father is in physics, one brother neurology, another works with a company like Cern. They all chew on ice throughout the day. My grandmother would leave out nuts and cut up veg/fruit in the house. My father was always eating carrots or radishes. 

Monotropism is useful to understand https://thepsychologist.bps.org.uk/volume-32/august-2019/me-and-monotropism-unified-theory-autism Abrupt change can feel like an assault. It's never really been good for humans but society has changed drastically since 1980. 50 years ago we'd get a warning before a commercial break on Tele. With no internet, we'd need to sit down and carefully construct a letter. Autistic - Being Human - works much better with ethical applications of the self such as practicing reliability, dependability, steadfastness, thinking a thing through. We are capable of sitting and focusing for hours on end with one thing and as an adult, this is a desirable trait. The flip side of this is being knocked out of that is REALLY difficult, it can send anyone of us into survival mode as if we've just seen a bear. But this means affording a boundary of time for thought and engagement without interruption. 

It also sounds like he's a picture-thinker. We can use our occipital lobe and other parts of our brain to do the same type of reasoning someone might use with Language. The imagination can be a very vivid place. It's important to work with this. This means a fair warning for mental preparation and a specific amount of time allocated for switching gears, so he can visualise himself participating, making that transition easier. 

If you'd like to take him in public and it's overwhelming his senses (again, 50 years ago the frequencies were not digital, the noise was not at the level it is now, places were constructed with sound absorption, not cheaply, lights weren't unnatural LEDs and harsh), buy ear defenders. He'll need external sources to shield from the assault of society. Autistic-wiring does not have the 'programming' to dull the senses. You can practice techniques from Yoga or mindfulness resources to engage with him, though he may still have the kind of sensing which was meant for our ancestors in the wild. 

It sounds exactly like Autistic thinking. Attempting to shut down the brain from "calculating" at night becomes an enforced self practice as we get older and we don't always get it right. I will have orchestration playing in my head when I'm in the middle of a big work project and now in my 40's have just learned these are times where I take a very small dose of Xanax until the few days of serious mixing are done. If I accidentally work until 23.00 or later, it won't shut off and I'll have incredible anxiety from the intensity of impact and this repetition in my head. 

Here's a human problem: Anxiety is the flip side of Excitement. It's triggered the same and the body responds the same. So it sounds like your son absolutely loves learning - most of us do. In fact, our reward centre is far more set off by eureka moments - solving problems than anything else. Are there puzzles he can do at night to shift gears? Can he build lego bricks or work on sudoku for children? It should be important to help him do something else he can finish before bed, even reading physical books. I used to read my son to sleep at night and so long as there was no deep philosophical discussion involved (Chronicles of Narnia for instance), he would fall asleep. I probably did this until he was 9. It just helps refocus on something else. 

My father and all my brothers chew on things, this can be Autistic movement, especially if the head is constantly calculating. My father is in physics, one brother neurology, another works with a company like Cern. They all chew on ice throughout the day. My grandmother would leave out nuts and cut up veg/fruit in the house. My father was always eating carrots or radishes. 

Monotropism is useful to understand https://thepsychologist.bps.org.uk/volume-32/august-2019/me-and-monotropism-unified-theory-autism Abrupt change can feel like an assault. It's never really been good for humans but society has changed drastically since 1980. 50 years ago we'd get a warning before a commercial break on Tele. With no internet, we'd need to sit down and carefully construct a letter. Autistic - Being Human - works much better with ethical applications of the self such as practicing reliability, dependability, steadfastness, thinking a thing through. We are capable of sitting and focusing for hours on end with one thing and as an adult, this is a desirable trait. The flip side of this is being knocked out of that is REALLY difficult, it can send anyone of us into survival mode as if we've just seen a bear. But this means affording a boundary of time for thought and engagement without interruption. 

It also sounds like he's a picture-thinker. We can use our occipital lobe and other parts of our brain to do the same type of reasoning someone might use with Language. The imagination can be a very vivid place. It's important to work with this. This means a fair warning for mental preparation and a specific amount of time allocated for switching gears, so he can visualise himself participating, making that transition easier. 

If you'd like to take him in public and it's overwhelming his senses (again, 50 years ago the frequencies were not digital, the noise was not at the level it is now, places were constructed with sound absorption, not cheaply, lights weren't unnatural LEDs and harsh), buy ear defenders. He'll need external sources to shield from the assault of society. Autistic-wiring does not have the 'programming' to dull the senses. You can practice techniques from Yoga or mindfulness resources to engage with him, though he may still have the kind of sensing which was meant for our ancestors in the wild.