Autism and psychotic episodes

OK I can see what they mean by psychotic episodes. You can understand why they need to explore the possibility of something beyond autism.

Without trying to undermine that in any way, a lot of what you describe is familar to what other parents have reported on here, and indeed some may be able to post similar experiences and their outcomes.

One thing is to try not to link meltdowns to immediate triggers. They can be last straw responses to a long term build up of stress, where the underlying causes are long term and not directly connected to the meltdown, and the immediate triggers are relatively minor.

The other thing is his maturity may be delayed but he is at an age when his peers are are going through puberty, and he will feel more different, and be made to feel more different. Age 13 or 14 is about right for massively worsening issues. Teens are often the worst time for people on the spectrum because the differences and peer pressures are most marked.

I was interested in his reactions to certain peers triggering episodes on sight. I always feel the need to be careful here as I'm probably milder end, even though I think some periods were quite bad. But I'm wary of making easy comparisons of my experiences with someone with more marked symptoms. Nevertheless this makes me think of experiences.

A lot of the bullying I experienced was because I could be pushed towards a meltdown. I've been remarkably lucky since in having few, but my teens were when I had them a lot. And the main cause was complex and sudden sound and movement. My contemporaries realised I could be wound up for entertaining effect, so it happened often. The usual way they achieved this was gathering behind me and making gestures and sudden movements on the edge of my peripheral vision, making sudden noises, crowding round me, jostling and pushing me from behind. They got quite good at stage managing explosive reactions.

When you say peers trigger a reaction by just looking at him, it makes me wonder if they are playing with his sensory vulnerability for entertainment. By doing it often they are keeping him at prolonged high tension so he is anticipating such attacks. That's just a guess however, and maybe someone else on here has other insights on this.

But I venture to suggest it might be worth looking into whether there is bullying of this kind going on, or at least to be able to eliminate it as a factor.

OK I can see what they mean by psychotic episodes. You can understand why they need to explore the possibility of something beyond autism.

Without trying to undermine that in any way, a lot of what you describe is familar to what other parents have reported on here, and indeed some may be able to post similar experiences and their outcomes.

One thing is to try not to link meltdowns to immediate triggers. They can be last straw responses to a long term build up of stress, where the underlying causes are long term and not directly connected to the meltdown, and the immediate triggers are relatively minor.

The other thing is his maturity may be delayed but he is at an age when his peers are are going through puberty, and he will feel more different, and be made to feel more different. Age 13 or 14 is about right for massively worsening issues. Teens are often the worst time for people on the spectrum because the differences and peer pressures are most marked.

I was interested in his reactions to certain peers triggering episodes on sight. I always feel the need to be careful here as I'm probably milder end, even though I think some periods were quite bad. But I'm wary of making easy comparisons of my experiences with someone with more marked symptoms. Nevertheless this makes me think of experiences.

A lot of the bullying I experienced was because I could be pushed towards a meltdown. I've been remarkably lucky since in having few, but my teens were when I had them a lot. And the main cause was complex and sudden sound and movement. My contemporaries realised I could be wound up for entertaining effect, so it happened often. The usual way they achieved this was gathering behind me and making gestures and sudden movements on the edge of my peripheral vision, making sudden noises, crowding round me, jostling and pushing me from behind. They got quite good at stage managing explosive reactions.

When you say peers trigger a reaction by just looking at him, it makes me wonder if they are playing with his sensory vulnerability for entertainment. By doing it often they are keeping him at prolonged high tension so he is anticipating such attacks. That's just a guess however, and maybe someone else on here has other insights on this.

But I venture to suggest it might be worth looking into whether there is bullying of this kind going on, or at least to be able to eliminate it as a factor.