Published on 12, July, 2020
HI guys, I'm new to the NAS, my son has ASD and ADHD. He recently had an encounter with a wasp in his trampoline that freaked him out and is now terrified to go outside in case a fly or wasp comes near him, he's even refused to pick up stones (which he used to love collecting) in case there was a bug on it. IT hasn't helped at a mozzie seems to have taken a liking to him and his thigh is covered in bites. Any advice on how to deal with this would be greatly appreciated, my husband and I just don't know how to handle this new development.
We had just got him coming outside with me more and off his devises but this has set him back a long way :(
I like the honey idea, the risk with the swag is you could normalise their idea that killing/ violence is ok if you don’t like that creature, My cousins kid who is autistic once beat someone up because he likened them to a spider which he had been taught was ok to kill - bare in mind he was maybe 9 or 10 then, so keep in mind the very black and white approach some autistic people have. I don’t know if your son is black and white in his outlook, but his response mentioned in your post above would suggest at least an element of it. I’m not saying your don would do thus, just saying caution may be wise. I think ideas like the honey however are great because they in a sense re-program the mind. I think confidence building is key, maybe find a way of incentivising going in the garden with you or his dad. I’m not sure what part of the country you are in, but here in Hampshire it’s lovely out and it would be a shame gif him to miss out on this weather.