• Replies 8 replies
  • Subscribers 68 subscribers
  • Views 3633 views
  • Users 0 members are here
Options
Related
Hints and tips
  • To quote someone's message, first select/highlight the relevant text, and then use the Quote button that appears
  • To "mention" someone, type @ followed by the start of the forum name, and choose from the list; that person will get a notification of being mentioned

15 year old boy extremely afraid of Buzz Lightyear for years

NAS67067

My little brother has had a fear of Buzz Light year since he was roughly 4-5 years old. I want to know if anyone else has had this issue with any autistic relatives/children before? I can't understand why since he is obsessed with Jessie and Woody from Toy Story yet is petrified of watching the movie from his immense fear of seeing Buzz. He also is the same with Mr Incredible but no one else. He loves all Disney movies, grown up movies, not scared of anything even watches Shaun of the Dead and laughs at the zombies? We have recently got Disney plus and he loves all the films on there but he gets extremely scared and jumps up and leaves the room on the off chance that Toy Story will come up. I do think it could have been exacerbated by his head teacher at his previous school who is now thankfully sacked, she used to threaten him when he didn't do what she wanted with getting a Buzz Light Year toy out of her pocket. She was a despicable person (her name is Margaret Gretton feel free to look her up) and I'm worried that she has scarred my brother for life with this. Both me and my dad have tried to talk it over with him recently (about 6 months apart) and he is reduced to tears and shakes and gets extremely emotional which is heartbreaking to see since otherwise he is the most happy go lucky kid I have ever come across and everyone he meets say the same thing. I'm hoping someone can help me try and get him through this - I know it's not that much of a big deal but he carries his Woody and Jessie dolls (which he has three of each) everywhere and I know he would love to watch the film without fear. 

I'd really hoping someone can help with this :) 

Thanks, 

Ashton. 

  • in reply to Disambiguating Cynosure

    Thank you so much for your response! I will try everything recommended and hopefully I can make some progress! You were extremely helpful thank you :) 

  • in reply to Disambiguating Cynosure

    ...I forgot to add... since Your Brother is 15, do not treat him like a Child/Boy, and try to talk to Him as if He were an Adult; Teenagers appreciate this (apparently). Good luck again.

    (Sorry I put down "son" instead of brother! I corrected My mistake - I apologise very much... in this case if He has friends or relatives including Yourself then do what Anthony said and then try to bear in mind what I said about Phobias. These are genuine things and are not nice and, yes, I have some too, but nothing anyone else finds scary (e.g. Babies.))

  • NAS67067 said:
    I do think it could have been exacerbated by his head teacher at his previous school who is now thankfully sacked, she used to threaten him when he didn't do what she wanted with getting a Buzz Light Year toy out of her pocket.

    Greetings to NAS67067... This reply from Me might be both helpful and not very nice sounding, yet - first of all DO take the advice from "Anthony" because it is very good, especially the pacing part.

    However You say that Your Brother is 15 now, and so, to Me at least, this sounds like a built-in, hard-wired, full-blown PHOBIA. The quote I give is the reason why, and so that explains it. (Mr Incredible has a similar look and voice (thin body, big jaw, wide shoulders, etc.).) I am sorry I cannot recommend any definite things, apart from to treat the fear exactly as any other phobia is treated - just like with spiders or snakes or clowns or whatever...  pay attention to the Films, and gradually mention/introduce good things which Buzz actually does, and compare them to proper bad things done by proper bad guys.... if all else fails then gain Yourself a BuzzLightyear Toy and associate it with better or fun experiences, very very gradually.

    Again I say that Anthony's advice is the first and best thing to do; yet bear in mind that this may be a proper phobia. So Try to imagine something which You Yourself are afraid of (spiders snakes etc. again) and how You might go about easing that.

    (There is also the stranger association of associating "fear + running away with fun", like Halloween.) Good Luck whatever You try. 

  • in reply to Anthony

    Thank you for your Response Anthony, I will try this with him again - I just hope that maybe with age he will be able to grow out of it. 

  • Hi Ashton and welcome. A lot hinges on how easy it would be to talk to him about this, if you can slowly and gently get him to open up about the fear that would be the first step. But if that’s not possible I really dint know what to recommend. You can’t just jump in and ask. You’d need to broach the subject gently and at a pace he could manage. Maybe starting by asking what he likes about Toy Story then develop these answers. So if he says he likes Jesse, you can ask why etc. Then move on to asking what he doesn’t like and why. Just an idea / make it more conversational than an interrogation