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Alternative hobbies for autistic 10 year old boy

MumOfT

Hi, 

My 10 year old son was recently diagnosed (after a 5 year assessment process) with ASD. He is high functioning and attends a drawing club, music club and young film makers club all for one hour a week on various days.

The problem we have is every other hour of the day all he want to do is sit on his Switch, You Tube, Phone and play/watch all things Pokemon, Minecraft or Roblox. He needs forced into being peeled away from them to the point where me and my husband are concerned that he has a VERY unhealthy relationship with them.

We are having a tricky time with school at the moment and everything seems to result in anger followed by an autistic meltdown, leading into the occasional kicking and punching. Our worry is he is being influenced by what he is seeing on his computer games and youtube.

Other activities he enjoys is building Lego, doing puzzles, Rubix cubes, drawing Pokemon but never opts do do any of these activities and when he does, we get 10 minutes in and "he's bored"

I am looking for suggestions, advice, any help really on how to approach trying to wean him off his screen time to have a more healthy relationship with it?

Also while I am here...is there any sport or external hobby that is typically good (if that's even a thing) for children with autism? 

Thank you in advance for any advice given.

  • in reply to MumOfT

    I think the one thing that made the difference when I was starting out was having a teacher that wasn't just going through the motions - they made an attempt to make the lessons fun and relevant and they sparked a curiosity to discover and listen to new music.

    They used to split the session into two halves - the first half I would have to learn and practice fundamentals - which is vital but boring - but in the second half they would play and sing a song that used some elements of the lesson - so I could hear where that troublesome chord fit and understand why I was being made to play that ridiculous scale over and over - and that's the bit that kept me interested and motivated and introduced me to artists and musical styles that I still find joy in 40+ years later.

    FWIW - practicing is still hard :)

  • in reply to Starfox

    He loves chess and we have just finished playing 3 games together. I might have a look for a chess group or the likes in the local area.

  • in reply to Martin

    This was interesting to read Martin as I have watched his process of solving a Rubix cube recently and over the space of a year we have gone from sheer frustration (where he can't even bring himself to play with it) to now finding new methods and strategies of how to complete it. All of which is way above my head. But a bit like yourself, it seems to be time and patience is what has fuelled development in a positive way.

  • in reply to Homebird

    He is very keen to attend the clubs and it is never an issue him getting ready but trying to bring those activities home with him and getting him to follow up with them in his spare time here is so difficult and he just wants to spend time on the screen. I mean we have a computer, a phone and a tv screen with you tube all going at the same time more often than not.

  • in reply to NAS90609

    So he started Trumpet lessons at school last year and enjoys it when he is at school but trying to get him to practise at home is a nightmare. We would love him to take it on more. Any advise or tips you could give would be amazing.

  • I used to be really obsessed with making plastic model kits, as an child - I was diagnosed autistic as an adult. I never wanted to join clubs or societies because they involved a lot of social interaction, and I had more than I wanted of that at school. I needed large amounts of time outside of school hours alone, so I could recover from the stress of socialising at school. Making each model was a fight between my impatience to get it built and painted, and my innate perfectionism. I think they had a cumulative positive effect as I became more patient of processes over time.

  • I notice you mention school is difficult at the moment so it may be that screen time is his way of unwinding.

    My son spent a lot of time gaming but as time has gone on he will choose to go for walks. He also enjoys playing football. The exercise helps him unwind.

    Regarding going to the clubs, are these things he still enjoys or does he find any of them a challenge? If they are things he wants to do, can you discuss with him before he starts the games the time he needs to come off then give a 5 minute warning or use a timer? It may help him if there is a plan so the end is not sudden when he is in the middle of something.

  • I mean if he is quite keen on puzzle type stuff/rubix cubes how is he with things like Chess? I've only personally got into it the past 3 or so years (thank you Queen's Gambit and Lockdown) as I thought it sounded 'boring' when I was younger, but it might be the sort of thing that the puzzle recognition/solving part of the brain could enjoy? Plus you can play with other people who are interested, online, in person, then there are just chess puzzles etc etc?

  • Is there anything he's doing in his weekly clubs that sparks his interest enough that he might want to do more of those things outside of the allocated hour (or could be convinced to!)?

    At 10 he's potentially old enough to learn a musical instrument and while that does possibly mean extra expense for parents - I can speak from my own experience of it being truly life-changing.