Obsessed with computers and technology!

As mentioned previously; our autistic son, Conner is obsessed with computers and technology which has gotten more pronounced as he gets older. It’s really does concern us because it’s like a switch; when playing on a computer game or watching YouTube videos, he is lively and vocal but when we tell him to turn it off; he becomes withdrawn and mopes around like the world has come to an end.

To add to this; Conner sometimes becomes quite nasty in his comments, for example calling my wife fat or using nasty comments because dinner isn’t ready on his time-table and being generally defiant when asked to do something like brush his teeth or getting ready for bed. We don’t know whether he understands what he is saying is mean or whether he is repeating what he has heard on a game or on TV or even at school or summer camp, but one thing is for sure, this sort of behavior has to stop; and taking away his tech privileges is the only thing that bothers him!

I don’t like seeing him unhappy but at the same time we can’t let him withdraw into his own computer generated world. As my wife eluded to in her recent post, Conner doesn’t do well with fast moving animals, so we thought about therapeutic horse riding sessions as he has ridden on a horse previously and dealt with it well. But the cost is a little prohibitive, between $35 and $50 per session at Flint Hills Riding Center; we only have single income right now so spare cash is at a premium.

He literally shows no interest in anything other than computer games, with the exception of swimming, which he does at summer camp, we would like to take him more but by the time my wife gets home from work, it’s late and it’s tough for me to take Conner as I don’t swim and have a 2 1/2 year old attached to me. We would love to have Conner take part in team sports but he shows no interest whatsoever, he prefers to do things on his own, being alone really doesn’t bother him at all!

I guess we’ll just have to keep plugging away at it in the hope that one day he’ll make friends and develop other interests. We don’t even mind if he plays computer games as long as it’s social; having friends around to play on the Playstation 3.

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