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Rain....Really!

Thursday, June 24, 2010

So, of course I get a day off tomorrow and have an extended bike ride planned and it is raining! Lots of thunder and lightening too. But good old New Mexico...if you don't like the weather, wait ten minutes and it will change.
Taught lessons to a young man this morning, a three year old and he is scared of everything! I have never been around a child that is so upset and bothered. He constantly talked about...what if the tree falls, what if you fall while carrying me in the pool, what if the water is dirty, what if the wind blows....constantly. I truly believe that he has a problem of some sort, as I have never, ever been around a kiddo this worked up about everything. He also hates to be touched but he has a constant death grip on me. Weird...any suggestions?

Perhaps he needs to be hypnotised...because hiding from everything has to be exhausting.

Have a happy Friday...and don't forget to give me some suggestions if you have some. Thank you!
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  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

LINDAKAY228 6/25/2010 11:16AM

    He could also have some type of autism spectrum disorder. Not wanting to be touched can sometimes be part of that and fear of anything different. Or could be the anxiety disorders mentioned. I have a grandson who has a form of autism in Oklahoma who is 3 years old and have done a lot of reading up on it.



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DEVORA4 6/25/2010 12:47AM

  HI Patty, The boy has a general anxiety disorder, which may come from his parent's fears. When my children started with "what ifs", I stated BUT there is not chance of that. Poor little boy, those what ifs can drive one up the wall. Patience is the only suggestion I can think off.

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SAMODER 6/24/2010 11:55PM

    You got a great response already.

The only thing I was going to say,is it sounds like someone who has an excuse to keep from doing what they don't want to do.

Hope you get that bike ride in.

Sam

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CZARINA_TV 6/24/2010 11:02PM

    I was a cautious kid, but I wasn't as worked up as that 3-year-old!

Enjoy your rain. It's hot and humid here today...

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YW84FRIDAY 6/24/2010 10:58PM

  Sounds like he has either Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) or Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). OR both... (or maybe he has a family member who has projected their own fears onto him)

The questions about the tree falling and the wind blowing have more to do with "learned" fear. The dirty water and the aversion to being touched sound like classic OCD. The other anxieties fall under the GAD category.

How do I know this? I have GAD and OCD as do both of my daughters. PLUS their fear of weather is fed by a weather fanatic dad who always talks like it's Armageddon every time there is a little wind or thunder activity.

We dealt with the contamination and touching issues using Response Prevention. This means that my daughter would get her hands "yucky" and then have to wait "x" amount of time before washing them. We gradually increased the time until she could handle it without anxiety. She now scrubs toilets to get through college.

The weather and the trees and the wind were just dealt with by my remaining calm and showing confidence. I would remind them that the wind has been blowing for centuries and guess what? We're all still here. When it came to things like trees and lightening etc, I reassured them that while things like that did occasionally happen, usually no one gets hurt.

Don't dismiss or minimize his fears, BUT also don't reinforce them by comforting him every single time. If you comfort him or try to convince him otherwise every time he exhibits fear, this reinforces the idea that there might actually be something to fear (otherwise you wouldn't be constantly comforting him...)


Don't know if this helps, but it might give you some insight as to why this child is behaving this way and how to deal with it.


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