Autism and OCD

I don't really have a picture to put with this blog entry.  I thought about putting up a picture of someone washing their hands, or something to that effect, but that would be incredibly misleading, so I'm just going to do what I want to do and write.

Several people in the last few weeks have expressed concern over or tried to ask Logan what the large sore spot on this forehead is or how it happened.  This gives me an excellent opportunity to talk about autism and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).

Logan has never been diagnosed with OCD, but he has several obsessive/compulsive behaviors.  Perhaps the next time we take him to a specialist, we can explore that further.  In order to understand how this relates to autism, you first have to understand what OCD actually is.  A lot of people, when they hear the term "OCD", picture someone who washes their hands repeatedly.  While this particular behavior can occur, it's not the sum total of OCD.  OCD has a great deal to do with anxiety.  Sometimes, people may have obsessive thoughts.  For instance, more than one person has talked about hitting a bump in the road and then thinking that they ran over a child.  Logically, they know that no child was present, but they can't escape the thought that a child was under their wheels, so they spend half an hour driving around the block to make sure that what they imagine didn't actually occur.  Other people avoid things, like odd numbers, or they are extremely resistant to change.  Some people have obsessive behaviors, like the hand washing, or folding clothes a particular way, or they have a series of behaviors they have to carry out before they can move on to something else.

Many autistic children exhibit obsessive/compulsive tendencies.  Logan has obsessive behaviors that are extremely hard for him to resist or control.  When Logan gets a bug bite or a zit, he will pick on it until he bleeds, and then continue to pick on it until someone stops him.  In spite of repeated bandaging and admonishing him to stop, explaining the risk of infection, taking him to the doctor, and so on, he still does it.  It can take months for something like that to heal and by then, he's probably done it so much that it leaves a scar.  Can you imagine how frustrating this is, for us as parents, and for him, because he really can't control himself?

A lot of autistic children are very resistant to any kind of change.  If something doesn't go the way they think it will, it upsets them and rocks their world on a level that you can't possibly comprehend.  It helps to give them advance warnings.  For example:  In five minutes, we're going to leave the park.  Or..Class, Ms. so and so is not going to be here tomorrow.  Instead, you will get to be with Mr. so and so.   And remind them REPEATEDLY.  Make sure they understand that something has changed, but that it's okay, so they know what to expect.

I could go on and on about this subject specifically, but I have a test to study for and a nap to take. :)  Just know that autism is not the cut and dried disorder that people perceive it to be.  There are too many what ifs, too many complications, and too many variations on behavior for it to fit neatly inside one box.