Pass the Keys Please

One of the most common characteristics people with Autism share is having intense or focused interests.  Not everyone will have the same focus of interest but whatever that interest is, be aware that it can be very intense for the person, maybe even a little obsessive.  For Charlie he has 2 very intense interests; trains and keys.  Sometimes he'll focus on one at a time and sometimes the interests will be a focus at the same time.  Lately it's been a bit of both.

Now when I say it's a slight obsession, I mean he spends most of his time talking about these items, playing with them, planning how he will get more (even though he has literally hundreds of keys and trains), where he will keep them, how he will line them up, which ones he'll play with next, I could go on and on.  The last couple days it's been an intense focus on his keys.  He has several key rings that he spends time putting them on and taking them off.  He recently got his hands on a small box that he's been keeping the majority of them in.

It took us awhile to realize these focuses of his are something he has control of.  These objects bring him peace and comfort.  They're predictable.  He thrives on predictable.  He can decide where they go, what he does with them and how to organize them.  He can spend hours lining them up how he wants them, rearranging them and then starting over.   In Charlie's world, when he doesn't feel he has control of things he becomes anxious, agitated and isn't quite sure what to do.  And when that happens, it can look something like this....

Yep, when he's looking to feel under control he may just open all the drawers and cupboards in the kitchen.  Imagine my surprise when I came around the corner to this and didn't know he had done it.  Other times I have found him going around the house and turning every single light on that we own, in every room of the house....including flashlights.

But there's only so many of one item you can have.  We're running out of extra keys laying around our house.  Over the last couple of years Charlie has gotten keys from a special teacher of his.  We haven't gotten him any new keys lately and it's starting to become difficult to hold him off.  And tonight he was all out of sorts about it.  So yep, totally did this tonight...

I just bought 68 keys on Etsy.  Now, we won't give them all to him at once.  When we run into having keys in bulk like this we dole them out sparingly and make them last.  Many times they're used as incentives.  I know what you're thinking.  Yes, we're the ones that can decide if he gets any more keys or not.  Yes, it may seem like we're playing into his obsession.  But you know what?  He's going to be obsessed about them whether we help him or not.  So we might as well have a happy boy who is intently focused on keys rather than a dysregulated one!  

So if anyone else has any brilliant ideas on where to continue getting keys, we're open for suggestions.  

CHARLIE & SUNNY

Sunny continues to provide much support to Charlie every day.  Some days are busier than others depending on our schedule.  Today's biggest support was keeping him calm and regulated at church and then at bedtime.  Charlie was having a hard time holding it together around bedtime and really relied on Sunny.  

It's difficult to get a good picture when it's completely dark in the house.  But Sunny did a wonderful "full on" command and laid on Charlie for several minutes to provide some deep tactile pressure which really comforts him.  Worked like a charm because Charlie fell right to sleep after this.  This coming week should be interesting.  We'll be heading to a cabin with some of my family for the week.  When we're not at home for a good length of time Charlie tends to get stressed since he's not at home in his comfort zone.  This will be the first year at the cabin that he'll have Sunny so I'm hoping we'll see less stress and anxiety from Charlie.  Until next time...

Sunny standing by while Charlie plays. She never strays far from his side.

Work hard, sleep hard.