Friends, Family & Carers Forum

[greenpea]

Hi everyone

Well once again my problem has raised its ugly head again and i need advice. I am going to be as brief as possible. My son has autism, schizophrenia, epilepsy and a mild to moderate intellectual disability. He lives in about 50% of our world and 50% of his imaginary world. He wants to build these fantastical creatoions to bring his imaginary friends to our world because he says there is a war going on there and they are in danger. He has pages and pages of of drawings of his weaponary which he wants to build which is simply impossible to build by anyone let alone him.

He has been very violent in the past and still hurts himself which has required hospital stays (wont do that again after the last stay). So that brings us to tonight once again he is hurting himself and crying because he wants to build these things .... these fantastical things .... he is so unhappy and frustrated .... I dont know how to help him. We have tried distraction. He goes to day care he is 24. He has a good social life (better than mine)and yet it still comes down to this every night every day. 

I am at a loss .... I dont know what to do any more ... Welcome to all suggestions on helping my son,

[Former-Member]

Oh @greenpea am hearing your pain. I don't have any answers for you but wanted you to know that there are people who care.

(A very simplistic thought came to mind - could he safely build a Lego model?)

[Eden1919]

well this may not be the best suggestion if the weapons are actually going to be used for something bad but you could 3D print them OR maybe can you explain to him that the weapons need to stay in his world and are not supposed to come into this one. does he have psychs to help support him with this?

[Appleblossom]

My heart goes out to you. @greenpea I hear that you have been along this road for a while. 

If he has been working in the field of drawing to explore and bring them to life.  Can you do a project of drawing a narrative to get them to a safe space ... maybe each one at a time ... kind of like a graphic novel .. but the rules are his to make???  But keeping paper crafty medium might help him see they are not going to jump through the front door 6 foot tall .. one day.  Let him down gently but enter into the space with him for a bit. 

You have a big job ... they were saying mothering is 2.5 times a full time job ... sometimes its more than that.

Take care of you 

[greenpea]

Hi @Former-Member a big thank you for your input I am desperate for answers of any kind and just knowing people are there for me is a huge thing. Unfortunately his day care tried him on the lego yesterday which is what  brought on him being upset last night. he wants the real deal if you know that I mean. it is just terrible 😞

[greenpea]

@Eden1919 Eden1919 a 3d print of them is ingenius! I never thought of that. There is no way that the weapons would work but it might just help help him even for a moment. I also like the idea of saying that the weapons should stay in the other world. I will give that alot of thought. Thank you for your input much appreciated 🙂

[greenpea]

@Appleblossom Dear Appleblossom I think your ideas hold alot of merit and I am definately going to give it some thought on how i can make it work for him. Sooner rahter than later I really have to broach the subject that these things are never going to happen and they are all in his head. Thank you so much for your kind thoughts, I really appreciate it. Love gp 🙂

[Former-Member]

It is very distressing @greenpea, feeling so at a loss at what to do. Does he have the same crying and self hurting at day care?

[Lauz]

@greenpea - this is a really difficult situation. I am sorry you are feeling at such a loss. 

I am glad you are getting some support and ideas. Just to clarify though (not trying to be to police like here ) but by talking about weapons and the 3D prints, none of these are real life weapons correct? Forgive me, my tech head is not the best so 3D priniting is outside my knowledge and i just wanted to check!

[patientpatient]

Hi @greenpea, would he be interested fantasy wargaming or building models like Warhammer, Corvus Belli? There's a huge variety of characters, machines, scenery and weapons. Models are very detailed and painting them well requires alot of skill. Magazines like 'White Dwarf' might interest him.