What Children With Aspergers Really Want For Christmas

Now, I’m not about to go all soppy by stating “That all our children with aspergers really want for Christmas is an appropriate school place and less judgement”because that wouldn’t be true.

Like any child, children with autism and Aspergers have their own interest, hobbies and Christmas wish list.

Every single year in the lead up to Christmas I find that many new readers find my blog as a result of googling terms such as “What to buy the child with Aspergers for Christmas” or “Gift ideas for children with autism and sen”

Every year we do the ‘Santa’s Little Helpers’ feature where the children showcase and review some toys. This year I’ve been a bit busier than other years so the feature has been on a much lower scale than previous. However, any review that little man does tends to get pretty high page views for the above reasons.

Over the years little mans Christmas list has been anything other than average… Its featured many a bizarre item, from padlocks to safes, batteries to working shop tills. One year we even got a request for a whole crate of fizzy drinks.

This year as he approaches his teen years the list seems somewhat more “normal” in terms of its contents. Well, that’s except for the request to hang out with Drew McIntyre his WWE idol and that of a life sized 4D simulator (needless to say both requests are somewhat out of my reach)! As you can see, Little man isn’t the type of child who scores the Argos catalog for ideas.

With this, I thought it would be interesting to pop over to my Facebook page “A boy with Aspergers” and ask some of the members there what their child with Aspergers has requested for Christmas whether this year or in past years.

Its important to remember that despite any diagnosis, all children with Aspergers have different likes and dislikes, yet unsurprising the results show lost of similarities.

Firstly – LEGO seems to be that of the biggest contender, especially when it comes to boys on the spectrum. Many will know that my little man started to discover the joys of LEGO a few years back and as a result it featured heavily on last years Christmas list and has subsequently made a return this year.

Many of the members over on the ‘A boy with Aspergers’ Facebook page state that their child has either asked for Lego StarWars, Lego Hero’s or just LEGO full stop.

One member told me “Anytime people ask my son what present he wants for any occasions they will get the answer in number form. Because my son’s world revolves around LEGO and its not a ‘Lego truck’ its the model number 4435 or whatever the number maybe”

Other answers highlight that younger children on the spectrum have developed obsessional interests in super heroes with Batman being one child’s special interest for the past 6 years. This child’s Christmas list consists off Batman Merchandise and again LEGO.

It’s also apparent from reading members replies that as their children have aged many of the their requests have changed and now focus on technology. Xbox and PS3 appears a number of times with one member mentioning the new Book of Spells which little man is currently reviewing and thinks is wonderful.

Some members stated how their child wanted to connect with others online to play games over that of the PS3 or Xbox networks. I can relate to this as since little man got his PS3 in October for his birthday, he has discovered the joy of connecting with friends (mainly our extended family) to play against them on FIFA or WWE.

Another big contender was of course the IPad. Is it any surprise? Even I’m wishing for the latest iPad.

Most of the members on the page that took part in the discussion, are parents to boys on the spectrum but a few parents to girls were also happy to share their daughters wish list. One of the page admins shared that her daughter has actually asked for a fridge for her bedroom where another member stated that her daughter wanted money so she could bank it. Yes, this little girl wants her own farm in the middle of nowhere and is already saving for it (and no, I’m not talking about a plastic toy farm but that of an actual farm). Another little girl has asked for a unicorn pillow, slippers and a Star Wars DVD box set (which seems to be popular with both the girls and the boys).

Another item that reappeared more than once was that of spy items such as spy pens and night vision goggles. Again, I can relate as Little man is in love with a spy watch that has a dictaphone and secretly video records (yes, it does actually tell the time too)!

In terms of the more bizarre items here’s some that made me giggle…

Magnets (boy)
A Custard Doughnut (boy 5)
Feather Duster (little girl)
Farm In the Middle of Nowhere ( girl 11)
Cell Phone & Pocket Knife (boy 5)
Electric Leaf Blower (boy 6)
Pyjamas With Feet (boy 9)
To Be Just Like Santa Himself (boy)
Lottery Ticket/Scratch card (boy 7)
Fridge in bedroom (girl 10)
A white keyboard without computer (boy)

Biggest Contenders

LEGO
MOBILE PHONES
IPADS
SPY TOYS
STAR WARS
WWE
TRAIN SETS
PS3
XBOX
LAPTOPS
LASERS
HOTWHEELS
HARRY POTTER
SUPER HEROS (Batman etc)
SONIC
JAMES BOND DVDS
SKYLANDERS

Ooo… I almost forgot one… Mindcraft seems to be on everyone’s most wanted list too!

Special Thank You – This post was put together with the help from members of the Facebook page ‘A Boy With Aspergers’ Thank you so much to those who took part in the discussion.
Claire- Louise. Xx

Aspergers and Birthdays

Well, it’s that time of year again! Little man is well on his way to becoming 12 and don’t we all know about it!

Now I love my son but what I don’t love is his constant banging on about his birthday… It’s driving me completely insane!

One of the traits of Aspergers Syndrome is that of obsessiveness.The tendency to go on and on about something of interest with no regard to the listener. Little man does this with his ‘special interest’ he also does this in the run up to his birthday! Now, I understand all children have the ability to become over excited about their birthday and most do! But for my little man this starts a little to early. His birthday is on the 1st October and he starts his birthday talk every July like clockwork.

This all starts with the searching and marking of items in the Argos catalogue. As his aged his discovered the beauty of the internet and now searches for his gifts on various different sites. Play.com and Amazon are just a few of the places he’ll look.

Over the past 2 months I’ve discovered at least 1 email per day in my inbox from the little man.The subject box always reads the same ‘G’s Birthday List’ I’ve actually had to create a folder just for his spam mail!

There does seem to be one or two differences this year compared to pervious years! He seems to be constantly changing his mind, going from one demand to the next! I seriously cannot keep up! Little man will normally get an idea of what he wants and then stick to it. This indecisive behaviour is something that combined with the constant birthday chatter is completely driving me bonkers!

Little man seems to have little concept of the value of money. Some of his requests have been dam right ludicrous when it comes to the cost. His requested everything from vintage slush puppy machines to real working shop tills. Then there’s the more “normal” requests like a Playstation 3 or a PC. These request are normally fine but money hasn’t been great these past few months and with a few weeks to go I’m hoping to get anything.

I remember when the Little man’s birthday and Christmas list would consists of a lot stranger items than anything of the above. He would ask for batteries, padlocks and even fizzy pop. I’m sure regular readers will already know this from my past posts on the subject.

As for what we are doing for his birthday, I just don’t know! His Aspergers makes surprises a no go and the need for me to get my butt in gear and start pulling a plan together is a must. I’ve been wracking my brains tonight and I’m just not getting that big bulb going off in my head!

So, heres hoping that one goes off very soon, because before you know it, it will be Christmas!

Did you know it was just 14 weeks to go?