Life with a Playstation Junkie
Elissa usually posts on our blog, but today it’s ‘Dad’s’ view!
“Dad, is it a stay at home day today?”
And so the day begins…
Yes, this is what I wake up to most mornings. The same question, come rain, hail or shine - and the reason why Jack asks? Well, regardless of my answer to this question it is always followed by the next:
“Dad, can you play Playstation with me?”
I live with a Playstation junkie.
For a long time Elissa refused to have any sort of computer / video games in the house. She was a bit of a ‘purest’ so to speak, and believed that kids should be outside building cubby houses and digging in the sandpit. Well, she still believes in her ideal, but when her parents presented Jack with the Playstation she finally caved in and agreed to allow it in to the house.
Since then, Jack hasn’t looked back (and Elissa even admits that at times it is her saviour in that it gives her half an hour of total peace and quiet when she needs it due to the fact that when Jack sits in front of it he is totally consumed by it). He only has 3 games, but he knows them like the back of his hand, and in typical Aspie style, plays them over and over and over and over…….. well, you get the picture.
Unfortunately though, in the beginning, when Playstation was new to the house, I kind of ‘made a rod for my back’ so to speak. Jack would become frustrated with the games because he couldn’t play them perfectly (yes, those Aspie traits again) and so I would sit with him in an effort to calm him down and help him work through the steps. The problem now is that Jack associates the Playstation with ‘Dad sitting next to me’. And that doesn’t neccesarily mean playing, but more commentating and ‘fixing’ his mistakes.
I should mention that when Jack asks the infamous ’Playstation’ question he asks it in multiples of about a dozen at a time. No matter the reason I give him for not being able to sit with him at that moment I always then get the response “Oh, okay, but can you play Playstation with me?” In fact, I can even be in the middle of a heated discussion with him about the reasons why he shouldn’t pull his sisters dolls body parts off and he will still manage to find a way to squeeze in the question. One day I had the banter non stop for about 2 hours straight. I finally threatened to throw the Playstation in the charity bin, and so he stopped asking, for about an hour - before starting up again!
Jack recently had a weekend away staying with his grandparents (yes, the ones that gave him the Playstation), taking the Playstation with him and spending the entire time in front of it. Whilst at his grandparents he also had his Uncle Mike with him who is a fellow Playstation addict, and so the 2 of them battled over top scores, and together plotted their way through the more difficult parts of the games. I’m planning on inviting Uncle Mike to come and stay for a few days to take over my role in the Playstation arena, and hopefully reprogram Jack’s morning wake up call to exclude the “Dad, can you play Playstation with me?”
Until then, I’ll keep rolling over and putting my head under the pillow…..
But that’s life with a Playstation Junkie!
Steve 
October 8th, 2007 at 2:28 pm
Bless!!
October 8th, 2007 at 4:31 pm
It’s hard when my son gets “stuck” on a question. Sometimes I write my answer on a 3×5 card and tell him to look at his card to keep from repeating myself over and over and over and over again…
October 8th, 2007 at 7:23 pm
Our Beauty plays games on the computer and gets REALLY frustrated when games get difficult.Unfortunately I am not as clever as her at games so my answer is usually to persuade her to play a different game. Thankfully it has always worked so far.
October 9th, 2007 at 1:39 pm
Hi-
I have a son with autism as well. He goes through phases of asking questions over and over. It used to drive me crazy, until a read a book by Sean Barron called There’s a Boy in Here. In it, Sean explains how, as a child with autism, he used to ask the same questions over and over because he already knew what the answer would be so it felt safe to him. It was his way of initiating conversation and trying to participate in conversation without fearing that he wouldn’t know what to say, or that he might be surprised or confused by the answer and then become more anxious…..It helped me to look at the behavior a little different. Now, we answer his questions as often as he wants and try never to seem exasperated and mostly just feel honored that he wants to communicate at all.
Also, I would like to invite you to join a new online community that I have founded for parents like us. You can see my personal page at www.foggyrock.com/MyPage/wynnsmom As a member, you can link to your blog here, or post your blogs right on Foggyrock for others to see. Check it out and see what you think. We are still evolving, so any feedback would be appreciated as well.
All the best in your journey-
Shannon Johnson
Editor
Foggyrock.com
October 10th, 2007 at 5:40 pm
Bonnie, I like your suggestion! I am totally going to try that with Maizie.
We recently bought Maizie a Game Boy and went through similar struggles. She would get pretty angry with it. Now, there are two games she loves. It has been great for doctors offices.
October 10th, 2007 at 9:38 pm
Jack used to have a Pocket Boy game (a bit like a Game Boy but a bit smaller in size and with about 30 games preloaded) and it was fabulous for waiting at doctor’s offices. He used to play it whilst we walked around the shops as well and it was great for keeping him focussed and content. Unfortunately he dropped it one too many times and it broke a while ago - we haven’t been able to replace it!!! Maybe we will have to get him a PSP instead, at least he’d be used to the games.