Clare S.

I know I shouldn't but I get really embarrassed by some of my son's more odd behavior, like when he pretends to shoot at kids he doesn't know riding past the house on their bikes. I feel I want to rush out and launch into a big explanation as to why he is doing this, he's not really mean etc. I wonder if the gun and shooting obsession is to do with them being sensitive and feeling they need something extra to defend themselves with? I know my son thinks he is weak (he's actually said so) which makes me really sad. I'm really sorry your son gets bullied, we had to move ours to a different school for the same reason.

Thank you for replying - it's nice to hear from other people with similar issues. I know what you mean about social stories, I haven't quite got my head round them yet either! I think that working on what is correct social behavior is a very good idea as at the moment we tend to get irritated with his behavior rather than calmly pointing out why it is inappropriate and where it is okay for him to do it. Thanks again

I'm new to this forum and also to Asperger Syndrome - my 8 year old son was diagnosed about 3 months ago. I have a ton of questions but will stick to one for the moment. My son, who is in most ways a very gentle and sensitive child, spends a fairly significant part of his day making very loud explosion noises and also pretending to shoot people with imaginary guns, cannons etc. This is okay in the privacy of his bedroom (although it can sound as if WWII is going on in there) but he also makes a pretend gun out of his fingers and shoots at us, or other people, if something happens that he does not like or if he gets annoyed. He seems obsessed with the idea of guns and shooting people / blowing things up although we have never encouraged this. I think the exploding noises are probably a kind of tension release but am concerned about the gun obsession as other people may get the wrong idea about him. Does anyone else have experience with this kind of thing?