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It seems that it is all my Son is interested in. He will do other activities but loses interest very quickly and all conversations turn into either Cars or Computers. Still waiting for the meeting to confirm his initial diagnosis, but I was wondering what to do about obsessions and things. Is it ok for him to play his Xbox for so long or should I discourage it? I am confused!!!

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J has real difficulties keeping his attention on tasks but computers/consoles he can and I have been told its because its stimulating ares of the brain that are usually laying dormant, stimulating key chemicals and releasing good hormones or increases in adrenalin, thats why it can become addictive, its how the brain is reacting, computer games give instant feedback, high rewards and challenges, its this that increases the amounts of chemicals the brain releases, then when they have achieved the highest level they seek for further challenges, J is very able in computers/consoles, so picks up quick how to complete targets, probably at a level the same as a 15/16 yr old.

 

As J gets older the more serious games he requests, obvously he keeps to age limited games but as computers become more and more graphic and shock tactically interesting I feel this over time is what drives Js craving for consoles especially as they get more sophisticated and more to reality, when at the end of the day its a fantacy world, but as J finds it difficult to distinguish the two its hard.

 

J has periods of time but mostly this is due to him getting headaches due to visual disturbance because the graphics are such a fast pace and intensive reactions its exhausting, his behaviour is also noticablly different too if he spends longer periods and we keep it shorter as he knows how agitated and reeved up he is due to the chemicals rushing around his body.

 

If he abuses the period he is on it then its removed physically for a period of 24 hours.

 

There is so many consoles now as well, psp, ps2/3, xbox, nintendos DS, Wii, DVD, Sky, mobile phones, internet, the brains really over stimulated easily now.

 

When we go away and spend breaks away in hostels thats why I think we enjoy it so much, were free of all the latest techno and we give our brains a rest.

 

JsMum

Edited by JsMum

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Levi loves computers and his Xbox too - as well as many other game stations! He loves technology, it's his specialist subject and we certainly don't discourage it.. He enjoys it! Yes, sometimes, it can grate on your nerves a bit when he's spoken about it for two hours straight :wacko: But I'm always astonished and quite proud by the amount he knows!

 

He's only 7 years old, but he'll complete a couple of games a week, and he's not just interested in playing the games, he likes to know how they were made, ect. I think it's quite a common obsession with boys :) Sometimes if he has been playing it for tooo long we will try and distract him. But sometimes it'll just cause him to cry and it's just not nice for either of us.

Is there anything else that he really enjoys? Perhaps splitting his time between things would be better, so that he hasn't spent the whole day playing games.. Sorry I don't really have any more advice - I'm sort of stuck in the same boat! >:D<<'>

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Thanks! It isn't just consoles though, it is the internet too and youtube in particular. He will go looking for car videos and he bookmarks them. I know people might frown on him using Google and youtube but I have got parental controls on it. He just enjoys it so I don't mind, but it just fries my brain because if we go swimming, we have to talk about cars and games, if we go for a walk, cars and games. He likes going to the library, no prizes for guessing what sort of books we come home with!

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Kieran is exactly the same he lives and breathes his games consoles xbox 360 ,plastation 3, psp and ds and he fluttuatess from them all during the day otherwise its repeats of top gear or puts his football or btcc dvds on these things are his world thats all his day conssits of he s 22 but i could never take these away from him because he hasnt anything else he likes doing,i must admit i limited him to use of the computer because some of the sites he was going on but as he s got internet on his ps2 i cant really police that but again its not because he s not of and age to look at some of these sites just the fact that he does and he is imature for his years

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My lad is the same he flits between the ps2 his laptop n psp but whatever one he is on at the time he is so intensly into it if that makes sense-and games that to others are really hard to him he flies thru. His fav is the laptop n the internet-you tube o god im sick of the sight of it lol-his major thing is WWEWrestling n it is like an obsession with him.

Edited by bikemad

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We have had to tell L that we have sold the XBox 360. We have also had to lock most of the channels on Sky.

 

Whilst I relish the chance at having some peace when L is engrossed in constantly changing XBox games, or sitting in front of the same 'Top Gear' programme for the 20th time, I do not like the violence that comes should anyone else want to have a go on the XBox, or want to watch something different on the TV. Add to that the amount of violence that is creeping into these games and TV programmes, and he has more 'ammunition' - more things to 'copy', something else that - in his mind - is telling him that to behave in a certain way if ok.

 

Only you can decide if it is ok for your child to watch/do these things. It isn't up to anyone else as they are not the one that has to live with your son. You are.

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Hi,

its my post that baddad has pointed you to. my son who is 4 1/2 adores computer games to the point that he would play all day if we let him. we introduced time limits for him with visable timers so that he knew how long he has left. we are happy to let him play the games as he is really good at them and really enjoys them, more than anything else. we encourage him to do other things during his breaks.

depending on the game, i think there are far worse things out there that they could get obsessesd with.

 

good luck with it all, i know all too well how mind numbing it can be when they constantly talk about the same thing. but at least he is happy :)

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we have the same with little one,,he could log on to net from 2 1/2,and he constantly uses laptop for you tube to look for roller coasters,,he has downloaded a simulator now for roller coasters,,,so funny cos he thinks he is on it ,,,his body movements are soooo funny swaying back and forth,,,very computer able and also likes rpg games,,he is now banned from the eldest boys 360 cos he loves halo 3 which is quite nasty but he thinks its cool,,, not ever gonna get world of warcraft will never get him off it!!!!!!!!!!

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The elder of my two sons has always been happiest when he was playing his games. He told me a long time ago that he loves these games because they are predictable. You know what to expect from them and what they expect from you. They have a begining a middle and an end, and that he also has a level of control over what he is doing and that is why he loved his games so much.

 

A few months ago he was asked to become a moderator on a games forum. I wondered how long it would be before he lost his temper and lost his post. It has not happened. In fact he is now moderating on two other forums. He has now taken his passion one step further. He has his own youtube chanel and is now a games reviewer. He has been so sucessful with this that a few weeks ago he was asked by a professional company to do a weekly games pod cast for them which now goes out all over the world. He is doing all of this in a voluntary capacity so you could ask why is he doing all of this for nothing? He does this because he loves this and he is good at it. My son sees this as success and it has really helped to raise his self esteem. I have no idea how long this will all last but I am more than happy to let him enjoy this success and am very proud of him. He has even made it onto the youtube top 100 of most watched videos. Given that there are multi-thousands of videos on youtube I think that he has done well.

 

So although games can be a HUGE problem for our children there can be an end result given time

 

Cat

Edited by Cat

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we have the same with little one,,he could log on to net from 2 1/2,and he constantly uses laptop for you tube to look for roller coasters,,he has downloaded a simulator now for roller coasters,,,so funny cos he thinks he is on it ,,,his body movements are soooo funny swaying back and forth,,,very computer able and also likes rpg games,,he is now banned from the eldest boys 360 cos he loves halo 3 which is quite nasty but he thinks its cool,,, not ever gonna get world of warcraft will never get him off it!!!!!!!!!!

 

:o :o :o We have the roller coaster obsession as well :o :o

 

thought we were the only ones :lol:

 

He has a roller coaster simulator and has created his own theme park on the comp, he goes trawling through youtube for roller coasters :rolleyes: If I hear that song he keeps finding one more time I'm gonna scream... :crying:

 

Roller coaster oooh oooh.... :dance::wacko:

 

Brook :D

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brook is this the one by the red hot chilli peppers? blaine listens to this one all the time lucky i like the chilli peppers then innit ha ha,,there is another song it goes la la la la la it goes around the world la la la la la really annoying to listen to it all the time,,the simulator he has downloaded is no limits and he has found another one which is better called scream machines the graphics are better on that one ha ha,,, he is at his happiest when he is on there but even though he has no dx they said that this obssession is normal,, funny though and all he says is mam look now,,mam look now it does my head in and i have to turn the volume down then he goes mental even though the song has been repeated loads,,,,,,, funny aint they :lol:

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The elder of my two sons has always been happiest when he was playing his games. He told me a long time ago that he loves these games because they are predictable. You know what to expect from them and what they expect from you. They have a begining a middle and an end, and that he also has a level of control over what he is doing and that is why he loved his games so much.

 

A few months ago he was asked to become a moderator on a games forum. I wondered how long it would be before he lost his temper and lost his post. It has not happened. In fact he is now moderating on two other forums. He has now taken his passion one step further. He has his own youtube chanel and is now a games reviewer. He has been so sucessful with this that a few weeks ago he was asked by a professional company to do a weekly games pod cast for them which now goes out all over the world. He is doing all of this in a voluntary capacity so you could ask why is he doing all of this for nothing? He does this because he loves this and he is good at it. My son sees this as success and it has really helped to raise his self esteem. I have no idea how long this will all last but I am more than happy to let him enjoy this success and am very proud of him. He has even made it onto the youtube top 100 of most watched videos. Given that there are multi-thousands of videos on youtube I think that he has done well.

 

So although games can be a HUGE problem for our children there can be an end result given time

 

Cat

 

wow cat how cool is that you must be very proud that is interest has gone in such a direction

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whoooooo keep fingers crossed when i put siad xbox 360 on yesterday for my daily Guitar Hero 3 fix we got the red lights of death Doh! but it seemed ok but its started crashing a lot and it did that last time it bust.Ive lost count of the times ive trawled through various record shops and sites for music tracks off his beloved xbox games usually racing,i wouldnt mind but he usually has to buy the whole album but only listens to one track somebody should make game track compilation albums lol.would save him a fortune but theyd always be one that was missing for him im sure

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lynyona send the xbox back i did we had a new one and no more problems,,i know you could get compilation cds, dunno if u still can,,i had the grand theft auto one few years ago,,surely if he knows the track and who its by he can download single tracks from websites for very little,,think its bout 69p per track,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

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First of all yes I am proud that my son has taken his interest in this direction because it proves that it has not just been an obsession and that he can carve a place for himself in this world.

 

Secondly yes do send the x box back we did and we also got a new one :thumbs:

 

Cat

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Seems to be quite a popular thing then. Top gear aswell! He loves Top Gear, he used to watch the Jeremy Clarkson DVD Over and over too and say all the dialogue from it!

 

It's not a problem getting him off it, we just have to keep warning him and counting down the minutes, he will switch it off willingly. But it's just the level of obsession about it he talks about games constantly whether you are interested or not. He gets more mad if you tell him to stop talking about it, than he does if you turn off the computer. He seems to think everyone likes listening about cars crashing in games and if you interrupt him he goes back to the beginning of what he was saying and starts over what he was telling you!

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Seems to be quite a popular thing then. Top gear aswell! He loves Top Gear, he used to watch the Jeremy Clarkson DVD Over and over too and say all the dialogue from it!

 

It's not a problem getting him off it, we just have to keep warning him and counting down the minutes, he will switch it off willingly. But it's just the level of obsession about it he talks about games constantly whether you are interested or not. He gets more mad if you tell him to stop talking about it, than he does if you turn off the computer. He seems to think everyone likes listening about cars crashing in games and if you interrupt him he goes back to the beginning of what he was saying and starts over what he was telling you!

 

You could be describing kieran to a T.I myself do like top gear but after the 1000th repeat it becomes a bit tedious, he just loves the challenges that they do as well.

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brook is this the one by the red hot chilli peppers? blaine listens to this one all the time lucky i like the chilli peppers then innit ha ha,,there is another song it goes la la la la la it goes around the world la la la la la really annoying to listen to it all the time,,the simulator he has downloaded is no limits and he has found another one which is better called scream machines the graphics are better on that one ha ha,,, he is at his happiest when he is on there but even though he has no dx they said that this obssession is normal,, funny though and all he says is mam look now,,mam look now it does my head in and i have to turn the volume down then he goes mental even though the song has been repeated loads,,,,,,, funny aint they :lol:

 

yep jo, it's the red hot chilli peppers :wacko: must admit though it's quite catchy :whistle:

 

My boy stepped in the door from school today and straight to the comp to add to his theme park! he actually wants me to give him the money to build a 'real' one, I always say 'yes son, if I win the lottery' :rolleyes:

 

Brook :D

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ha ha blaine thinks he is going to live in china?????????? dunno why he says they have got good coasters there,,disneyland paris is nooooo good cos the coasters are not big enough huh!!!!! he says america be good mam? yep me too lotto win would be handy innit ha ha,,,couldnt even get him to go down a not very big water slide at pool on monday ,,he went up and down up and down staff were getting bit frustrated,ha ha they wouldnt let hubby go with him,,but yet he is sooo dangerous all other times,,,but with his sensory probs water has always been an issue,,funny though he can go in the pool now but is the only child that comes out with dry hair!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!his teacher said the other day that they went around the room askin what do u live in? blaines turn he said he lives in a castle???????????ha ha ha when she told me she said he was serious and didnt understand why everyone was laughing!!!!!! he is soooooooooooo funny and lovable,,,he told me now that he wants to change his name to alex???? dunno why,,,everyday he comes out with something funny,,,,,,,, :lol:

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sg i used to support a young man who was on that constantly!!!!he could be on it for up to 36 hours in one session with no breaks ,,,really hard,,apparently he is very high up in the ranks so must av paid off,,,,,

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