Asperger Subtype: "The Logic Boy"
In this article, you will find:
In practice
Dr. S.: So, Matt, it seems you come into the house pretty hungry, don't you?Matt: Yes, I do.
Dr. S.: And after arguing with Mom, it becomes a real fight, with you guys rolling around on the floor. Kicking and screaming.
Matt: That sounds like it.
Dr. S.: When Mom is down on the floor with you, she's of course still stirring and mixing and working on preparing dinner, isn't she?
Matt: (A long pause) Oh, I get it. Of course not. She's on the floor with me.
Dr. S.: You mean that wrestling with her doesn't get your dinner finished any quicker?
Matt: How can it?
Dr. S.: Well, that's the point, Matt. It can't, can it? It probably causes a real delay in getting dinner ready instead. Just what you didn't want.
Matt: I guess it doesn't help.
Dr. S.: You guess it doesn't help? Let me spell it out for you. Choice one: You come in the house and calmly and quickly work out a solution with Mom about your hunger and she can finish getting dinner ready. Choice two: You come in and fight with her. Dinner is not done quickly, but instead takes even longer to get ready. You wind up upset, without food, and having to wait even longer for it to be ready. Hmmm. Sounds like a really tough choice to make.
Matt: I get this, but what am I supposed to do when I come home and I'm really hungry?
Dr. S.: How about if the three of us come up with a list of foods you could eat then that won't ruin your appetite and will allow mom to finish dinner?
Matt: Okay.
Dr. S.: Let's write up this list and call it "a little something." That way, when you come home and you're hungry, Mom can say, "Matt, why don't you take "a little something' to eat?" and you'll both know what this means without arguing.
Matt: This sounds like a good idea.
We then drew up a written list on a three-by-five-inch index card, which he took home (and which we reviewed the next week to see if it worked it did). And the fighting ended.