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Autism & Phobias

Autism & Phobias

Recently, my middle son has picked up a phobia with flies. It is strange really because before he ignored them or even laughed how we tried to get rid of them but now he shakes his hand intensely and screams upon the sight of one to the point of being inconsolable. It seems that it is a common thing in the Autism spectrum... Do any of your children suffer with a phobia?

Phobias and Autism

Today I took my middle son to the mall. He saw a fly and started shaking a little bit but quickly controlled himself and tried to kill it. Phobias are very common in the autism spectrum, from flies to little insects to anything in between.

Autism & Phobias Health & Special Psychology

Phobias, I believe are very common in children and people with Autism, the phobias and fears may not seem rational to most people, but to the person with Autism... They are very real!
My Daughter has had all sorts of phobias, some we've managed to alleviate slightly, and others she hasn't budged on (apparently it is because Autistic people are 'concrete' in their thoughts)


Some of the ones that she has had, are fear of falling down a plug hole, cobwebs (this is major to her), traffic lights turning on red ( because they are out to get her), the sound of flushing toilets... She can't stand this, it frightens her so much, and balloons. If there is even a balloon in sight, she lets out this awful ear piercing screaming!
To others who don't understand Autism, many phobias seem irrational, but for the person, these can be terrifying, and all you can do id help support them.

Phobias and Autism

Some of those are common occurrences in daily activity so you must have to do a lot of preparation daily to help her avoid them. Does distracting her help or does she go out of her way to look for them? For instance when on the road does she look for the traffic lights or is it only if she happens to notice the light is on red?

As for my one son with the flies he seems to be managing it better but it still bothers him a lot. He will not eat or drink if there is a fly around and is insistent that I get rid of it immediately. Sometimes this is difficult in a public setting because I can't go around killing flies so I try to distract him from them.

Phobias and Autism

We've tried all sorts JB, nothing seems to fully distract her... Driving down a road with her screaming about traffic lights is always very tedious. We're trying at the moment to get her to squeeze a stress ball as we pull up at the lights, but it tends to only slightly alleviate the problem.

I can completely relate to you about the flies... That must be a very tricky one also... As you pointed out, there's nothing that you can do to eradicate the world from flies

We accept that it's part of their Autistic traits, but it can be very tiring and draining some days, but you've just got to do what you can to deal best with it... By the way, I definitely don't envy you for having to deal with the flies you are a brilliant Dad though, and your boys are lucky to have such great parents.