I desprately need help with my son!

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I'm with Shaggydaddy on this one. He is not " normal ", with all the behavior modification in the world, he's never going to be normal or probably appear normal. You are going to make both of yourselves miserable by trying to make him be normal. I speak from experience: I'm 50 years old and my relationship with my Marine father has never recovered. I know you don't want him to feel that he's a freak, but he won't assimilate. I really,really say this without judgement, because I can't even imagine how difficult it must be to be a parent to one of us! Your son is special and not in the derogatory way this is usually meant---see his passion as a unique strength, not as tunnel-vision. If his passion doesn't involve hurting himself or others, go with it ( eventually, it will "burn out"---the pleasure groove will be deep enough and lose its appeal and on to the next thing) The family of my autistic godson drove to the train tracks 3 times a day to watch the trains pass for weeks and weeks until he became satisfied and moved on to state capitals. He is the happiest, coolest 19 yo I have ever seen.He's a beautiful example of someone who is not normal in the highest sense. Shaggydaddy's plan would have worked with me ( mine was reading; you'd think parents would be beside themselves with joy, to have a teenage girl who wanted to stay in her room and read, but you guys are relentless!LOL!) We really are aliens, but we come in peace! GOOD LUCK!!

I was going to point out a few things but it seems like most people have already beaten me.

Make sure that you don't interrupt the game at a unique non-saved point. I know he's young but he's obviously advanced so that might annoy him.

You're doing very well so you should feel proud of yourself.

Also if you want to print out some coloring pages for sonic

http://archiecomics.com/sonic/sonic_colorbook_1.html

I also have one (8 1/2 yrs. old) obsessed by video games. In the past he would actually get violent when the game had to be turned off (I've been punched several times, bitten, and he tried to throw a dresser drawer through his window. ) He also occasionally pees his pants when he is playing, so I understand that.

Now I resort to promising to let him play more *if* he cooperates and it seems to work very well. He has to get ready for school. He has to eat. He has to go to bed. He has to go to the bathroom. Those things have to be done no matter what.

We have a rule that he can't take it into a store (or restaraunt) with us and that if someone says hi to him he has to look up from the game (although we don't insist on eye contact because that is really hard.) and at least attempt to say "hi" back. I have to remind him constantly of the rules before we go anywhere.

I give him plenty of warning so he can save the game and fully expect him to yell or tantrum when it gets turned off, but I ingnore that unless it is really bad. Lately it has gotten to the point that I get a muttered "I hate you" and he is back to normal. I can live with that.

Coleco does not let you save.

Sonic Advance has a decent save system (if I remember correctly)
It always saves your place at the beginning of each level. So "finishing" a level means you can always skip past it from then on.

There are Gameboy color and Gameboy systems, but these do not have any sonic games, because they are from back when Sega (sonic creators) were competing with nintendo. You cannot play gameboy advance games on an older gameboy/gameboy color.

The inexpensive handheld sonic games are going to be Gameboy Advance (sonic advance 1, 2, and 3 are all cheap games).

There are 5 systems that will play gameboy advance games
1) Gameboy Advance $30+ on ebay
This is the original gameboy advance, it takes AA batteries and goes through them at a fairly slow pace. It does not have a backlight, which makes it very hard to play games unless light situation is perfect. Most aftermarket light kits make it worse. It plays gameboy advance games, gameboy color games, and "original" black and white gameboy.

2) Gameboy Advance SP $55+ on ebay
This is the second version of the gameboy advance, it is a VAST improvement. The clamshell design protects the screen, it has a great backlight for playing in low light, it has an internal battery that charges fast and lasts for a LONG time. It plays gameboy advance games, gameboy color games, and "original" black and white gameboy games. Basically it costs $20 more to never buy batteries, to never worry about light conditions, and to protect the screen when not in use. Additionally the SP has a light button, if you turn the light off, pause your game, close the system, and turn the volume all the way off you can pause it for a LONG time on battery power. My son has paused a game for 10 hours before.


3) Gameboy Micro $60-$120+ on ebay
This is a "special Edition" version of the Gameboy Advance, it is VERY small, and has a nice backlight for playing in low light. It plays gameboy advance games only. It is much too expensive in my opinion.

4) Nintendo DS $120+ on ebay
This is the second newest system, it plays DS games and Advance Games
It has 2 screens and a stylus

5) Nintendo DS Lite $130+ on ebay
This is the newest system, it plays DS games and Advance Games
It has 2 screens and a stylus it's a little smaller than a DS

I would recommend trying to find a gamestop or EB games store close to you because their prices will be fairly similar to ebay, and you will get a replacement warrenty for at least 30 days. They will almost certainly have used gameboy advance units and SP units in stock.

P.S. how did the Sonic PB&J go?

Thank you Gavin for the link to the sonic coloring pages!

We had another meltdown today when it was time to get off sonic. It was more screaming, ugg, I hate the screaming! He didn't even have to transition to anywhere, lol. We got everything that we *needed* to get done before sonic was played. I guess I'll just have to ride the wave until he gets sonic out of his system.

Thanks to everyone!

Had he by any chance progressed further in the game than ever before? I would think that being ecited about being further along and wanting to see what would happen next could trigger such behavior.

*You can't play the advanced games on the old gameboys, but each gameboy can play the games of the systems that came before it. For example on my sp I can play gameboy, gameboy advance, gameboy color, and gameboy advance SP games.

*Whether or not you can save your spot in the games depends on the game itself. Generally you can at least save to the level you are on.

*You can hook multiple game boys together. I think the max id 4.. However you also need a multiple player game to do this.

Wow, I was going to suggest just getting rid of the video games, except then I read some of you have older kids. That just makes that suggestion impossible...

The suggestions using "more game time" as an incentive to do stuff is brilliant.

Thank you shaggy for your very kind words. Like almost everyother parent, I'm just trying to do what's best and most beneficial for my son. For all of my kids!

Rjaye~I too at one point thought about getting rid of the game. I then realized that it would more than likely do more harm than any good. I firmly believe that this will pass, just like Santa and just like Superman. It may take months, but I need to wait it out and go with it. And yes, it's a HUGE incentive for him. I've just realized I need to be strategic about when he get's play time with it.

Shaggydaddy, I just want to pop in and tell you how much I have enjoyed reading your point of view. My son's fixate on these games but my oldest is fixated on Runescape (star craft too depending the mood lol).

I have never limited their time to these games. Sure I would rather my son go find a friend to play with, but he has a hard time doing so sometimes and would rather be alone. So instead of changing him, I would rather more accomodate his needs. In return, he's a happy kid that's not harming anyone.

I hate following "society's rules" just so you can have that "perfect child syndrome"