emotional vaccum

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I have heard that term on another site to describe our kiddos, and it really struck a cord with me. My son is emotionally extreme, be it in a positive or negative way. There is little to no inbetween. He is either hyperactive and excited about some interest or something he wants to talk about, and that is all consuming. OR he is whining, complaining, crying, begging, etc...and on those times more then the latter, does he feel like an emotional vaccum.

By the end of the day, I do feel completely drained. I was wondering if any other kids are like this. I dont find my NT DD to be emotionally draining at all. Not sure if DS was at this age, but I suspect so casue he was always high needs.

I then begin to think if its draining on me, it must be doubly draining on him, to be so emotionally intense.

I am quite the opposite, I am am less emotional then I probably should be, but I think thats how I make it thru the day!

just wondering if anyone elses kids can be descibed this way.

My child diagnosed as even HFA is pretty even keel. He can get overly talkative about his special topic and run on and on about it, but even then he is not especially emotional. Not saying he doesn't have emotions, just that they are pretty subdued. It's like his 1-10 scale would occupy the space of 4-6 or maybe even 4.5-5.5 on his brother's scale, so it is something I have to be in tune with to really grasp.

His brother who is diagnosed severely ADHD on the other hand is an emotional drain. He is either super excited, even about nothing at all, just super excited and running through the house being loud and jumping and flailing all over everybody, talking really fast, etc. For me, this is very draining, because the movement and noise both overstimulate me. Then if he is not doing that he is whining, nagging, drama queen-ing, live's not fair, arguing kind of loud, which is just horribly draining to be around a person being that negative. Luckily he does have some times when he hits the middle, but I can definitely relate to a kid being an emotional drain at times.

My asd son is only 4 but he is pretty mellow. Apart from his speech issues, visual stims, and no clue about how to carry on conversation with other kids (he says hi and then runs out of things to say, or makes random statements), he is behaves with approximately the same level of emotion that you would expect him to.

He does have a really happy smile (he has those smiley eyes) that he reserves for family, close friends, and the staff at school.

Yes my 5 year old daughter is very like that, she gets overly upset about the smallest things and yet she is bouncing off the walls with excitement the rest of the time. She has huge amounts of energy, if I didnt put her to bed she would probably stay up all night and still have energy the next day. She shows no signs of ever getting tired. She virtually has panic attacks at the thought of going to a friends house in the school holidays, hyperventilating and working herself up over nothing, then she will be fine and enjoy it, wont even look back to say bye to me! She is always, always, ALWAYS talking/making noises and moving, literally always!! I feel like Im in a night club when there isnt at least two doors shut between us, constant overwhelming sound and movement I cant escape. Im exhausted at the end of the day but she isnt! When I am in very close proximaty to her, eg when Im dressing or bathing her I find it the worst, because the stimming is directly aimed at my face and the random loud noises are right in my ear, I often have to leave the room as it gets me angry and its not her fault :/

I have found a weighted blanket really helpful to calm her down, its like shes a different child, all the tension in her face disappears and she totally relaxes. She has it on her bed every night which has stopped the teeth grinding, bruises on her legs from thrashing about, the outbusrts of screaming/talking in her sleep

I need to get him one of those blankets! They just are so expensive!! !

My son wasnt like this when he was younger. he was much more easygoing, etc...I find the older he gets the more draining be becomes.

We made ours for half the cost and its a single duvet sized one, we also made a pillow case sized one for on her lap watchign tv or in the car

I just followed instructions on a youtube video, bought plastic pellets off ebay (used for weighting dolls or bears), then used a plain duvet set for the blanket and covered it with another duvet set with pictures on in her favourite colour. I borrowed a sewing machine, Im useless at sewing but I managed to do it roughly but because its got a cover over it you cant see how bad the sewing is!

Basically its a series of channels down the duvet cover, then fill with pellets, then sew channels accross. You can iron folds into it to make it easier. Or some videos suggest using lots of pillow cases and joining them up, which can be easier as they are smaller to work with.

My son is very intense too. It is more manageable when he is home because things are more orderly and predictable. I have gotten used to things, and it is not too draining right now, at 7...unless I am dealing with him after school. That gets him very riled up.