Shadows and Autism Kids

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Son 2.7 yrs old dx few months ago autism. I always knew he was different. New challenges and quirks daily. I put on Incredibles DVD first time and walked to other room. I heard son scream like he saw a ghost. I know his scared scream. I found him in living room on couch curled up whimpering. I carried him to room where TV was and find out what scared him. He stared shaking and cheeks got red looking at the shadows on screen. I had forgot to push play so the home screen on DVD played over and over again it was the Incredibles Dad shadow where his face lit up ever 10 seconds. I read shadows are confusing for autism kids to interrupt. Ive seen him try and punch his shadow too on wall like to go away.

My son was never scared of shadows, but he has/had a variant where he wasn't fearful of things he ought to have been afraid of even. At that age was mainly only afraid of certain objects with bad sensory associations.

I have never heard of there being a particular autism thing against shadows themselves, but I could see where any toddler or even a preschooler might be afraid of them. With autism, if he has trouble communicating, and he is afraid of things, then sometimes it makes it harder to explain things. That might make the fear last longer, if he doesn't understand the "why" of shadows. On the plus side, autistic kids often respond really well, once they understand the reasons for things.

I wonder if Sesame Street has ever done a thing on shadows you could find on YouTube to explain shadows in a less scary way to him. If not, I think BBC kids has an educational game on shadows (or they did) that might help him understand and become less fearful of them. If he understands why they exist, they may take the fear away.

If you can't find something, pre-made, you could do the flashlight explanation and make shadow animals to teach him.

This might not be related to autism, either. Two-year-olds tend to have weird fears anyway. It's a timid age in general.

Maybe, when he is calm, i would try to explain him what is "shadow" with an object he likes and a lamp.

That can appear a bit early to explain this but if he noticed the shadow, i bet he would be interested to understand. If he likes it, you could even do shadow plays for him.

I am keen on taking photos of shadows.

Love the responses they helped. I used to do the shadow puppets when he was younger in his crib. He loved them. I actually was pretty good too at it. Lol. Yes. He is afraid of objects he shouldn't be too. Not afraid of dark at all though. I have a list of random things that scared him. When I say scared I mean beyond terrified its sad to watch. This shadow on TV was different. It tricked him when face appeared. He could tolerate shadows before. Now if shadow on TV looks familiar. it's a flashback I guess. I think Autism kids observe and remember fears very well. Yes your all right I'm gonna have to work harder and find creative ways to handle each fear better.