My sad but working answer for my 11 year old is to literally hand him the video game controller and have the system already powered up to whichever game he is currently in OCD mode with at the moment! Probably not the "right" answer, but functional. I give him about 30 minutes to play and have a light breakfast, then he seems to be more willing to get in the shower and start the day. This is probably only for the older kids though...

This may not be the best idea for some of you, but our son is 24 now. The main thing that works with him is to put a favorite food under his nose. It can be just a piece of the food. It works every time!

We found that our four year old had tantrums in the mornings when we tried to get him dressed, usually because he would rather watch his morning toons. So I came up with a chart, with little pictures of a shirt, undies, pants , socks, shoes and backpack. And so every afternoon after he gets home from school e picks out "all by himself" the clothes he wants to wear. The next morning, we turn on a soft lamp, and ask him, "hey, where did I put those socks?, or "where you wearing a pink shirt?" usually something silly, and he wakes up ready to
Correct us. He shows exactly where he put the stuff he picked out. He gets dresses and we reward him with his favorite toons. It's been routine now for a little while, and he his it. He is very visual, and pictures help alot. :) I always start bed time at 7 and he's out by 7:30. He's up again at 7 and is usually good to roll. It's alot of hours and he seems ok with that. Good luck! :)

My son takes 3 mgs. of Melatonin every night. It helps shut his brain down to get a good restful sleep. So, talk to your doctor. It may help!

@A MyAutismTeam Member, my son came up with the idea that i should start trying to wake him up earlier so that when he asked for 5 more minutes (like you just mentioned), i could let him have them instead of rushing him. That did make a huge difference.

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