My Cousin Thinks He Can Fly...

[juvenilepunk]

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My cousin has been a comic book fan for years now, he just turned 10 this April and his parents bought him a neat costume. Every time I have seen him he has been in the costume, he tends to take his imagination to far.
Recently it has been getting more and more extreme, he creates alter worlds...I guess you can call them. For hours sometimes days on end he completely shuts everything out of his life to live out his fantasy's. His parents found him in the center of his bedroom floor naked foaming at the mouth one day. So anyways, I was visiting the other day and he told me he wants to attempt to fly. At first I thought he was joking, but he proceeded to show me several bruises, welts, and cuts from "training". He is very serious and I have no idea what to say to him. His parents refuse to get him help and I feel like he is going to kill himself. The boy thinks he can fly...what do I do or say to stop him?

 

[Necromancer24]

You need to explain to him that humans cannot fly. I think these costumes are a bad influence on him. I'd suggest asking your mom if he can stay at your house so you can keep an eye on him.

 

[juvenilepunk]

I have tried having serious conversations with him but his attention span is completely gone. The costumes are definitely bad for him but his parents don't realize the damage they are inflicting on him.

 

[333]

Trade him comic books for the costumes. *senses something but won't reveal*

 

[appletrees666]

Tell his parents to convescate the constumes or any models of any kind of superhero, such as superman etc. Stop it before its too late, dont let him get away with it. Something bad will happen if you dont stop soon, and as someone said before, invite him to yours for a night or two, and show him what you do, Xbox360/PS3/Computer/Wii, show him whats new and cool today.

 

[1234567ASDF]

I would have him fly off the trampoline or something to show him he'll fall flat on his ass.

 

[MoJoRuDeBoY]

dont worry, he will try and fail and get hurt and will stop himself, its just a phase hes goin thro

 

[roddyisawesome]

You should hide his costumes. There won't be any more fantasies going on without them.

 

[iTrust]

His Parent should hide his costumes and stop give him the comic books. It's really bad influence to him.

 

[Rhodesy]

Explain the difference between reality and fiction.

 

[ZzDiety]

Honestly, your going to have to break it to him.

Explain that humans can't fly, if you want to fly, buy a airplane when you older.

Honestly, your going to have to tell him superheroes and such are fake, and don't exist in real life.

 

[HamJam]

He might have autism? people with that disease tend to block out everyone around them and live in they're own world I guess :S

 

It's quite obvious that this thread isn't just about the flying thing. Your cousin might have some kind of autism (possibly asperger's syndrome, which causes children to be fixated and obsessive over certain things) or he could just be going through a phase. If this continues and he ends up putting himself in danger, it may be necessary to get him some kind of therapy.

 

[pie4muh]

ask him to prove it????



sooner or later he will realize he cant fly and will move on. in the mean time hide any ladders.

 

[flickflackflick]

take away all costumes/comics get him involved with other people now, before its too late.

 

[madhacker14]

He's only 10, we all had wild imaginations. Perhaps he has Autism?

 

[juvenilepunk]

dont worry, he will try and fail and get hurt and will stop himself, its just a phase hes goin thro

He is already hurt yet he continues to try and fly.

Rather than telling him ''humans can't fly'' you should try to explain basic physics to him and point out that where a man is designed to walk upon two feet rather than fly, given the lack of wings, for example, a bird is naturally designed to fly, given the appropriateness of their shape and the presence of wings. Ask him why men invented aeroplanes. If he doesn't know the answer, explain to him that it is man's concessional compromise -- that, because they cannot fly naturally, physically, individually, they instead create something which allows them to fly.

I have sat him down on numerous occasions but his attention span and immaturity get the better of him. I can't say I have ever had a serious conversation with him. His costume also has a pair of wings so that adds even more complications.

It's quite obvious that this thread isn't just about the flying thing. Your cousin might have some kind of autism (possibly asperger's syndrome, which causes children to be fixated and obsessive over certain things) or he could just be going through a phase. If this continues and he ends up putting himself in danger, it may be necessary to get him some kind of therapy.

His parents refuse to think something is wrong with him, they think he is just expressing himself when in reality is getting seriously hurt. I don't want to have to tell them their only son is a bit mental but it may have to come down to that.

 

[Deacon Frost]

Introduce him to batman.

Enuf said.

(Seriously, Batman can't fly, he uses gadgets to get around, and has really tough armor and stuff. It's a bit safer, I suppose.)

 

[Louis]

Let him do it. At some point he'll figure out the wounds will always be there and that he can't do it no matter what he does.

 

[†Tysonâ€Â]

Maybe explain to him in 'superhero' terms, rather than giving him a lecture in physics. I have like never read a comic book so i don't really know what sort of superhero's are in them. But generally when people have powers, they are all explained. Like superman can fly because he is an alien and some other reasons which i don't know.

So if you are like me and know shit all about this stuff, maybe do a bit of research into his favourite superhero's and find out why they can fly. Then explain to him that he doesn't meet that criteria. Like that he isn't an alien from superman's planet, that he didn't arrive here in a space ship. And therefore that makes him different to his superhero's, and that he can't fly.

Or maybe get him to train other aspects. Stating that superman (according to smallville), was able to run really fast before he could actually fly. So you could maybe get him focusing on running fast instead of trying to fly, hoping by the time he figures out that he can't run at the speed of light, that he also can't fly.