An irreverent, inclusive, alternative parenting community
Parenting Autistic Kids
I know there are some other parents of kids on the spectrum on here. My son's teacher emailed me today because he has been doing self-talk alot since he got back from the Thanksgiving holiday and it is really distracting in class. I have noticed a significant increase at home as well. He has always had a hard time going to sleep at night, so I'm sure that isn't helping his attention at school. I know that different kids have different behaviors that they exhibit. Just wondering if any of my fellow autistic parents deal with this and how they have tried to manage it and mitigate it. I'm thinking some adaptive behavior therapy could be helpful. He had an aide a few years back that had training in it and she really helped him alot, but since then he hasn't been getting it at school. It is probably time to revisit that. Any thoughts, suggestions, shared experiences?
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by ruth on -
My sons are both on the spectrum, and my younger one, who has "classic autism," does a lot of vocal stimming and self-talk. Frankly, it comes and goes and the school and behavior specialist haven't been very successful in eliminating it. They remind him a lot about "quiet voice" for school, etc., but he needs frequent prompting or he just starts doing it again. At home it's nearly constant.
So, no advice or suggestions, sorry :( Just empathy and hugs!
-
Permalink Reply by Violet on -
I guess it is one of those things that we will just have to deal with. Thanks for the commiseration Ruth!
-
Permalink Reply by jenra on -
I don't know what to do to stop or curb it. My son does this sometimes.
He has a friend who literally says nearly every thing he thinks. He's a smart, sweet kid, so it doesn't seem odd at all until you've been focusing on what he's saying for a long time. I actually didn't notice it until his mom mentioned it; she called it, I think "a non-verbal speech disorder", meaning he has full range of speech ability but poor control in keeping his thoughts to himself.
I think this steady stream of chatter is fairly typical for kids on the spectrum though I never saw this mentioned as a symptom or even as a usual behavior for Asperger's or autism. There is a lot that isn't covered in all the books.
Do you feel like your son is getting enough sensory stimulation? I've found that when my son isn't getting those needs met he's more likely to self stim or display some destructive or disruptive behavior. Like he needs a set amount of friction in his life. If he can get it by jumping, climbing, or being allowed to wrap a blanket really tight around himself then he doesn't have to do those things that freak out strangers.
-
Permalink Reply by Violet on
-
Jenra- That is interesting. I never thought about that. I often have people tell me that they can't tell that he is autistic, but to people who now what to look for, it is obvious. At times it is like he is saying whatever he is thinking at the time. He is very verbal and the majority of his self-talk is reenacting movies he has seen. It may be that he isn't getting enough sensory stimulation and so this is his way of stimulating himself. Because it is mostly movies that he does this with, I have decided to cut out TV and videos for awhile and see if this help's to curb the constant self-talk. I have talked with him about it and he seems to understand and says he wants to stop. Now the hard part is helping him to be aware of when he is doing it and finding other ways for him to fulfill his sensory needs. Thanks for the insight!
jenra said:I don't know what to do to stop or curb it. My son does this sometimes.
He has a friend who literally says nearly every thing he thinks. He's a smart, sweet kid, so it doesn't seem odd at all until you've been focusing on what he's saying for a long time. I actually didn't notice it until his mom mentioned it; she called it, I think "a non-verbal speech disorder", meaning he has full range of speech ability but poor control in keeping his thoughts to himself.
I think this steady stream of chatter is fairly typical for kids on the spectrum though I never saw this mentioned as a symptom or even as a usual behavior for Asperger's or autism. There is a lot that isn't covered in all the books.
Do you feel like your son is getting enough sensory stimulation? I've found that when my son isn't getting those needs met he's more likely to self stim or display some destructive or disruptive behavior. Like he needs a set amount of friction in his life. If he can get it by jumping, climbing, or being allowed to wrap a blanket really tight around himself then he doesn't have to do those things that freak out strangers.
-
Permalink Reply by Julie on -
My son also does alot of self talk - scripting movies or T.V. shows he's watched in the past. In the past year I really have tried to stop his self talk by confronting him when he's doing it and asking him to stop. It has minimized to the degree that he's gotten better at hiding it than before. At times I will hear him whispering and other times I will see facial movements that I recognize as self-talk. I really want to stop this stimming behavior because it is really taking away his ability to focus in school and have social relationships. I'm hoping that by constantly prompting him he will eventually stop the self talk. It has minimized considerably from when we started; hopefully he will eventually stop all together.
© 2013 Created by Offsprunger.
Powered by
