Acting silly/laughing out loud

Post Reply New Topic

Hello-

It has been awhile since I have really been on WP. Not sure if any of you will remember me. Anyway, my AS son is now 7 and he is doing fairly well in some areas, but still struggling in many. He is in public school in a special class with 5 other AS boys, and he goes to general ed for homeroom and social studies and science. He is reading above grade level and makes 100 on every spelling test. He is doing okay with math (although he really does not like it. )

Now the areas we are struggling with. He still has no friends, and really makes no effort to make friends although he enjoys going to different activities where there are kid friendly things going on. So we are working on that.

Our biggest problem now is verbal stimming and laughing out loud and pretending to be a baby (walking around with his tongue hanging out and making baby sounds) If someone saw the way he behaves in our home, they would certainly think that he was mentally handicapped. He has many deficits in gross and fine motor skills, so there are lots of things my husband and I try to work with him on to try and improve his abilities so that he can do more things to entertain himself and keep himself occupied instead of going around the house wandering aimlessly verbal stimming.

When we try to start working with him on things, he just starts laughing out loud and acting like a baby and making loud noises. I know he is not mentally ret*d, but he definitely behaves like it at times. He also flaps his hands alot, but he can control it at times.

Please don't think I am trying to stop my son from stimming. I do allow him to have his times of stimming, but lately, it just seems that is all he is doing, and we are finding it hard to interact with him even though he is fully verbal. It is just frustrating and I worry that he is regressing.

Has anyone else experienced these issues? Any input would be appreciated.

Well, my son is only 3, but he has a significant visual stim. After assessing him, his OT said that he is a sensory seeker, having difficulties with his vestibular system, and may probably have issues with visual processing, too - this is too early to tell.

She recommended lots and lots and lots of gross motor activities, like swimming, horseback riding, jumping, hanging from monkey bars, navigating obstacle courses, swinging, carrying heavy items (such as a loaded bag of books) etc. She also suggested a weighted vest, weighing no more than 5% of his body weight. You may want to try this, too, especially if he has gross motor problems. BTW, my son has a low muscle tone and weak core, so the swimming and horseback riding were recommended almost exclusively to address these issues.

Has your son had a sensory profile assessment ?

Yes, I agree, all of the physical activity is probably exactly what he needs, but unfortunately, it is a struggle to get him to do some of these things. He enjoys them when he is doing them, but we have to coach him and bribe him at times to do a lot of physcial activity. I would love to get him into swimming, but he does not want to put his face in the water, so there goes that. We keep trying every summer, and he gets a little closer to doing it.

Thanks for the reminder of what I should be focusing on because since he is 7 now, sometimes I forget the original things that we were told.

My son (5) and ASD, very high functioning, will do that sometimes too. It seems to happen mostly when he is bored, tired, or has too much sensory input. It also happens when we are trying to 'correct' or discipline him! (Discipline=talk about why a behavior he just did was not acceptable, i.e. hitting, etc.) He will babble like a baby or do 'nonesense' talk and flap his hands or just be super silly. Sometimes he will do the 'floppy body' along with it, falling and slamming into things. I too have thought if someone saw him doing that they would think he is definitely mentally handicapped~
It seems impossible or just very difficult to 'connect' and break through to him when he is doing it. I never even thought of it as 'verbal stimming', but that makes sense. It helps for me to re-direct him to something he likes. However, if it's that I'm trying to talk to him and he just won't stop, well, honestly, I've not been sure what to do. I usually put a hand on each upper arm, apply firm pressure (like compressions) and try to get very close and say his name, ask him to listen, usually he can then focus on me and connect. It seems the touch, compressions calm him and help him focus.
It doesn't happen all the time or even every day, but definitely a few times a week.

I agree with angelgarden- our 8yo son also can do this sometimes, where he will do the whining thing like a baby, or ask to be carried into the bath like a baby or silly stuff like that. Usually, it only lasts about 30 seconds, and he comes back to earth on his own, but it normally does happen if he is overstimulated, overtired, or the like...

Hi Angelgarden

Thanks for your reply. The description you give of your son does sound like what my son is doing, but I wanted to clarify about the "verbal stimming" part.

My son started "verbal stimming" when he was about 4 yrs old. He will make really loud noises like he is trying to sing a song. He will sing to the top of his lungs, make loud random noises, say repetitive phrases over and over. This is an ongoing thing with my son.

The silly act, laughing and giggling for no apparent reason and acting a like a baby is more of a new thing, and not really what I was considering verbal stimming.

But thanks for your description of your son....At least I know this could be a common spectrum thing.

He has been having a few rough days and we are trying to get to the bottom of what is going on, so any input is helpful. I also give my son big bear hugs when I think he is getting overstimulated.

hi angelbear,

i remember you since our sons had very similar behavior. my son just turned 8 and he is in regular class in a private school (no aids). he has weird laughs and i believe that lots of people think he is mentally delayed. he also likes to observe people but not striving for friends. his 1st grade teacher said it amazes her that when he wants he can join a group of kids playing w/o any problem.
in our case, i insist that he cannot laugh or talk silly during the work (when we are doing homework or such) and he knows and mostly obeys that. his stimming was tapping his arms or long objects and was very severe before; we thought it would never stop, but lately he is switched it to touching his fingers (thumb to others), he did it on his own though previously we established the rule of no tapping in the living room. this is much less noticable.

he has a weighted blanket but didn't like it before, now he likes it but anyway he does not have problems with sleeping during the school year when he is tired. overall I agree that activities are the answer (though not complete obviously) but eventually just to encourage you and tell you that they tend to grow out of things. routine activites help, like having a pool or bike-riding time.