Vocal(auditory?) stims

Post Reply New Topic

I have a six year old who is doing extremely well academically. He is still however having behavioral issues at school. They have an OT working with him, but I do not know how much of it is for his sensory issues vs. his handwriting/motor planning issues.

The main problem he seems to be having is that he talks or sings to himself in class. It doesn't seem like they are making much progress as I still get frequent notes about his demerits for this. Is there anything I can do at home to help him? Based on what I have seen the few times I have observed him in school ,and what I know at home, there are multiple triggers. They range from over-stimulation (sensory as well as general excitement) (possibly sometimesalso understimulation), stress, boredom.

He is sad about his demerits and the school punishments which makes the stress higher, which increases the behavior and so on. I have tried to counter the stress by making things at home as smooth as possible, but beyond that I am clueless about helping him shift to different stims that are less disruptive. He also squirms around etc. but I think the noises are probably more disruptive, and you know, one thing at a time.

We really do not want to medicate (at least not now) and I am sure if I asked his ped we'd get a referral for that purpose. I want to utilize other options. We can't really afford private OT, and I am in a rural area without any significant local resources. The school is handling it with a reward system but it has uneven results because he has trouble complying for other reasons than just not feeling like it.

I don't want him adopting much more problematic stims to replace this so I am very cautious. He can't control his voice volume, either, and I don't think they will think that would be adequate anyway. Anyone had any success with this?

Maybe try letting him listen to music on headphones? Some kids can't stand silence. Others can't deal with other kid noises. My daughter does a lot better with sound blocking headphones.

Punishments of any kind aren't helpful with kids on the spectrum. Positive behavior supports work much better. Why does he need to sing or talk to himself? Can he tell you? If there's a sensory need, then take care of that. Then, start out with a small period of time, maybe 10 minutes. He gets a reward if he can be quiet for that 10 minutes. Make it a period where he might have to stretch a bit, but it's important that success is likely. If he's on a point or token system make sure that if he slips after a period of success, say he gets a token then starts singing, that the reward he's earned doesn't disappear. He earned the reward, it's his. Period. If he really needs to talk or sing, then giving him an appropriate place to do it after 10 minutes might be necessary. Just like any other stim that's disruptive.

One thing my daughter needs, but doesn't get often enough, is sensory breaks. She just can't always wait until recess to get away from class so she deals with the stress in more disruptive ways. If she's in overload no behavior program is going to help with that. Her current class is savvy, so she gets to take short breaks.

I also have a daughter who is doing well academically but is getting behavior demerits for talking to herself in class. She doesn't realize she is doing it. She is 8.5 years old. If a child is not even aware they are doing it, it is really hard to try to get them to curb it. The best thing I have done is just to try to call her attention to it when she does it, hoping that she will become aware of it. But I am not at school. I think because your son is only 6, it is too much to ask him to stop doing this. I would talk to the teacher and approach it as : this behavior is not a bad behavior per se, it is helping him and it could be worse. He could be not concentrating or becoming agitated. The teacher could discreetly call his attention to it in class with a predetermined gesture such as a hand on his shoulder. If your son is mainstreamed with no supports it will be hard to get the school on board with allowing him some concessions. I do know for my daughter, she is actually concentrating when she talks to herself. They don't like it because it is innane scripting which is distracting for the other children. I don't see it as a stim really but perhaps I am wrong on that?

As far as OT, they work to modulate the over or under active sensory processing (as well as the fine and gross motor skills work you mentioned). If your son is talking to himself as a sensory outlet a sensory diet might help but with my daughter she does some sensory things that are just so necessary for her that it is very hard to curb, even with some additional sensory input.

Those are some excellent ideas. The school isn't very knowledgeable and everything done is a last resort. The OT support is contracted out so I don't have easy access to the therapist, but I can call the diagnostician when I have my thoughts in order, which is what I am trying to do now. He did have a temporary aide, for a couple of weeks, which I think helped. The district does not want to pay for a perm aide, but if his behavior slips and the need becomes permanent, then I hope they will give it back. The aide was not really trained but at least it was better than nothing. They had her give him rewards based on how much he could control himself. They are still continuing that, but without the aide. Again, it was better but not perfect. She would also take him out when he got too disruptive. I floated the idea of sensory breaks and they seem to count transitions as breaks. I had to remind them that that is actually a source of stress and not a break. I still do not think they understand.

I have asked him why he does the various things he does including the stims and with reference to the stims he says, "I don't know." He has gotten better at articulating things but not enough to explain it. I do not think he is self aware enough to know. He does complain about school being a "no talking zone." I have written social stories and I have explained that it is not that he has to always be quiet but that the other children have to be able to hear the teacher. it is clearly very hard for him to control this.

He does this at moderate levels at home, even when things are usual, so I think there is some baseline minimum his brain needs. At home I don't mind and I only interfere unless I have a compelling need. I think he needs the outlet. Then I think his stim needs go up when under sensory overload/stress etc. Is there a certain time I should give the OT to see what she can figure out before I start mixing in, again? He just got the OT a month ago, and I know there is some trial and error involved.

Asking him why he does it is not really helpful I would guess. It would be like me asking you why you tap your foot when you read. They just DO it. Without reason. It is a side effect in a way (for my daughter), she concentrates and it happens. With my daughter I have to be careful how I approach things. The last thing you want to do is take away (or make him feel self conscious about) something that is helping him (with the possible side effect of a bad behavior taking it's place).

Since you are so new to OT, there's a lot still that you can be doing in conjunction with the OT at home. There is the Wilbarger Brushing Protocol which helps some kids regulate better. This might help with over or under sensitivity but I am still not convinced talking/scripting is sensory based and would be affected by this.

If the school is not willing to work with you then you can try a few different things. Give him a straw and a bowl to blow cotton balls around or you can try any number of squishy or chewy stimmy toys.....google Office playground and Chewelry, I like the Kid Companions and the chewease the best as they can be clipped to clothes. I personally think the school should learn more about autism.....I am having the same issue. My daughter finishes her school work so her aide leaves her and helps the other kids....which she is not supposed to do. So my daughter starts singing or making her "noises". She is stressed because she knows that she can not get out of her seat. We are in the process of getting a tramp for the gym where her aide can take her and we and her therapy center are making it very clear to her aide that she is Maddy's aide....she is NOT there to take care of the other kids!
Probably like my daughter he is finishing his school work before the other kids and is stressed because he does not know what to do with himself. Maybe the teacher could give him a coloring book or something to keep his fingers busy so he feels like he is doing something instead of just sitting there unsure of what to do,
Try to explain to the teacher that he is not a "typical" child and although he may be very smart he needs some direction and far less stress.