5 YO talks nonsense

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Our son, especially when in public, makes comments to strangers often that plain don't make any sense at all. As parents we don't know how to handle this i.e. point out to him he's not making sense, ignore it, try to change the topic. What is the healthiest (for him) thing to do?

What type of comments?

Talk as in gibberish? Or just comments out of left field - partial thoughts about something not in the conversation?

I did this as a child and my daughter does it as well. We have a constant script of SOMETHING always in our head and it is all terribly interesting. We sometimes fail to realize that everyone else isn't in on our little private world. Sometimes our internal script sort of just runs over and seemingly comes out at random - AKA comments that make no sense and may not even be expressed as complete thoughts. In essence, it's talking out loud about something that should remain in our heads. It can be extremely frustrating and embarrassing if the people around us make a big deal out of it. At home, when it occurs, a gentle reminder and/or explanation is all that is needed. We get it - we do. It will take lots of reminders and practice but, to some degree, we will get it. But if a public scene is made out of it - that's meltdown potential.

If this doesn't characterize what you are talking about - never mind then!

This isn't odd for a young child.

My NT 3 year old niece does this a lot so I guessing its common among all young children.

comments from left field that have no relevancy- not gibberish.

BTW, what does AT mean?

NT means Neurotypical, not autistic.

Relatively normal for a young child. They don't have social filters yet. It never goes away in autism. I'm over generalizing, but it tends to persist for people on the spectrum.

I have really had my limit of people doing this. Not every thing is normal for a young child! Childhood is marked by a general scale of growth. This includes skills in speech and motor development. A kid can not only make perfect sense at 5 years old, they can carry on full conversations about a range of different topics, develop and discuss their interests, read books and write stories, operate machinery and computers, draw pictures of subject matter that's easily discernible, learn to play musical instruments, and speak a second language (and make perfect sense in that one too), and be introduced to complex social and physical activities like team sports. Not all five year-olds will manage all of this at once, but they are generally capable.

What's not odd is questioning why one's five year old is speaking gibberish, is mumbling, is making irrelevant statements, or is otherwise not articulating their thoughts clearly. This could indicate autism, learning disabilities, a hearing problem, or at the nightmarish worst, a brain condition. It's important for parents to pay attention and ask questions.

Yes. A friend once told me I say things other people only think about ... and even today I have greatly trouble understanding why other people get so flipped just because somebody speaks whatever might come out of his or her own mind.

In the case of children who have yet to really learn any "social taboos" or whatever, I think the rest of us would do well to study their circumstantial candor just a bit ...

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCHIM-bGiTI[/youtube]

i think most kids babytalk and stuff. i don't think this is an autism thing.

almost everyone talks nonsense. it just has to be suffered or ignored. i usually ignore it. i guess that is not an option for you but anyway good luck.

I made up many different words at that age, because I thought it was funny.

I'm no sure if I'm interpretting this correctly but I think you may be concerned over 'gibberish' that you cannot see any logical connection to. All little kids kind of blurt out what they are thinking without filters - but many times, you can follow a trail of conversation breadcrumbs back to the source of them. For an AS kid - there may be no discernable trail. They may have done some impressive mental leaps far beyond the conversation or they may have just ignored whats going on around them and ducked into their own world. I think both are fairly common. At least, around our house they are.

I'm not really sure there is a cause for concern either way but if you ARE concerned, a trip to the doctor is in order.

If you don't mind me asking, is he your child or grandchild?
Anyway, try to help him get his thoughts straight by asking him questions so he can figure out what he is trying to communicate.