"Humming" at school - teacher getting cross

[sarah5]

My son (age 5) has told me that people get very cross with him at school because of his constant humming. I know he does do it very loudly so I do understand why it might irritate people, but surely they could just ask him to do it a little more quietly? I have heard his friends yell at him so many times about his noise, which makes me feel quite sad for him as it's the only way he knows how to concentrate.

 

He has not yet been dx and I don't really think his teacher knows much about AS. I read somewhere that you're not supposed to discourage them from their humming?

 

I just wondered what people's thoughts are on this?

Edited October 28, 2007 by sarah5

[sis9098]

Hi Sarah

 

I know this problem too. My lad talks in class. It isn't because he is 'chatting' (although sometimes of couse he is), but when he is concentrating or thinking things through it just comes tumbling out of his mouth whereas his classmates will just be thinking it. I have an appointment with his teacher this week as my son told me he has been sitting at a desk on his own, instead of the normal twos, because of it. My son is very upset.

 

To my mind this is inappropriate punishment due to their lack of understanding. Of course his chatting must be curtailed if it disturbes or upsets others, but the how is going to be the subject I have with his teacher.

 

Sorry I can't help but to say you little one isn't alone and you must talk to the school.

 

Sis

[jlp]

I remember my son's old school complaining because he whistled all the time (he was 5 at the time too)

 

It lasted a while but did seem to fade (well no-one's complained for a while!)

 

I wonder if there's anyone who could explain how this can be an ASD issue - as you say it helps him concentrate, with my son I suspect it blocked out noise and reassured him - and not just your son being annoying on purpose. With a little imagination there's probably things they could do to help, maybe have a visual support ('no humming' or 'quiet time' ?) on the board when it's particularly important that the children are quiet such as carpet time. It might help or not but just to tell him off seems unfair.

 

Are there particular times when he hums or is it an all day thing?

[Mad_Kangaroo]

Teach him to hum louder when people complain. Or even better, whistle.

[LizC]

Hi I say tough on the teacher lol!! Matthew used to be in mainstream and couldn't cope it got to the point where he was making dens under the table and singing at the top of his voice, don't think he could cope with all the the noise etc of the class room. Have you tryed talking to his teacher? It is so hard for them isn't it, especially when people don't understand.

[Bard]

B hums now, but less so than when he was in Primary.He used to grunt and that was a lot more disconcerting.

If I asked him nicely, he could reduce the volume.

If anyone demanded that he shut up, his stress level would increase and it was even less under his control. Nag him further and Boom! Krakatoa!

His teachers have, on occasion, asked him to try and shhh, that usually works. They and his classes have come to accept that odd humming, tapping and poor volume control is part of the package and don't get annoyed.

If they try and stop him, it could be replaced by a much more irritating and intrusive habit that they will mind even more.

I think tolerance is necessary, linked with greater understanding of what ASDs are, and some of the characteristics.

[Bard]

Teach him to hum louder when people complain. Or even better, whistle.

 

B went through a phase of cracking every joint he had, at least twice.

That was much more than humming!

Edited October 31, 2007 by Bard

[Mad_Kangaroo]

B went through a phase of cracking every joint he had, at least twice.

That was much more than humming!

Lol, that must have been fun. I tended to have a policy of really irritating teachers that were a problem, and being really nice to others. Needless to say it was incredibly successful, the ones who complained about me were not even believed in a load of cases. When I was at school, I managed to make it so i had almost blanche carte to misbehave.

Edited October 31, 2007 by Tally
Can you watch the language please, this is a family-friendly forum.

[JsMum]

Has the telling off worked and cured his hummy little voice? I am going to guess that once he has been told off it makes it more likely that he does it again, for some children who hum or make oral noise its a way of self calming or self stimulation, for some its a reaction when they are in too much sensory input and they try and even the unballance, for others it may be a control elliment, been in control of doing " something" and he is the only one in charge of his body, so he hums.

 

I would ask the teacher to monitor him and relay the outcome rather than everytime he does it making him aware and making him feel a little silly and embarrassed by been reprimanded, yes it may be annoying but it could be related to other issues that have not yet been picked up by her, what about bringing in some information and possible stratagies for her to try, NAS have Free booklets describing what may help a child with an ASD, one for the classroom and one for the playtimes and dinner times.

 

When you compare humming with other disruptive behaviour it makes me wonder what kind of kids she expects in her class? and I think you really need to be very clear with her that you suspect that your child has an ASD and he will need a different aproach if she wants to help him to act differently.

 

 

JsMum

Edited November 1, 2007 by JsMum

[sarah5]

Thanks for all your replies. Well I had a word with his teacher and she said that when he starts humming she just says his name quite loudly and he immediately says sorry and stops doing it. But I know that he would start again within minutes because he does so at home (when we used to ask him to stop doing it - before we realised there might be more to it).

 

They clearly don't really know much about AS so I have offered to email her a list of Daniel's "symptoms" so that they know what to look out for. Am kind of suprised that they have not looked into AS further, knowing that one of their pupils may have it, but perhaps my expectations are too high?

 

Not sure I mentioned about the magic fairy dust they sprinkled all over the pupils heads on Halloween? It was only imaginary dust but of course Daniel absolutely FLIPPED, he came out of school screaming that they put something on his head then curled up in a ball in his little brothers' pushchair sobbing for the entire walk home

 

Seems it is down to me to educate the teachers on AS *sigh*!

Edited November 2, 2007 by sarah5

[stressedmumto2]

Just wanted to put a different perspective on this but my child who is in a special school can and does get incrediably stressed by another child's humming in the class and will then show aggressive or verbal behaivour, he also has sensory difficulties.

 

I do not know what the answer is. I think for kids who hum as a stim or due to shut out sensory should be allowed to do it but maybe at specific times throughout the day with the times and places they can do it shown on visual time-tables, also social stories saying when it's ok to do it and in what places, they should be rewarded for complying and this should also be done visually. I think this helps the child to gain some control back and be able to do it and also learn when it's not accaptable to do it. I think if you try and stop anything like huming, sometimes you are in for an even bigger battle, it's better to allow the child some control.

 

I would ask the school to consider if he is doing it to shut-out sensory if he could be allowed to do it say for a max of 5 mins in a quite place, this will also help him to calm down and not cause disruption to the other children but you have to be carefull with the child who then frequently could use it as an excuse to get out of work, so maybe he have 3 cards that he can use in one day to go off and do huming (mind you I think he may be a bit young to understand that) but when these are used up he can't do anymore or the child could have frequent breaks in the day when he can.

 

I do not know how you want to go with this, continue to allow the humming but at set times as if it is part of the routine and not being discouraged altogether or stop it altogether?

 

Unfortunatly with a lot of schools you will need to advise them, but the more info you can provide and help them the easier school will become for your child if you are all working together.

 

Take care and good luck

[Karen A]

Thanks for all your replies. Well I had a word with his teacher and she said that when he starts humming she just says his name quite loudly and he immediately says sorry and stops doing it. But I know that he would start again within minutes because he does so at home (when we used to ask him to stop doing it - before we realised there might be more to it).

 

They clearly don't really know much about AS so I have offered to email her a list of Daniel's "symptoms" so that they know what to look out for. Am kind of suprised that they have not looked into AS further, knowing that one of their pupils may have it, but perhaps my expectations are too high?

 

Not sure I mentioned about the magic fairy dust they sprinkled all over the pupils heads on Halloween? It was only imaginary dust but of course Daniel absolutely FLIPPED, he came out of school screaming that they put something on his head then curled up in a ball in his little brothers' pushchair sobbing for the entire walk home

 

Seems it is down to me to educate the teachers on AS *sigh*!

 

 

Sarah I wondered if you have access to support from ASD outreach.I have found that the specialist teacher is helpful in educating school staff and people listen to her. Karen.