Screaming and Noises

[TylersMum]

My son Tyler was diagnosed Autistic 3 weeks ago but has been a long time coming. We started the tests etc off at 2.5 years.

 

He has varied in his behaviour but has recently started screaming - a really high pitched scream - for no reason. We tell him not to do it and he always says sorry but does it again anyway. He also makes odd noises, for example, bangs his chest and go's 'na na na na na na na' over and over again. He has another new habit too, whereby he shouts VERY loudly "Nee High Hair" and I've no idea what this means or where it comes from.

 

Reading this posting before I send it, it almost makes me laugh but what I really need is some advice to try and curb this vocalisation. He has fairly good verbal skills but these elements worry me. It attracts unwanted scowls from "The great uninformed" as I call them.

 

Thanks,

 

Nicki

[fiorelli]

Hi Tylers Mum,

 

Sorry, I don't have any magic cures to help you, but just wanted to let you know that you are not alone!

 

Louis has siren like noises he makes - They are very high pitched, and very loud!!

 

Nothing can stop him when he is making these noises except himself. We have found that he usually does the noises when he is feeling 'out of his depth' in a situation - or even sometimes when he is bored. In a way this makes it a little easier to manage bcause as soon as we realise he is getting out of his depth, or bored, we can try and do something about it.

[oracle]

As I type this reply Matthew is seranding me with a very high pitched noise that he has aquired during the last few days. It is so loud it is actually giving me a splitting headache. I am trying my best to ignore it but this is one of the worst yet. Not conent with making the noise he is acually taping it and playing back again and again - well not in my sitting room he aint

 

On the other hand the noise is also driving his 18 year old AS brother crazy, so if he plays it back in his room I may well have a murder in may hands

 

Sorry but I really do know how you feel at the moment.

 

Carole

Edited August 1, 2005 by carole

[nellie]

You have my sympathy folks. <'> <'>

[Amanda32]

Hi Nicki

This is for you........ <'> <'> as when out in public it's so annoying you get so stressed out.... My son doesn't really scream just funny noises like repeating what you say but in a baby sound, gets really silly saying things like poo I could go on. He does do funny noises in the house and out in public and he sounds baby like and does different actions with his body and people look.... the more I tell him its silly the more he does it aswell. Im telling him hes banned for the day of the Xbox if he carried on and he did. I suppose our kids do silly things etc but thats the way some of them are but it is embarrassing when your out and they want to be centre of attention. It is not attention as he gets lots of it. Having a bad time with him at the moment as hes pooing his pants alot and not saying hes done it............. He's going through a faze switching the tv remote over all the time changing channels cant keep it to 1 channel even if your watching something. Sorry Nicki ive gone on too much, all I can say is ban him from certain things for a set time if the shouting carries on as this works for me sometimes, it may be blackmail sort of but it saves you the stress.

Take care

Amanda

[TylersMum]

Thanks so much for your replies. As I mentioned, I'm really new to all this and have discovered this site almost by chance (a nice chap who organises workshops told me about it) and I have sent the link home to show my Husband today.

 

Just to know he isn't the only one is helping. His 3 year old sister seems to just accept that is how Tyler is, but does sometimes tell him to stop screaming or tell him off (she can be VERY bossy!) and sometimes he does stop for a few hours.

 

It doesn't seem to be triggered by being out of his depth or upset, he just seems to enjoy it. Especially though when he is watching TV or in the garden.

 

One of the helpful things his psychologist said to us was that when he is behaving this way, he isn't being naughty, he is just being Tyler - screams and all.

 

Will try the bribery method too - anything is worth a go and you never know, my eardrums may survive another year.......!!

[witsend]

Hi Tylersmum - my son has always done this kind of thing it can be embarrassing when I'm out with him and just bl****y irritating at home. The noises and sounds have varied over the years, but have to admit nothing has ever really stopped him nor can I identify any particular triggers (except it gets worse the more excited and or bored he gets). Now I've become reasonably immune to it in public (I'm sure the public haven't ) still get irritated at home but find the more I say 'don't so that; the longer it continues! Sorry haven't got much advice I really beleive he canott stop himself most of the time and I don't think he is actually aware of it much either. My main problem these days is that it does tend to upset/frighten his younger brother but then again he can be pretty loud when he wants! Earmuffs anyone??

[Brook]

Hi Tylers mum,

 

You said that he seems to do it more watching TV or out in the garden, my son also becomes louder with both of those things

 

The TV can be over stimulating for my son and will just suddenly burst into a shout and a rant about something on there, or he will copy a sound from a cartoon and repeat it over and over in a loud voice.

 

And as for the garden I've lost count of the amount of times I have to tell him to stop being so loud out there.

 

I would say it could be over stimulating, also my son has sensory issues, sensitive to smells etc.. and I think when he is in the garden he becomes much louder to drown out the unwanted stimuli.

Having said this he is generally quite loud anyway, but it does become more noticeable in certain situations.

 

Well just my own tuppence worth

 

Brook

[smallworld]

Hi,

In the past two years we've had the high-pitched screaming (v. popular that one ) then the car/burglar alarm and now we're onto very loud pretend burping. It's extremely realistic, despite coming from his voice,and it makes me feel quite sick !

I've found these noises come and go, the alarm sound returned when we went on holiday (perhaps cos he'd done it on hol the previous year)

At home it's annoying to say the least, when we're out it used to be embarrassing, but I think I've got over that. His Dad obviously hasn't ! last weekend we were in toysrus, got through the tills, and only then did junior let out this almighty whoop sound. I think everyone in the store jumped ! Dad says' take him to the car' !!

I just took him into the foyer bit and he had his second ever go on a ride, this time he stayed in the machine once it started moving, I'd forgotten about the noise he was making, and pleased he enjoyed the ride. I might live to regret this, but will make sure I've plenty of change for the time being. It's fantastic to see him enjoying things other kids love !

The one idea I have to suggest, is that when we're out,we always say that he can make noises at home, NOT when we're out. Sometimes it works, more with school than anywhere else.

 

wac

[lil_me]

My sons made noises, most of which are just highly annoying and not really anything but a repetative noise , the others he copies off TV etc, one is a chant from Jakki Chan (sp) and the more stressed or excited he gets the faster and louder it gets. Was one from George of the Jungle 2, AHAH OOO EEE TOOKY TOOKY , I think it was, but that isnt as often now. Tried all sorts nothing stops them, maybe a gag might stop it but I am sure he'd still try. I just try to ignore it the best I can as he doesn't seem able to stop.

Edited August 3, 2005 by lil_me

[TylersMum]

Seems to be the case. Tylers DOES do it more when he is watching telly so have asked stay-at-home to reduce his TV, although he doesn't watch that much anyway.

 

Tyler also gets very obssessive with particular things. Initially it was Toy Story, the Casper, then Ice Age, then Incredibles, and he can watch a film once and regurgitate the entire film, word for word thereafter.

 

He has started to relate passages from films to real life though, which I take as a good sign? He will take a situation, for example, when Bear in the Big Blue House does that 'whats that smell?' bit at the beginning, Tyler now smells me and asks what that smell is, then asks me if I have been eating breakfast, or drinking milk, or whatever he has recently seen me doing.

 

Sometimes he screams then says sorry (as always) but comes up to me and says "I'm really rerally sorry Mummy, I love you" and I just melt.

[annie]

When my son was younger he used to do a loud, piercing screech. He used to mainly do it when he was frustrated or annoyed.

 

Mind you, he also used to go up close to children's faces and do it, understandably it used to scare the life out of them. We always used to think that he did it to them because he really didn't have any social skills and it was his way of 'making friends'.

 

Thankfully, he did eventually stop it though.

 

Annie

[lil_me]

I remember the smelling one because of Bear with my son, he would sniff anyone, he used to love Bear, he still always uses American terms for parts of the house like attic etc, and still uses the words like daipers, jello etc. At the time when he picked up these words he had very little speech and we did not know there was a problem so we just let him do so as at least he was saying something. He also went through the Toy Story phase, wore out 11 copies on VHS and 2 DVD's ended up damaged of Toy Story 1 and 2, but his fave was the original, hence I still have a lizard who's name is Woody.

 

Annie my son does it in childrens faces sometimes, I am pleased you said your son has grown out of it, hope mine will too

Edited August 3, 2005 by lil_me

[annie]

Hi lil_me,

 

My son is 15, so I can't for the life of me remember when he stopped.

 

Because of his non-existant social skills at the time, he used to be agressive to other children.

 

He also used to speak in an American accent, we could never figure out where it came from because he used to be obsessed with Thomas the tank videos, Rosie and Jim and Ed the duck (it was a while ago ). They're not exactly American .

 

My younger son (14) was telling me the other day that when they both go out with their friends (at last, they get on, they hang around together). Everybody's amazed that Alex makes friends so easily. He said that Alex will just go up and start talking to other kids that he's never met before, where as my youngest and the other can't do that.

 

Mind you, when I pick them up from wherever they've been, I usually have to wait for about 20 minutes because Alex has to say goodbye to everybody individually and either shake hand or hug them .

 

 

Talk about one extreme to the other.

 

Annie

 

 

 

 

 

[TylersMum]

Isn't it funny the things they share with other ASD kids? We too have the american accent sometimes. I bought my son and my 3 year old (non ASD) daughter bubble machine guns the other day and the guy on the stall (in the middle of town!) was in hysterics at my son's appreciation of his "Bubblator" in full American twang.