I'm worried and need some insight.

[Guest guest]

I've been worring about some things my daughter does. And thought maybe

someone could give me some insight. Expecially if you're on the

spectrum yourself. My DD makes noises, or babbles/ talks almost all the

time. The speech therapists she used to have said that it was just

babbling with few words. Sometimes she says things very clearly,

(although she's probably only said 80 or so sentences in her life) And

at other times she'll say a name or something and I can barely make it

out. We're puzzled as to why this is and also why she jabber/talks so

much. All the professionals I've ever asked say they don't know. It

drives me crazy that she makes sounds all the time, because I worry that

it's something caused by nervousness or anxiety. I know when she gets

nervous she will say a single word over and over and over till I have to

redirect her to something else. And I have told her nicely that it

bothers others to hear a word over and over. But I try to act like it's

not a big deal. Anyway i've never heard of one who vocalizes so much of

the time and to be truthfuful I wonder if there's something awful wrong

with her that we don't know about. It worries me to death. And also,

sometimes she seems so with it. I know she knows her letters, numbers,

colors, etc, but sometimes when I work with her she seems to not

understand anything I know she knew yesterday. For instance, I give her

a card with an A on it and I ask her to match, and there's one card with

the same A on it and a picture of a ball on another card. She knows what

match means cause she's done it alot of times. But she puts the A on the

picture of the ball anyway. And It isn't like she just doesn't want to

do it (although we do have days like that too) it's like she doesn't

know the difference in the cards. We have a crappy school system here

that I would never trust. So I'm doing everything for her myself. And

I'm scared that maybe these are signs of something more going on that

I'm not getting.

Cristy

[Guest guest]

How old is your daughter? I have a client that I just started working

with that babbles like that all the time too. She's about 2 1/2, and

only says a handful of words but she " talks " ALL the time, virtually

non-stop! Her drs and other therapists have never heard anything like

it either! But anyway, your dd is not the only one, so there is

probably not anything " awful " wrong with her. I can't tell you why

she does it. With my little client, she has different babbles for

happy, sad, etc, and often sounds very conversational, even using

hand gestures like she is explaining things. Her dad says it's just

that English is not her first langage.

The matching example I see a lot. Some days are just harder than

others. Sometimes it is a case of just not paying attention, or not

wanting to do the task at hand, and other days, it is like it has to

be re-learned. It is NOT uncommon. Just keep trying. Usually, it will

stick if it is repeated enough times. It can take a long time, and it

can be something that she had learned ages ago and now has to be re-

learned. Eventually it will stick for good.

Do you have anyone to help you with what kind of lessons to be

working on with her, or to offer advice on teaching strategies? I

understand about not trusting the school district to teach her, but

they may be able to offer some guidence. I am happy to help any way I

can too. Feel free to email me privately. I know it is very hard to

do all this alone!

Amnesty

>

>

> I've been worring about some things my daughter does. And thought

maybe

> someone could give me some insight. Expecially if you're on the

> spectrum yourself. My DD makes noises, or babbles/ talks almost all

the

> time. The speech therapists she used to have said that it was just

> babbling with few words. Sometimes she says things very clearly,

> (although she's probably only said 80 or so sentences in her life)

And

> at other times she'll say a name or something and I can barely make

it

> out. We're puzzled as to why this is and also why she jabber/talks

so

> much. All the professionals I've ever asked say they don't know. It

> drives me crazy that she makes sounds all the time, because I worry

that

> it's something caused by nervousness or anxiety. I know when she

gets

> nervous she will say a single word over and over and over till I

have to

> redirect her to something else. And I have told her nicely that it

> bothers others to hear a word over and over. But I try to act like

it's

> not a big deal. Anyway i've never heard of one who vocalizes so

much of

> the time and to be truthfuful I wonder if there's something awful

wrong

> with her that we don't know about. It worries me to death. And also,

> sometimes she seems so with it. I know she knows her letters,

numbers,

> colors, etc, but sometimes when I work with her she seems to not

> understand anything I know she knew yesterday. For instance, I give

her

> a card with an A on it and I ask her to match, and there's one card

with

> the same A on it and a picture of a ball on another card. She knows

what

> match means cause she's done it alot of times. But she puts the A

on the

> picture of the ball anyway. And It isn't like she just doesn't want

to

> do it (although we do have days like that too) it's like she doesn't

> know the difference in the cards. We have a crappy school system

here

> that I would never trust. So I'm doing everything for her myself.

And

> I'm scared that maybe these are signs of something more going on

that

> I'm not getting.

>

> Cristy

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Cristy,

My daughter talks and makes sounds almost nonstop too when she can. She

has learned over the years ( she is 13) to not do so in school and she can go

for a time without the sounds. It's just the way she is. She loves the sound of

her voice and one of her favorite leisure activities is making recordings of

herself singing and talking. She experiments with different voices, and

sometimes she inserts snippets of radio or CD as well. She also records bits of

what

people have said to her, and she'll ask questions about why someone said

something. Sometimes she asks the same questions over and over for months. She

does have OCD as well, and when she is more anxious she sometimes vocalizes

more,

but she does this when she is happy and relaxed as well. I know part of it is

her trying to figure out this strange world and all the things people say.

She is very smart and also sometimes will give the wrong answer to a

question like the one you wrote about, or will say " I don't know " when she does

know about something. I take this to mean she is tire, can't focus right then

on the question, or doesn't want to answer it.

Have you tried recording her voice and playing it back for her? She might

like this, and it might help you figure out what she's trying to say

sometimes.

Melinda

[Guest guest]

I don't remember what I was like as a baby. I do not know what to say. I

can try. I moan sometimes when I am bored or tired. Maybe your child is

matching the A to the ball because she sees something similar in the two

that isn't obvious to everyone. Sometimes the problems are smaller than it

seems.

When I finished Kindergarten, I had to do a drawing test. They told me to

draw a picture of myself and so I did. When I was done they called my

mother to meeting and told her they were extremely concerned over the

results. The psychologist said that I had drawn in extreme detail such as

eye lashes on the eyes and finger nails on the fingers, but I had neglected

to draw legs. On the way home, my mother asked me why I didn't draw legs

and so I told her " I ran out of paper. "

If you are concerned, consult with others for help pin pointing the problem,

but do not panic. The reason could be simple too.

I hope this helps.

Nadine

I'm worried and need some insight.

I've been worring about some things my daughter does. And thought maybe

someone could give me some insight. Expecially if you're on the

spectrum yourself. My DD makes noises, or babbles/ talks almost all the

time. The speech therapists she used to have said that it was just

babbling with few words. Sometimes she says things very clearly,

(although she's probably only said 80 or so sentences in her life) And

at other times she'll say a name or something and I can barely make it

out. We're puzzled as to why this is and also why she jabber/talks so

much. All the professionals I've ever asked say they don't know. It

drives me crazy that she makes sounds all the time, because I worry that

it's something caused by nervousness or anxiety. I know when she gets

nervous she will say a single word over and over and over till I have to

redirect her to something else. And I have told her nicely that it

bothers others to hear a word over and over. But I try to act like it's

not a big deal. Anyway i've never heard of one who vocalizes so much of

the time and to be truthfuful I wonder if there's something awful wrong

with her that we don't know about. It worries me to death. And also,

sometimes she seems so with it. I know she knows her letters, numbers,

colors, etc, but sometimes when I work with her she seems to not

understand anything I know she knew yesterday. For instance, I give her

a card with an A on it and I ask her to match, and there's one card with

the same A on it and a picture of a ball on another card. She knows what

match means cause she's done it alot of times. But she puts the A on the

picture of the ball anyway. And It isn't like she just doesn't want to

do it (although we do have days like that too) it's like she doesn't

know the difference in the cards. We have a crappy school system here

that I would never trust. So I'm doing everything for her myself. And

I'm scared that maybe these are signs of something more going on that

I'm not getting.

Cristy

[Guest guest]

typically babies babble as a pre-languistic skills and is a sign that

language will emerge , but remember some on spectrum will do things

typical babies due but at later ages and more pervasively. So if she

is doing babbling as a pre langauage skills she may be to have a

stronger need to do it so it comes out as pervasive in her need to

babble. She may also do it because it is true some of us on spectrm

love the sounds of our own voices because the sounds we make vibrate

the inner throat and tongue and such and feels good and can offere a

deep pressure sensation within us. My daugher does this deep throat

growls and screams because she says her throat likes that feeling. or

she says my throat needs deep pressure she is of a severe craver of

deep pressure. we are getting her into drumming this year for the

need to tap and pound out rythms everywhere.

Sondra

[Guest guest]

Sondra,

I think maybe the deep pressure thing is the reason. She loves deep

pressure, loves to jump all the time to stand on her head, even get

under the matress so she can have something heavy on top of her.last

night I was listening to her in the bath tub and there were snippets

of songs, possible some scripting and what we call the happy Hope

noises. She is 5 years old and shortly before she was Dxed this

started she never really babbled much when she was a baby. If she

wanted to say something she just came right out with it. Maybe she's

making up for all the babbling she didn't do as a baby.

My DD also loves to make the growling noises. Sometimes when she is

angry, but also for no apparent reason so maybe her throat likes the

feeling of that too. I'm feeling alittle better about it now.

Thanks, Sondra.

Cristy

>

> typically babies babble as a pre-languistic skills and is a sign

that

> language will emerge , but remember some on spectrum will do

things

> typical babies due but at later ages and more pervasively. So if

she

> is doing babbling as a pre langauage skills she may be to have a

> stronger need to do it so it comes out as pervasive in her need to

> babble. She may also do it because it is true some of us on

spectrm

> love the sounds of our own voices because the sounds we make

vibrate

> the inner throat and tongue and such and feels good and can offere

a

> deep pressure sensation within us. My daugher does this deep

throat

> growls and screams because she says her throat likes that feeling.

or

> she says my throat needs deep pressure she is of a severe craver

of

> deep pressure. we are getting her into drumming this year for the

> need to tap and pound out rythms everywhere.

> Sondra

>

[Guest guest]

Amnesty,

I'm so glad you replied. I worry and worry about these things

because the therapists we used to work with, people from the

behavioral clinic, and other moms said they'd seen anyone who did

the babbling thing before. And didn't really say what they thought

of her having the other problem. I though it was just a normal

autistic trait. Alot of people have commented too on this thing she

does where she takes her pinky and pulls at the corner of her eye,

while using her thumb to apply pressure under her earlobe at the

same time, then she looks at things out of the corner of the eye

that she's pulling on. I thought that was no biggie also, till alot

of people told me they had never seen anyone do that. Most of the

kids who I've seen, or talked to their Mom's, were boys on the

spectrum. I have only met two other girls with autism in the last 3

years since my daughter's diagnosis.

( my DD just turned five) And both of them were very quiet, rocked

alot, seemed very spacey and didn't like to be touched much.

So they're nothing like Hope either. She jumps around alot, is very

happy most all the time (and it shows), very social at least with

adults, and " talks " and makes noises even as she's drifting off to

sleep. So even though I know it's not good to compare children

because they're all differen't. But I was really worried.

I'm pretty much working on the therapy alone. I got some training

from the therapists she used to see before she aged out of early

interevenion & from the behavioral clinic at Vanderbuilt in

Nashville in the last few months. I'm reading some sensory books

(Raising a sensory smart child, and The out of sync child has fun)

to hopefuly put together some new things to help her with those

issues and we're starting to use PECS again. I got some real

training this time on how to use them from the behavioral clinic. so

that's going smoother. We're now using a visual schedule and cards

for her to pick foods and activities from. We're working on getting

her to do more everyday skills by using the book Steps to

independance and with the PECS.

I'd love to get training on RDI but there isn't any place close to

go here and I hear it's really expensive. So I'm reading Solving the

relationship puzzle by Gutstein. And thinking of getting the DVDs

from the RDI site.

I've always kind of used the floortime approach with her, but think

RDI would be better. I'm trying to do all of this with very little

input, so it is pretty tough. I'd love any input you have. But I'm

really against getting involved with the school system again.

Cristy

> >

> >

> > I've been worring about some things my daughter does. And

thought

> maybe

> > someone could give me some insight. Expecially if you're on the

> > spectrum yourself. My DD makes noises, or babbles/ talks almost

all

> the

> > time. The speech therapists she used to have said that it was

just

> > babbling with few words. Sometimes she says things very clearly,

> > (although she's probably only said 80 or so sentences in her

life)

> And

> > at other times she'll say a name or something and I can barely

make

> it

> > out. We're puzzled as to why this is and also why she

jabber/talks

> so

> > much. All the professionals I've ever asked say they don't know.

It

> > drives me crazy that she makes sounds all the time, because I

worry

> that

> > it's something caused by nervousness or anxiety. I know when she

> gets

> > nervous she will say a single word over and over and over till I

> have to

> > redirect her to something else. And I have told her nicely that

it

> > bothers others to hear a word over and over. But I try to act

like

> it's

> > not a big deal. Anyway i've never heard of one who vocalizes so

> much of

> > the time and to be truthfuful I wonder if there's something

awful

> wrong

> > with her that we don't know about. It worries me to death. And

also,

> > sometimes she seems so with it. I know she knows her letters,

> numbers,

> > colors, etc, but sometimes when I work with her she seems to not

> > understand anything I know she knew yesterday. For instance, I

give

> her

> > a card with an A on it and I ask her to match, and there's one

card

> with

> > the same A on it and a picture of a ball on another card. She

knows

> what

> > match means cause she's done it alot of times. But she puts the

A

> on the

> > picture of the ball anyway. And It isn't like she just doesn't

want

> to

> > do it (although we do have days like that too) it's like she

doesn't

> > know the difference in the cards. We have a crappy school

system

> here

> > that I would never trust. So I'm doing everything for her

myself.

> And

> > I'm scared that maybe these are signs of something more going on

> that

> > I'm not getting.

> >

> > Cristy

> >

> >

> >

> >

[Guest guest]

When Allie does this, she's " fastforwarding " scripts. She'll say her

favorite parts, then babble, then say another favorite part. We've

discovered she's trying to get through all the other lines to get her

to the next part. It's really funny now that we've figured it out, if

her voice was a little higher pitched she would sound just like a tape

recorder.

Debi

--- In Autism_in_Girls , " Cristy Estep "

[Guest guest]

I'm pretty sure Hope is doing this too. I noticed it today before I

read this. She will say something from Bear in the big blue house

which she loves, and then babble, then say something that comes much

later on in the same show. For the past two days she's been going

around saying " What do you think? " which is one of her favorite parts

in every video. It's funny. At least I know she's talking now, which

is a big relief. But she's scripting right? She uses some of what I

say too. Like if I say " hold on. " she'll say " wait a minute. " It's so

cute. I know this is kind of undesirable behavior thought right? She

does say things on her own too. So should I be doing something to help

her not do it or just be glad she's talking? I don't want to

perpetuate a bad habit.

Cristy

>

> When Allie does this, she's " fastforwarding " scripts. She'll say her

> favorite parts, then babble, then say another favorite part. We've

> discovered she's trying to get through all the other lines to get her

> to the next part. It's really funny now that we've figured it out, if

> her voice was a little higher pitched she would sound just like a

tape

> recorder.

>

> Debi

>

> --- In Autism_in_Girls , " Cristy Estep "

>

[Guest guest]

I found the tape recorder and tomorrow I'm going to record her so I

can play it back & let her hear, thanks for the idea. I was

wondering how you tought your daughter not to do this in certain

situations. I'm wondering if I should be encouraging it or

discouraging it.

Cristy

I

>

> Cristy,

> My daughter talks and makes sounds almost nonstop too when she

can. She

> has learned over the years ( she is 13) to not do so in school and

she can go

> for a time without the sounds. It's just the way she is. She loves

the sound of

> her voice and one of her favorite leisure activities is making

recordings of

> herself singing and talking. She experiments with different

voices, and

> sometimes she inserts snippets of radio or CD as well. She also

records bits of what

> people have said to her, and she'll ask questions about why

someone said

> something. Sometimes she asks the same questions over and over for

months. She

> does have OCD as well, and when she is more anxious she sometimes

vocalizes more,

> but she does this when she is happy and relaxed as well. I know

part of it is

> her trying to figure out this strange world and all the things

people say.

> She is very smart and also sometimes will give the wrong

answer to a

> question like the one you wrote about, or will say " I don't know "

when she does

> know about something. I take this to mean she is tire, can't

focus right then

> on the question, or doesn't want to answer it.

> Have you tried recording her voice and playing it back for

her? She might

> like this, and it might help you figure out what she's trying to

say

> sometimes.

> Melinda

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

She's talking. She's connecting words to events, and

one set of words to another.

These are good things.

Discouraging any talking will be discouraging ALL

talking. And I imagine you don't want that.

Kassiane

--- Cristy Estep wrote:

> I'm pretty sure Hope is doing this too. I noticed it

> today before I

> read this. She will say something from Bear in the

> big blue house

> which she loves, and then babble, then say something

> that comes much

> later on in the same show. For the past two days

> she's been going

> around saying " What do you think? " which is one of

> her favorite parts

> in every video. It's funny. At least I know she's

> talking now, which

> is a big relief. But she's scripting right? She

> uses some of what I

> say too. Like if I say " hold on. " she'll say " wait a

> minute. " It's so

> cute. I know this is kind of undesirable behavior

> thought right? She

> does say things on her own too. So should I be doing

> something to help

> her not do it or just be glad she's talking? I don't

> want to

> perpetuate a bad habit.

> Cristy

>

> >

> > When Allie does this, she's " fastforwarding "

> scripts. She'll say her

> > favorite parts, then babble, then say another

> favorite part. We've

> > discovered she's trying to get through all the

> other lines to get her

> > to the next part. It's really funny now that we've

> figured it out, if

> > her voice was a little higher pitched she would

> sound just like a

> tape

> > recorder.

> >

> > Debi

> >

> > --- In Autism_in_Girls , " Cristy

> Estep "

> >

>

>

>

>

>

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

Cristy, I'm a pretty laid back person when it comes to behaviors like

this. I forgot how old your daughter is, but to me, it's Allie's

mouth, Allie's thoughts, she has just as much a right to speak them as

anyone else. I try to help her be quiet when we're supposed to be

quiet, like in the middle of church, in class, etc. In that situation

it would be rude toward others, so she needs to learn control. But

when we're at home, I want her to feel free to relax and do what ever

she wants that isn't harmful.

The other issue is I think Allie does it to learn the language. When

she's repeating a phrase or script, I think she's trying to comprehend

the meaning. Since I want her to learn, it wouldn't be right for me to

constantly try to stop her from learning the only way she knows how.

Sometimes I have to read instructions 10 timese before I get it, it

wouldn't be right for my family to expect me to cook them a recipe but

only give me one or two shots to read the directions to make it right,

same with Allie.

The other issue is I've heard sometimes people get stuck in a script

and can't make it stop. Sorta like if you ever have a song wake you up

in the morning and then sing the blamed thing all day, no matter how

bad you wanna stop you can't. If Allie is doing this, I don't want to

make her feel worse for doing something she can't really help. So, for

me, I try to help her control these things when it's rude toward

others, but when it has no impact, like in a grocery store or riding

in the car, I'm not gonna stop it.

HTH,

Debi

[Guest guest]

I agree. You can try scripting back to her even, if you know the

words well enough (and I bet you do to get her to practice

conversation/turn taking. Another thing you can do is to assume she

actually MEANS what she is scripting if possible. So when she

says " What do you think? " You answer " I don't know, what do YOU

think? " Or " I think it's time to.... " etc. The more practice she gets

at talking, the more she will talk, and you are interacting with her

on a subject that SHE initiated and is interested in. All important

for language skills.

Amnesty

> > >

> > > When Allie does this, she's " fastforwarding "

> > scripts. She'll say her

> > > favorite parts, then babble, then say another

> > favorite part. We've

> > > discovered she's trying to get through all the

> > other lines to get her

> > > to the next part. It's really funny now that we've

> > figured it out, if

> > > her voice was a little higher pitched she would

> > sound just like a

> > tape

> > > recorder.

> > >

> > > Debi

> > >

> > > --- In Autism_in_Girls , " Cristy

> > Estep "

> > >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

>

>

> __________________________________________________

>