Noises

Post Reply New Topic

My six year old son has started making noises in the last few weeks. It started after we had the tsunami warning (Hawaii) and they seem to be non-stop. It is very different from when he is "stemming"...he kind of just goes "hmm" "hmm" every few seconds. When I ask him about it all he says is "I don't know" or "what noise". I don't know if I should ask his doctor about it or just let him go. Anyone else have any suggestions or similar stories?

My experience may not help you but here it is. When my son was in 3yo preschool, he was totally silent only in school. In fact, a psychologist went to the school to sit in the back of the class, then went to my house to observe him there. The change in him was night and day. We were able to work with him but in his 4yo preschool class, he would hum noises while the teacher talked. This same teacher was the kindergarten teacher. At the end of the year, she did not recommend that he enter kindergarten only due to the noises. She said, "you just can't make noises in circle time."

We were already homeschooling my daughter so we homeschooled him, but he drove me crazy with his noises during my talking. At age 9 we decided to see a psychologist for this and other reasons. While we were looking for a good one, and she was on maternity leave, I tried to come down hard on those noises and a few other behaviors. He became defiant. Then he was diagnosed with Asperperger's. I still can't teach him without his noises or other distractions so he uses Time4learning, an online curriculum. We are finally getting somewhere.

I still don't know exactly why he does it. I haven't addressed it w/ the phychologist b/c Time4learning is helping so much.

It may be a form of stimming for him. Each of us feels a sensation differently; some are addicted to sound (his humming), some could be rolling something between their fingers (or tapping), etc. It could also be that he does hear something (or there is a ringing in his ears) and he hums to try and counter it, or mimic it. But Im no expert, and these are just possibilities. It's quite possible he's hearing something you're not picking up on (which is common since most in the spectrum tend to have sensitive sensory issues).

Well the first thing that came to my mind upon reading your post is that he is worried about the tsunami warning and the noise is coming out because of the stress produced by the worry. My son, just turned 5, exhibits some odd behaviors when he is scared about something and it is hard to figure out what is bothering him. I end up playing a guessing game with him. When I finally get it right, he will let me know but he doesn't seem to be able to come up with the words himself. Kids are pretty sensitive to things they hear on the news, etc. even when we think they are not paying attention. Have you talked with him about the tsunami warning and what your family's plan is in the case of such a threat?

This is our second tsunami warning here, and in our location we have to evacuate. I have talked to him in detail about the evacuation process and how this makes him feel. He is pretty vocal about his fears with a tsunami. I thought that this pretty coincidental that the noises started after the warning. Even after all his questions the noises have not stopped, in fact they seem to be more frequent.

PlatedDrake made a comment about hearing and mimicking. This may be something I might ask the doctor about. He has shown signs of having sensitivty to sound and that might be what is going on.

His noises are distracting, but more because I am worried that something is bothering him. The school has not said anything to me yet and I don't want to point it out to them either. I just wanted to see if other parents have experienced this type of behavior and if there was something that I could do to help "ease" what ever it is that is that he is feeling to make those noises.

Thanks for all your replies...it helps!

I know noises can be a tic sometimes. When my kiddo is stressed his tics get worse...his are physical though. I assume vocal tics work the same.