Verbal stimming, constantly.

Post Reply New Topic

Mine cannot be quiet. He can do ten minutes. I need more than ten minutes. Thoughts? Advice? This is chatting, verbalising, vocalising, making sounds, singing songs, having conversations with a myriad of imaginary friends, etc. He's eight.

Mine does the same thing, he is 8. Talking about how a magic trick is done or how a telsa coil works or singing a TV commercial or theme song! Our O.T. started us on Thereputic Listening, vital sounds. he did really well on it & he is able to chill out a bit. He listens to his CDs twice a day for thirty min. Not sure if it would help you little one but worth checking into! I find that if he is idle he is talking or singing or spinning. Legos, Drawing, anything he likes that can keep him engaged!

Good Luck!!

Thanks thibben I will have a look for it. Today I gave mine a big bowl of watermelon just to see how long it would be before he started in again. He also seems insecure when I have my attention elsewhere and really starts going. Sometimes typing sets him off on a tangent. I am working with him daily and discussing how I also have needs. I am a parent diagnosed ADD at a young age and after all of this research get that I'm very ASD as well. Parenting has been a unique challenge for me. I cherish my son like I have never cherished any interest in the universe, but sometimes just five minutes listening to the wind in the trees would be soul-saving!

The other month I got to water the plants outside without him realising. I watched two little birds play in the water for a full FIFTEEN MINUTES and it was sheer heaven. I get quiet time at night, but by then I'm exhausted and/or studying and feel like I am living on edge. I am certain my anxiety has grown in the past two years and I know for certain our anxieties play off one another, so it's an additional issue for me to try to chill out so that I don't rub off on him in a negative way. Unfortunately one of the points at which he "gets it" (that I need some time) is when I just can't deal with things anymore and come close to falling apart.

He wants to help me out and he really values me as a person and loves me with all of his heart, it is just incredibly difficult for him to turn off his sound. I don't want to have to get edgy for him to hear me.

Does anyone else have ideas??

Today he told me, "You know my mind is not a very peaceful place. If you go into my mind, you will find my mind land. Everything I know is in my mind land. It's very busy. Everyone in my mind talks to me like I'm their God. Sometimes I just have to talk out loud to make everyone in my mind land shut up."

How does he do with music/headphones?

Maybe work on some kid yoga or relaxation/deep breathing exercises?

Could some adjustments in sensory diet help?

OMG.... my mind is like that... I've never heard anyone put it to words like that. I thought everyone was like that...... Does he have problems making his mind shut up so he can go to sleep?

I read. That's how I shut my thoughts up. I let myself get sucked into a book until I swear the house could burn down around me and I wouldn't know it. At night, I guess you could say that I've scripted thoughts that I repeat every night.. It blocks out other random thoughts and I get bored with the repetition and am able to fall asleep.

Wow.

I don't think everyone is like that. My mind is like that too. He has problems sleeping, so do I. We both use Melatonin and I still have to read myself to sleep to get my mind to shut up.

We have tried meditation, etc., the iPod does seem to help him some. I need to download some more things he can do. Earphones are problematic which causes some issues!

This might seem silly. But at night I visualize my dream house. Room by room and everything in it, down to paint color. I do it the same way every night. I have gotten to the point where I often fall asleep by the second room.

My mom does the same type of thing, but she visualizes the neighborhood she grew up in and names the people who lived in each house. She's been doing this pretty much every night for at least 20 years.

I imagine scenarios with my imaginary friends.

I can't deviate from the 'script' as it will introduce "what if" scenarios, which just propels my thoughts... If I keep it identical each time, all the what ifs are covered.

Hmmmm music too, I think, stops the extra thought processes. When I was a kid, my mom gave me an old turn table and all her old records when she was a kid. I'd sit in my room for HOURS and play DJ... it was great fun and inspired a very eclectic taste in music.. Perhaps your son would enjoy something like that... Though these days garage sales are going to be your best bet to supply that hobby.

I think all of those are great ideas. I may have to invest in some earphones he can wear comfortably. It's tough when they don't allow people to 'try on' earphones. We have a little iPod Nano and he enjoys listening to/watching things there.

Has your son tried model building, hobby projects or basically just fine motor skill work.

In some ways it is a cruel thing to suggest, since I would almost guarantee that the first couple projects will end in a meltdown. The combination of liking things to be just so and not having the greatest muscle coordination, can be very frustrating.

However it was the first thing i thought of when you posted the quoted description. This type of work requires a calm steady hand and intense concentration. It forces you to sort of slow yourself down to match what you are working on. Every time you cheat and try to speed things up, there is a immediate punishment, something gets placed incorrectly or is broken etc.

I still have some problems with a racing mind that won't keep quiet, but I think going through this type of work helped me learn a degree of control when i really need it.

other advantages:
in between meltdowns and destroyed models, this eats up allot of time when he will likely be quiet and concentrating
Fine motor skill is a tough thing to learn, starting early really helps
It's an very ordered, sequential process that might help with executive dysfunction

PS i liked hearing that i was not the only 8 yo working toward a tesla coil, I still have the one I built when I was couple years older in storage

He hasn't. I bought some Meccano for him for Christmas and it's the larger size and yes, meltdowns. What kinds of things would you suggest? This is totally out of my field of expertise! He does play with Lego, but will generally smack things together quickly rather than calming down and paying attention. He plays a lot of computer games, but he chats or verbalises his whole way through these. He has a fabulous imaginary world and spends the majority of his time "in" that world with his friends, on his paper mobile phone he's created to speak with them all (they each have speed dial buttons as well). The ringtone on that thing is going to do my head in one of these days.

I think he'd be right into engineering robots, hence the Meccano. Mum sucks at following instructions and staying calm as well so we are a pair to be reckoned with. My idea of hell is bringing home a flat pack item from Ikea and watching the little smiling man mock me from the "easy to follow, international" instructions. You don't want to see my $14.95 wine rack with the rock under one dowel that keeps the sixth bottle from sliding out.

Hahahaha That doesn't sound so unfamiliar. . Mine LOVES Lego, but will only do them if he has the directions and hasn't lost a single piece. Missing instructions or pieces means he "CAN'T BUILD ANYTHING" and THE REMAINING are "STUPID AND USELESS!"

Not fun. Especially considering he never puts them away and they cost so freaking much...

My son is really into Warhammer. You have to glue it and paint it. It's from England I think so it's pricey. But, it keeps him engaged. You may also want to look into buckyballs. If you watch a youtube clip on it, you can see how someone may become addicted to them! LOL!

Ohhhh Ohhh.. I have a fun idea... Do you have a webcam? With blogspot you can create your kid a blog page and set the parental controls so you have to approve people to view his page...

Perhaps he could start a vblog? That would mean that he has to sit down and figure out what he's going to discuss, and then he gets in some of his verbal needs by sitting in front of the camera and taping his segment. Sure it would work best for you if the computer isn't in a common area, but this could double as an outlet for whatever his special interest is. I've considered this for my son, but his ADHD keeps him from really focusing on the project, perhaps the situation might be similar with yours, but I thought I'd mention it.