avoidant behavior???

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OK, I posted this under a different topic, and got no responses, so I am wondering if this could be some type of avoidant behavior. My son who is 4 yrs old (PDD/possible Asperger's) has started singing and clapping loudly during class when the teachers are trying to teach the class something new. It is becoming disruptive to the class. He has always done a lot of what the speech therapist called "vocal stimming", so I am wondering if that could have something to do with it.

He also does this at home, and I guess we have let him do it, because it seems to be something he really enjoys. He has a great voice, and loves music.

Anyway, I was hoping that some of you might have some suggestions on how to minimize this behavior at school.

Another thought that entered my mind is that he may just be bored, since he has known his letters, numbers, colors, shapes since before he was 2 years old!! !

Thanks for your thoughts!

Well maybe "testing" behavior or maybe that is his way of expressing happiness. My guesses are based on my son's behavior because he sometimes test us at home by disobeying and doing the exact opposite of what he is suppose to do. He doesn't do that in his day care so he is probing our reaction on purpose.

The other possiblility is that he is so happy and involved when he sings that it is difficult for him to notice other peoples needs or signs at that time.

If this is a common stim for him, also used in other situations, I would not consider it avoidance but natural. Holding it in is probably difficult for him. I am curious if he feels he can listen and sing at the same time? If this was a movement stim I would have said that it is needed to help the child concentrate; I know that is the case with my son. So why would a vocal stim be different, from the child's perspective? Obviously, we can see how it doesn't work, but does he?

I would suggest working with him on redirection - finding a different stim that he finds helpful but that is more appropriate for the classroom. He has to understand that a vocal stim simply isn't going to work in that environment, and a noisy physical one like clapping won't either. Ask him questions and use his responses to guide the conversation and find solutions he is agreeable to trying.

You will also need to work with the teacher on a subtle way of reminding him to redirect. One of my son's teachers used to walk over to his desk and gently tap him. She'd keep talking and giving the lesson while doing so. With the tap he knew he was doing something she found inappropriate or disruptive, and could work to redirect it. Non-confrontational, not embarassing, just an agreed upon signal. He responded well to that, and appreciated the chance to fix the issue his own way, his own time.