does your AS child ever seek attention in the wrong way?

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My son did the weirdest thing yesterday.

He had to display a board that showed information about his ancestors from England. Lots of photos of relatives, a map, a coat of arms, a pedigree chart, and pictures of three famous people from England.

He is good at presentations, and comfortable in front of an audience. A little TOO comfortable in front of an audience. He is currently in an acting program after school, something we enrolled him in to help with social skills and confidence.

Like any kid in middle school, my son really wants to make kids laugh. Trouble is, while he was pointing out that the cross in the England flag represents St. Patrick, he decided to do a little "jig" thinking that the kids would think it was funny. Can't you just picture this -- a boy starting to dance, for no reason, and in his attempts to do a "jig" it looks nothing like Irish dancing? He said that when the kids looked confused, he explained he was Irish Dancing. Now, apparently he made a joke later in the presentation, and everybody DID actually laugh at that (it was an appropriately executed joke, I think).

Now, I wasn't there, so I don't know if maybe the kids actually did see this as funny. But my guess is they were wondering what the heck he was doing. I tried to explain to him that maybe dancing a jig wasn't the best thing to do during a presentation, and that he could tell by the lack of response that it wasn't the best way to make a joke either. I want to turn this into a learning experience for him, and I don't want him to feel bad about this either, but man, it sure doesn't help him with friendships in middle school when he does unusual stuff like dancing a jig during a presentation.

Anyone else do this sort of thing? Or have a child who did this?

Kris

it's a hard one.....i've had presentations that have bombed because i thought something was funny & no one else did....i've also been to presentations where i've been the only to get the joke. i'm laughing along with the presenter, but no one else is......

i say let it go. he doesn't seem terribly upset by the whole thing, does he ?

No, he is definitely not upset by it, and I didn't make it into too big a deal, because it's not. The thing is, you don't want him consistently doing stuff like this to get attention, and what's really happening is he's embarrassing himself without knowing it.

I think he could have a really good sense of humor -- eventually. Right now, he doesn't have the jist of what's truly funny and what is not. He needs to observe more, and think less internally about what he mistakenly THINKS is funny.

Thanks for writing, by the way. Good to hear another perspective.

Kris

glad to hear he's not upset by this......i'd try to focus less on his inappropriate behavior, and perhaps more on what he was supposed to be doing for the presentation. in other words, was this approved by the teacher? and will his impromptu act effect his grade ?.....you could always suggest that he check his ideas with his teahcer before presenting them in front of a crowd~that's what business people have to do before making a presentation to coworkers....

Good idea.