Verbal Stimming? How to maintain self-control during class?

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kdeering75
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24 Feb 2011, 4:18 pm

My son is in late immersion and he is doing really well but he goes through periods of alot of french where the rule is only French speaking, little English. Once it has English class, it's like all self control goes out the window.

He talks to hear himself when he's working (always been very verbal but now MORE than ever). He becomes so relaxed in his English class and comfortable that he has no self control.

He'll do it at home when he starts singing or humming especially in the car. No matter how many times you ask, he doesn't know how or when to stop.

Does anyone have any suggestions? There's no off button, so at this point we are willing to try anything.



DW_a_mom
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24 Feb 2011, 5:42 pm

My son doesn't talk to himself much, but he has taken to various class-disturbing stims over the years. What we found to be very effective was for the teacher to quitely walk over and touch him or his desk when he would do that. He knew that a specific tap on the desk or touch meant he was making that noise or action again, and it served as his reminder to focus on stopping it.

You have to remember a few things: your child does not want to disturb the class, he does much of this without realizing he is disturbing the class, and having to focus on stopping the behavior will actually detract from his ability to focus on learning. Having a talk with him and his teacher, having everyone agree to the same goal and the same signal, and having it done subtly so that there is no shame or punishment in it, will go a long way towards resolving the problems. Just make sure the teacher picks a signal your child believes will work for him and that he won't find disturbing.


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momsparky
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24 Feb 2011, 6:51 pm

On a secondary note: my son is also in an immersion class (Spanish) and, looking back, it was one of the best decisions we ever made. Since the teachers were speaking a foreign language that many of the kids didn't understand, my son didn't stick out so much. Since the teachers, knowing the kids didn't understand, exaggerated their gestures and facial expressions, he learned an awful lot of nonverbal cues he wouldn't have learned otherwise.

The negative of this was that we didn't catch the Aspergers until quite late. However, this year the curriculum changes to more English, and DS is experiencing a lot more difficulty than he had in the past.

Is it possible for your son to chew gum in class? That may help channel the stimming.