Does your difficult child just blurt out extremely loud sounds

[OpenWindow]

My difficult child is driving me crazy. We'll just be sitting watching TV or playing on the computer and he'll just yell at the top of his lungs. I try to wait until he stops so I can tell him not to do that anymore, but he will just keep yelling. He's not saying anything important, maybe just singing a sound VERY LOUDLY or just repeating a word over and over again as fast and LOUD as he can.

Did I mention that it's VERY LOUD????

Did I mention that it's driving me crazy????


Linda

 

[nvts]

Whoa Linda - two of mine do it! It is very loud and it does drive you CRAZY!!!!

:crazy:

difficult child 1 does is with words and difficult child 2 used to do this sound that sort of sounded like when you "chirp" your sneakers on a tile floor.

Drove me BATTY!

difficult child 2 hardly ever does it any more. I noticed it happens a lot with him when he's overstimulated (too much noise with the other kids, playing and watching tv all at once). Usually turning something off (pick what you want to do and we'll turn off the other stuff) toned down the outburst.

I still can't figure it out with difficult child 1.

Get his attention and tell him to "find my eyes". THEN let him know that he's doing it. It probably has something to do with the Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD). Did they test for tourettes?

At least now you know that you're not the only one out there that makes it feel like nails on a chalkboard in your living room. It drives me bonkers!

Beth

 

[jannie]

I discussed this same topic with difficult child 2 therapist. He suggested making a scale of 1 to 5 and label the parts. 1 would be a whisper, 2 would be a quiet inside voice etc, 5 yelling loudly as though someone is hurt. We had a conversation and now he is more aware of his volume and noises. I just say "I think I'm hearing a 4 or 4 plus and we're inside...it has helped.

 

[saman]

I can't tell you how many times today I said "Where is your inside voice?" And seriously, mine does it so much more when others are around, just to get attention.

And it drives me BATTY!

 

[Hound dog]

If difficult child is repeating the same words over and over he may be having vocal tics.

Travis has ticced his whole life. The non verbal tics rarely bother me. But the vocal tics drive me over the edge in record time.

I call his attention to what he is doing. If he can't stop, and often he can't even if he wants to, I send him to his room til the ticcing is over.

I just read that, and gee it sounds mean. lol But he understands it isn't for punishment. It's just the vocal ones he has are extremely irritating on everyone else. And I've noticed that sending him out of the room seems to help the ticcing stop more quickly than it would otherwise.

Fortunately here recently his vocal tics have been less than the non vocal ones.

Hugs

 

[Marguerite]

Yep. We've had it in stereo at times.

It's part of the autism component. You can't discipline it out, all you can do is try to find a way to handle it without stressing the child too much (which only makes it worse). We've finally got a signal set up with difficult child 3 where we mime turning a knob, which he knows means "Turn the volume down!"

Marg

 

[Alisonlg]

Oh my goodness, my 3 (almost 4) yr old just recently started doing this all-the-time! It's making me crazy and I would swear it's affecting my hearing! LOL He'll be calmly watching tv and all of a sudden he'll blurt out some nonsense sound/word/screetch that will go on for about 30 seconds straight.

In the meantime, his other behaviors have seemed to increase as well, so I'll be mentioning to his therapist today, though I don't think we'll really get any feedback- therapist is mostly into behavior charts and such, not diagnosis'ing or anything.

 

[BusynMember]

My Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD)-not otherwise specified son DOES!!!! However, at his older age, he only does it in his room. We can hear him and we kind of laugh affectionately because that's a part of him. It can be part of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) or it can be vocal tics, which would point to a tic disorder.
My son also talks back to the television and talks to himself a lot. When asked why, he said it's "easier" to talk out loud. I think his comprehension is better when he speaks out loud, however he knows that other people think it's weird so he only does it when he's by himself.
I'd look into tic disorders and Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD)-not otherwise specified. I have a site if you're interested.
http://www.childbrain.com

 

['Chelle]

Yep, definitely. He'll still all of a sudden let out this whooping sound, for no apparent reason. Though it has toned down the last couple years, and he doesn't do it as often. I think he's replaced it with this other thing he does, cupping his hands together and squeezing the air out between them to make a sqeaky, farty noise. :crazy: It's part of the Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD) thing.

 

[OpenWindow]

Thanks, guys.

He is in the middle of a medication switch right now, so that may be the cause. He started Lamictal about a month ago and now we're lowering his Lexapro.

His new psychiatrist and the psychologist who recently re-evaluated him don't seem to think he has Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD), but I've kept it on the list in my profile because I'm not convinced. The psychologist says she doesn't see it, but she wouldn't rule it out either. We're trying to get him in to the neuropsychologist department at the children's hospital, it's just taking some time.

I didn't even think about this being a tic, but now that you've said it, it makes sense. But, he's been doing it his whole life to some degree, it's just really escalated in the last couple of months, especially the last few weeks. So I can't even say for sure that it coincides with the start of Lamictal. He hasn't been doing it at school, just at home.

It's impossible to signal difficult child when he's doing it because he's in his own little zone. He just looks at me, looks away, and keeps going. If I yell at the top of my lungs, he stops immediately. We have had the problem his whole life of him talking too loudly, especially in restaurants or in the car. We have library voice, inside voice, and outside voice as our cues, which seem to work in those cases, although we have to keep reminding him.

Thankfully, difficult child fell asleep early tonight so there will be no loud outbursts. It's so peaceful here right now I think I'm almost bored!

Linda

 

[BusynMember]

I'd definitely (and, yeah, it takes forever)keep that neuropsychologist appointment. They do a lot more testing than any other professionals and tend to get good handles on what is going on. Until then, don't waste time worrying about it. If he's done it all his life, he hasn't changed. Maybe the medications are making it worse, but the neuropsychologist report should tell you tons and tons. Good luck!

 

[Jere]

lol Sorry I totally know it is not funny but my son has two levels. Loud and LOUDER...He doesn't know the meaning of indoor voice I swear. I think it just happens natually for him, I think. He doesn't even think he is loud. This kid is on the go from the sec his eyes open in the morning to they close at night. I don't have any suggestions but maybe ask him to do that into a pillow because it hurts your ears? I feel for you, your not the only one as you can see :smile:

 

[see30]

i'm not a parent- i joined this website because i began a new job as an intensive case manager in philadelphia and most of the children on my caseload have O.D.D. and i wanted the parents' perspective as i'll be working with the whole family. i stumbled upon this website after 2 frustrating hours of trying to find concrete information about effective treatment for O.D.D. I figured that the best and most concrete information would likely be from the parents themselves, rather than the medical websites listing the diagnosis and definition of the disorder.
I have four years of experience working with children with autism spectrum disorders and my only experience with O.D.D. has been with children who have been mis-diagnosed as having an A.S.D. ( i've worked primarily with pre-schoolers and mis-diagnosis is somewhat common among children that display language delays and behavioral issues) after reading your description of your son's behavior i just wanted to say that it does sound to me like he is on the spectrum and that these verbalizations may be caused by echolalia or that they may be verbal "stims". this assessment is purely anecdotal, i'm not a psychologist, psychiatrist or doctor but having worked with many children on the spectrum, i generally know one when i see them... or hear them for that matter. i'd suggest looking up echolalia or verbal stims online, see if the description fits and show it to the doctors who are doubting you