Son talks NONSTOP, even when in his room/Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD)?

[BusynMember]

Ok, I'm not really concerned, but curious. My son with Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD)-not otherwise specified, who used to be so quiet at school, has become a nonstop talker. He blabs constantly and usually it's about his videogame obsessions or when he's getting his Wii (Ninetendo Wii, which he's getting for his birthday in August), but at least he has conversations with other kids. The summer school teacher (who has been his Special Education teacher for three years) says he's very social at school, engages kids in board games, etc. He is never inappropriate in public.

Then there's at home...lol. Daughter and I laugh affectionately because he talks nonstop even while alone. He talks back to his games "Oh, good. Mario, stop it. Don't die!" and talks back to the shows he's watching on televison. He also talks to himself this way: He found my daughter's Heelies outside and I heard him saying, "I can't believe she left her Heelies out here. I think I'll take them in." Nobody is there to hear him...lol. I'm 100% positive he's not psychotic, but I do understand how this behavior got him a bipolar diagnosis once, however he has no moodswings and seems to be a very content kid. Is this nonstop talking, even while alone, part of the spectrum? Son is very articulate and tends to use big words. The funny thing is, he had a speech delay and barely spoke at all before age four and a half. Until then, he'd just echo. In a way, he still does. Sometimes I hear him reciting, verbatim, the shows on television that he watches. Obviously they are reruns that he has memorized.

Lucas is very careful not to talk to himself when anyone is around. He seems aware that it's not appropriate behavior, but he does it at home in his room. Any comments? Any other Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) kids do this? Lucas is such a neat kid, very compassionate and sweet, but he's QUIRKY up the ole wazoo!

 

[DDD]

My difficult child is also "quirky". He does not interact well with peers
because he just can't read social signals on a 16 year old level.
Sometimes he talks in his room or to the television when others
aren't around. The psychiatrist (whom me respect and trust) said to me
last month after his time with difficult child. "difficult child is an interesting kid.
You know the expression 'think outside the box'? Well your difficult child
LIVES outside the box!" LOL!

I am taking him for an updated neuropsychologist this month and I am
eager what they will say this time. Last time I am convinced they were wrong. on the other hand, my focus is on helping him live the best
life possible no matter what "alphabet" he is labeled with! DDD

 

[OpenWindow]

My difficult child talks to the TV, his toys, video games, and to himself. He also repeats verbatim lines from TV shows he's seen only a couple of times. All my kids did when they were younger, but the other two grew out of it. difficult child was speech-delayed when he was a toddler, but is now in the normal range. Unlike your difficult child, mine is inappropriate in public. He tries to be very social but his oddities keep kids away or open him up to teasing.

husband talks to himself when no one's around or when he's cleaning or cooking or doing some other task. He will also talk to the objects he is working with - food, dishes, vacuum cleaner. When he talks to himself, he will have entire conversations. He asks himself questions and then answers them. He says it helps him think more clearly, because if he doesn't say it out loud he can't think through it as easily. He spends a lot of time out in the garage and most of the time if he's not watching TV he's talking to himself. He was diagnosed with ADHD when he was a kid, but I'm pretty sure it's undiagnosed bipolar now.

 

[nvts]

Oh man, sounds so much like my nephew and difficult child 1! They're both full blown Asbergers.

Linda Ellerbee did a "Nick News" special on Nichelodeon about 2-3 months ago that discussed autism with a variety of people on the autistic spectrum and Asbergers was covered. The kid that they interviewed did a lot of the things that you're describing. You should take a look at it if you can track it down. It truly was amazing how this boy seemed so comfortable with his diagnosis and how open he was to share information.

Good luck!

Beth

 

[AllStressedOut]

My oldest difficult child talks constantly. He can't keep any thought to himself so its very random. He also talks to the TV and to his games. I think he may be like Lindas husband because I think it helps him process his thoughts.

We can be at the movies and he'll start going on and on and people are glaring. As he gets older he is slowly realizing that this isn't appropriate at all times, but he's still working on that. For now, we took the advice of someone who posted about a similar topic previously. She said she has a saying that is random that she says when her child speaks randomly. Ours is "The sky is blue" and he looks at us for a second, nods his head and says "oh" and realizes hes blurting out random stuff. If you don't know my son, following him in a conversation is very difficult.

He doesn't relate well to kids his age, so he doesn't socialize easily at school. I think talking to himself helps ease how uncomfortable school sitatuions can be for him. I also think it makes it more difficult for him to make friends, but as much as we try to explain how things work, he just can't seem to follow along. Hes slowly getting better as he gets older though.

 

[Mrs Smith]

Same here. Helps organize thoughts. Also only does it at home.

 

[Fran]

I don't think it is unusual and not evidence of psychosis for sure.
The repeating of movie dialogue is called movie speak.
My difficult child and easy child did it all the time when younger. difficult child still does it.
Sometimes when difficult child is answering a question it will have a tone that sounds as if he is repeating word for word what he has read. Very odd to NT's but seems common in our kids.

 

[BusynMember]

THANK YOU ALL! It didn't occur to me that maybe he organizes his thoughts better if he speaks out loud. I'll bet that's it! LOL, psychiatrist thought he was talking to "voices in his head." He's not--his grip of reality is quite firm.

I really appreciate the input from those with Spectrum kids. It's so hard to explain these kids to anyone who doesn't know what they're like. Movie-speak! I didn't know they had a word for it.

My son also repeats books and movies verbatim in regular conversation. And he has a freaky scary memory. He can memorize a TV show after seeing it once or twice!

 

[KarenB]

My son stopped one day in the driveway on his way to the bus stop. I was watching him out the window. He was looking at his reflection in my car window and having a very long conversation. I'll be honest, it freaked me out!

I feel lost on here quite a bit because I'm new here, but I read alot to try and understand my son. I'm at my wits end with him today though. I'm pregnant and at my limit for the day. Now I count the minutes until husband comes home.

 

[amy4129]

Corey has also done this for years. He also likes to watch himself talk, mirrors, car windows..ect. Ask him why and He says" because Mommy I get me better than anyone else"...No agument there kiddo.
Same thing very reality based and strangly appropriate conversations. " Should I wear this top? No it itchs when I get hot and it is going to be hot so I'll wear the blue one instead. Sorry green shirt, you lose back in the drawer you go."

It is strange but all a part of Corey.

 

[Janna]

Well, MWM, you know already about my son LOL! He does do alot of talking during homework and such, reading as well. He says it helps him think better. in my humble opinion, I think that's the Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD) stuff.

But then he has the babbling, mumbo jumbo that means nothing, which is called, our friend, mania LOL! I get blessed with both.

But his mouth, nope, never stops. Ever.

Miss you ~ xoxoxoxox

Janna

 

[BusynMember]

LOL Janna. I hear ya, girl :smile:
I am starting to think it's a very autistic trait. Lucas doesn't babble or make no sense. He doesn't say inappropriate things, although one may say it's inappropriate to talk to yourself. And he's fourteen years old and still doing it...lol. Having said that, he is very aware that you don't do it in public and only me, hub and daughter are graced with his LOUD monologues in his room...lol. When he starts reciting a television show verbatim, my daughter says, "There he goes again. I wish I had the kind of memory he has." She is aware, and very sensitive, to the fact that he is different. The older he gets, the more 'normal' he gets, as he learns what is acceptable in public, however the older he gets, we can also see how different he is from "neuro-typical" kids. He's such a good kid, but such an "odd duck"...lol. I can see why they initially thought he had a psychiatric problem, but he's probably my best behaved, most well-adjusted kid. And most content! But he's different, verrrrrrrrrrry different...lol!

 

[TexasTornado]

My son does this as well..sometimes i go to his door just to hear what all the loud conversations are abt-and teh laughing-he cracks himself up all the time-LOLOL
Its funny though-listening to how much fun he is having in that room of his-the therapist says he does this as its his safe place-which is why our kids only show this behavior at home-Know what I mean??
Luvs,
Kathy

 

[Marguerite]

Oh boy, does this sound familiar!

difficult child 1 used to do this a lot, including various 'battle noises' as we called it, as if he were replaying the Battle of Britain in his head, all day every day. I remember him doing this when we were in Greece at the time. I was trying to videotape the trip and all I could hear was difficult child 1, 'fighting'. Now when we play the tape, all we can hear is me telling difficult child 1 to shut up. At the time, of course, we'd been assured that he only had ADHD, nothing like autism at all. oh no.

Then difficult child 3. First no speech, then 'jargon' (which his sister called "talking in scribble"). The jargon speech was just jumbled, often-repeated syllables but usually just junk sounds. Then we got the echolalia, especially movie speak or repeating words (and accompanying sounds) from songs on the radio. We got the other echolalia, where instead of answering a question he would repeat it. This actually seemed to be a trend towards constant improvement in communication, because from that point we could direct his echolalia to add on the answer, as well as his repeat of the question.

The movie speak - because he was obsessive about educational or English teaching TV shows, he began to repeat rote phrases. Then he began to repeat text from the social stories I'd written, which directed me to write more stories which directed HIM towards more appropriate dialogue. He didn't always understand, but we managed to program him with the right responses to "What is your name?" What is your phone number?" "Where do you live?"

Then he would watch TV shows, especially those we had on DVD, with subtitles on. he would watch them over and over, we're fairly certain he was studying the combination of sound; social context; the look of the written text; the meaning of the words. Then he would quote huge slabs of text. He would read aloud - absolutely anything. Constantly. Even 'silent reading' at school, he couldn't stay silent.

Now, in his room, he 'talks' to his games. he even talks to a movie character sometimes. And yes, sometimes it's constant. If interrupted, he MUST finish his sentence. he can't simply stop, even if the rest of the sentence has now become irrelevant. husband does this too. So does easy child 2/difficult child 2. I think I'm beginning to do it in self defence - either that, or they infected me.

I do believe it's a facet of the autism. It also has seemed to evolve as his skills develop. It increases in sophistication. And it does also give unexpected skills, when they use a movie quote as an answer in a social situation, increasingly appropriately.

Marg

 

[tiredmommy]

MWM,
Duckie does this too. It used to be more of a vocal stimulant, kind of rhythmic grunts, squeals or tongue clicking. But now she'll string words together instead. Sometimes they make sense, sometimes they don't. She only does this when she's alone. I usually figure she needs some down time when this starts up because it seems to comfort her.