Do you think I can ever hope that...

[LIZARD]

...Drew can amuse himself when he wakes up without waking the neighborhood?? The kids are home today, due to Election Day and the schools being used as polling locations, so I looked forward to delicious sleeping in (especially after watching the CMAs). Well, I got a couple extra hours (which is really all I needed), but I woke up to hear Drew screeching and squealing. It drives me insane, and although we can usually keep it under control during the day, this "Drewster wake up call" is getting really old.

Have any of you succeeded in getting your kids to amuse themselves in a quiet manner without waking everyone up with obnoxious vocal stims? How did you do it? I know I should thank God (and I do! ) that this is perhaps his single most annoying behavior, but since he's getting older (he's 12 now), I think he needs better self-control.

Thanks for any thoughts!

LIZARD

[Pamster]

Hi LIZARD,

I definitely feel for you, I know my son Jackie screams and yells a lot, but thankfully he is too tired in the morning to do it then. Our time of screaming is in the afternoon when he comes home and in the evening after dinner when he seems to get very hyper for some reason.

I wish I had an answer for you, but we just keep telling him "no yelling" to no avail. Maybe someone else might have something useful to offer, I just wanted you to know that you're not alone in being worn out from annoying vocal stimming.

[DoIhaveto?]

Mine yells randomly, but nothing so drastic that it's something we focus on much yet.
I was just wondering if you could at least train him to do it in a specific place in the house, or outside the house? Maybe set up a taperecorder/karaoke machine (something with a microphone) in one specific room and make rules about it? Everyone must be awake to use it, or the door must be shut? Or put a time in the schedule to go outside and just scream? Then they can wail to their hearts content and not bother everyone else, at least not at inconvenient times. It will probably take some training time, but I can understand that anything would help at this point.

[peglem]

Does he do it for the purpose of waking you, or is that just a side affect? If that is his purpose, I wonder if you could teach him a kinder, gentler approach? Allie used to manhandle me to get me to wake up. I refused to get up until she hugged me- then I'd get up very quickly. Now she only gets ruff if the subtle approach doesn't work.

[LIZARD]

Thanks, everybody!

It seems to be one of those transition things, much like the exictement he expresses when he gets home and gets off the bus. I'm actually very fortunate, I know. He doesn't have serious tantrums (mostly just fusses), and he's quite easygoing. His therapist said to me that she was amazed at how he's able to deal with so many things that many autistic kids could never learn to cope with. It just makes me nuts to awake to that. Most school days, I get up before he does (and get him up), but on weekends and days off, this is occasionally an issue, and I think he needs a better way to deal.

Is he actually doing it to wake me up? I don't think so. He has come into my room and said, "Wake up, Mommy!" so he's certainly capable of more appropriate ways of communicating such things. I think it's strictly a sensory thing, and it's one of the very few we still have that's an actual problem.

As for designating a certain part of the house for him to do this, especially that early in the morning, we can't. The house is *tiny*--a ranch of maybe 1100 square feet--and none of the rooms except the bedrooms have doors, so he's wake everyone no matter what. I'd love to add some (we do own it), but after 4 years, we haven't been able to.


LIZARD, who'll just keep trying...

[Lara]

He's awake first, and it's very, very quiet and he's bored, as in needing something to do, so finds the noises he's making comforting? Maybe give him something that he can listen to that he likes with headphones where there is other noise going on?. Gosh, I don't really know I'm sorry Lizard.

... if he _is_ busy, does he seem to make those vocal sounds less? Maybe use something like a jigsaw puzzle or something if the sounds are less when he's concentrating. I'm not really sure of his situation, so not sure what type of activity to suggest.

I take it they're not vocal tics, but that it's actually vocal stims? (just asking cause some of our kids have tics as well, and if they were loud vocal tics then I'd use some headphones myself or earplugs and just let him be.

[LIZARD]

Originally Posted by Lara

I take it they're not vocal tics, but that it's actually vocal stims? (just asking cause some of our kids have tics as well, and if they were loud vocal tics then I'd use some headphones myself or earplugs and just let him be.

Thanks, Lara.

No, they aren't tics. He doesn't do this unless he's transitioning, say, from waking up or getting off his school bus (I don't hear him do it getting onto the bus), or in the shower (because of the echoing, I think). It might just be one of those "HEY! It's another day! Cool! More to do, more trouble to find!"

LIZARD

[Lara]

It might just be one of those "HEY! It's another day! Cool! More to do, more trouble to find!"

LOL. I understand!

[milivica]

I can only wish you luck...I gleefully am awoken to the sounds of him doing a full on top of his lungs running commentary, headsets on full blast ( ) on his ears, while watching what ever weather disaster video online or on tv. I hear "Ohhhhhh, Owwwwww, wook at dat, WHAM!, Ohhhhhh, dat guy said *** - haaa haaa haaaaaaaaa he's a gwone up and his mommy can't tell him no, haaa haaa haaaaaaa!!!!"

Why would that bring me glee? Cause when I wake up to 'quiet' my adrenalyn shoots my heart to racing, I know something horrible is happening or has happened to my house and/or to something in my house, or to something I cherished...and the horrible act will require hours/days of repair and/or cleaning and/or an outside professional to repair/fix/unclog/replace entirely.

Fun TiiiiIIIIiiimes!

[Braindrain]

He doesn't give you the "wake up call" at 5:00AM, like Raven does with
me, does he?