[quote]Or the real issue may be sensory, that he needs his scripting to block
out an overwhelming level of sensory input. If you're not sure what
sensory issues he might have (I didn't think my son had ANY until
I found out what to look for), here's a checklist that should help[/quote]
I believe that might actually be what is also causing the "non-compliant" behavior Susan, I, myself, verbally stim and recite (Script?) when nervous or frantic and these lunatic brain conditioning asshats just recently stopped treating it like some form of demonic possession (at the group home) but it took myself and my parents years to talk them into getting it through their heads that they were NOT there to condition me. but anyway, back to the point at hand -- Check his environment to see what may be inbalancing him. You did mention that One-on-one he doese pretty good which may be an indicator for something that needs to be fixed up at the school. For an anecdote, my parents always talk about how I could and can memorize entire movies, it's pretty freaky, but interesting at the same time, to hear those same parents claim that I am "High Functioning" (I just hate it when they say that)
Peace and blessings, Susan
~Sergekitty
Thanks, NorwayMom. You gave me some good points to consider and I will definitely read the articles. One possibility that you mentioned--that my son's issue might be noncompliance--is the only one I've dismissed out of hand. This boy loves to complete work; it's almost strange! One-on-one he's a demon for worksheets, reading, phonics, simple math; we're very lucky that way. The problem at school seems to be keeping him focused--rather than scripting--when he has even a few moments of downtime. Thanks so much for your help!
Susan
Here's an article/chart about how to translate scripting/delayed echolalia. It can have both a communicative and a self-stimulatory function.
http://www.iidc.indiana.edu/irca/communication/echolalidelay .html
I myself think that tv talk getting in the way of testing is a pretty minor concern. My son was pretty much impossible to test at age 6, even without verbal stims. The teacher should be flexible enough to come up with another solution about which group to place him in, and how to proceed.
The real issue may be noncompliance, so even if you take away the tv talk, he may not be willing to do the assigned task (whether that's testing, completing assignments or doing homework).
Or the real issue may be sensory, that he needs his scripting to block out an overwhelming level of sensory input. If you're not sure what sensory issues he might have (I didn't think my son had ANY until I found out what to look for), here's a checklist that should help:
http://www.sensory-processing-disorder.com/sensory-processin g-disorder-checklist.html
Good luck with everything!
That's excellent that noncompliance isn't the issue. We dealt with that for a long time, but now it's pretty much limited to homework and art projects.
Do you think he gets bored during the pauses? Or does he get anxious because he doesn't know what's expected of him at the moment?
[quote=NorwayMom]Do you think he gets bored during the pauses? Or does he get anxious because he doesn't know what's expected of him at the moment? [/quote]
My son is 6 and has been diagnosed variously as ASD, autistic, and PDD-NOS. His passion in life is TV talk, or scripting. Mostly it's dialogue from children's videos, with bits here and there from books, songs, and computer games. Since he didn't speak until age 3, we spent 3 years being utterly delighted with the non-stop dialogue recitation, because he was talking. Now the bloom is off the rose! From the moment he opens his eyes in the morning until he closes them at night, he's scripting. He still answers most questions with one word, and requests are memorized (e.g., "May-I-have-some-milk-PLEASE-mommy" always said exactly the same way with the same intonation). Today his teacher (special needs school for children with "severe disabilities") wrote home that the TV talk is hindering them in even testing him for reading and math groups. Math is not his favorite but he LOVES to read and write. He also has a full-time TSS at school. Has anyone had this problem with their child and do you have any advice to offer? I'm pretty sure that this is part of his language acquisition, but to the extent that he uses TV talk to stim, it's really holding him back. Thanks!
Susan
Reader Rabbit is a character on a popular series of educational CD ROMS for preschoolers and elementary kids. If you don't have little kids around, chances are this name won't ring a bell.
Cole will still sometimes use scripts to convey his feelings, however, they are not always appropriate in that setting. There's a movie where a talking dog, in some pain at the vet's office, yells "PUHLEASE!!! Just let me DIE!!!" This is done in a comedic way.
When Cole was being repeatedly asked to do his work at school last week, he was saying various things like "all done now, school's over - its time to go home. Bye!" but of course, they were still trying to get him to work. And then he used the script (he's done it before) and said loudly "PUHLEASE! Just let me DIE!"
One one hand, I'm glad he is using the script in contest, but it would be a positive experience for him to use his own thoughts spoken aloud. Also, someone could misconstrue this and think he is having self-harmful feelings.
Oh, and I forgot to say THANK YOU for those wonderful links above. Ya'll rock.
Today I ran across an info sheet called "Interrupting, repetitive questions, and talking too much" and another called "Obsessive topics". Here's the link:
http://www.autismhelp.info/htm/printfiles_index.htm
[Quote]I still sing these songs, at work even, I bang on my tin-can, I sing songs against Education, and against Group homes and "reality" I haven't really grown out of any of that "behavior myself. I don't believe that i have advanced as much as my own parents would have wanted. I do know that must be heart-breaking. I think that the scripting thing is a phase that will lead to talking -- I may not agree with the Invasive ways of "dealing" with it, but I believe it is merely a phase.[/QUOTE]
Serge, I seem to have annoyed you when all I meant to do was thank you. I'm the last person who wants to take my son's enjoyment in scripting away from him. I've been known to script sometimes, myself. He and I even have a few scripting "routines" which we love. I just hope that one day, in addition to the scripting and singing and recitation that he loves, he'll also speak his own thoughts in his own words, so I'll get a better idea of his thoughts and ideas, his likes and dislikes, his hopes and dreams. I try to find ways to communicate to him that he understands. I know he's trying to find ways to communicate to me that I understand. Like you said in one of your posts, we're all trying to find a way across the bridge to each other. I don't want to change my son, and I don't want to "deal" with my son. I just really, really want to know him as well as I can. And to the extent that the scripting he does at school prevents him from doing the work he's at school to do, I want to help him find ways to put the scripting aside until he's got some downtime. That's all.
Susan
[quote=Susan]
Serge, I seem to have annoyed you when all I meant to do was thank you. I'm the last person who wants to take my son's enjoyment in scripting away from him. I've been known to script sometimes, myself. He and I even have a few scripting "routines" which we love. I just hope that one day, in addition to the scripting and singing and recitation that he loves, he'll also speak his own thoughts in his own words, so I'll get a better idea of his thoughts and ideas, his likes and dislikes, his hopes and dreams. I try to find ways to communicate to him that he understands. I know he's trying to find ways to communicate to me that I understand. Like you said in one of your posts, we're all trying to find a way across the bridge to each other. I don't want to change my son, and I don't want to "deal" with my son. I just really, really want to know him as well as I can. And to the extent that the scripting he does at school prevents him from doing the work he's at school to do, I want to help him find ways to put the scripting aside until he's got some downtime. That's all.
Susan[/quote]
LeAnne --
My son also scripted a suicide wish -- "I don't want to live anymore!" and yelled it once when he was overwhelmed during lunch break at school. His teacher was of course shocked and concerned, especially since she had no experience with autism and thus no clue about scripting.
I talked to my son about it, and it turned out he had no idea what he said was a death wish. In fact, the whole idea made him literally shudder. He was just expressing a desire to escape from an intolerable situation.
We worked harder on teaching him to ask for breaks when he needs them, and thankfully he stopped that particular example of scripting.
The incident also underlined for us that we need to protect his mental health by not placing him in stressful situations without help to handle them -- during lunch break he didn't have an assistant assigned to him, so he was extra vulnerable then.
[quote=norwaymom] Nice coincidence that you're in Minnesota -- that's where I'm originally from. I moved to Norway after I got married.[/quote]
Serge165 --
In the quote, jeremysmom didn't seem to have a concern. I believe she was thanking you for your replies because they give her hope for her child's future.
You told us that as a child, you could recite entire movies. Now, as an adult, you are able to express yourself in your own words -- here on the forum, in your poetry and fairytales, etc. That gives parents hope that their child will also eventually move past quoting from tv-shows and start to express themselves in their own words like you do.
Btw, I've never heard of Reader Rabbit, but Elmo is from Sesame Street, and Dora is from another children's tv-show.
[quote]You told us that as a child, you could recite entire movies. Now, as an adult, you are able to express yourself in your own words -- here on the forum, in your poetry and fairytales, etc. That gives parents hope that their child will also eventually move past quoting from tv-shows and start to express themselves in their own words like you do.[/quote]Thanks, everyone. Serge, it's so great to hear from you--gives me hope that one day Jeremy may be able to express himself with his own words, and not always Elmo's/Dora's/ReaderRabbit's dialogue, you know?
I had considered that maybe something was upsetting him and he was TV talking to calm himself down, but TV talk is something he does ALL THE TIME, even lying in bed at night, playing with his toys, running around the playground, happy, sad, whatever. I wish I could give him meaningful intellectual stimulation every moment we're together (can't even do that for myself, more's the pity) because it's when he really has to think hard about something--problem-solving thinking--that the TV talk lessens and he speaks originally.
I appreciate everyone's wonderful advice--he's doing pretty well in school and got moved up in reading and math, so even with all the scripting, his amazing brain is doing a fantastic job.
Susan
[quote]hanks, everyone. Serge, it's so great to hear from you--gives me hope that one day Jeremy may be able to express himself with his own words, and not always Elmo's/Dora's/ReaderRabbit's dialogue, you know? [/quote]Serge165 --
It would be cool if you'd start your own topic like Rainman did, where you offer to give your perspective on various questions we parents have (if you'd rather not, that's okay too of course). Here's a link to Rainman's topic so you can see what I mean:
http://www.autism-pdd.net/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=18732&am p;KW=rainman
[quote=NorwayMom]It would be cool if you'd start your own topic like Rainman did, where you offer to give your perspective on various questions we parents have (if you'd rather not, that's okay too of course). Here's a link to Rainman's topic so you can see what I mean:[/quote]