Singing loudly in the school corridors!

[Swanhildapirouetting]

Ds2 in Year 7 with HFA/Aspergers. He had to leave the school choir because he bored easily and wouldn't sing what everyone else was singing. He loves singing solo however, and taking centre stage wherever he goes. He is doing Drama after school club.

However, he has started singing very loudly as he walks around school, humiliating his older brother (in Year 9) as people constantly point him out and stare, or ask him to stop singing, or mention it to ds1. Ds2 finds it difficult to understand why people should want him to stop singing (although he himself hates it when people sing in the background, ie: dd warbling in the kitchen) or else says he didn't realise he was singing.

I personally think it is a protective mechanism, a form of stimming to block out the outside world, when he wants to calm himself down.

It sounds a ridiculous thing to complain about, after all he is not spitting or hitting people but he is becoming a target for ridicule, and it isolates him even more.

Every lunchtime ds2 does an activity (3 days of touchtyping, and two other clubs) so his time is very structured. And he is generally happy and chirpy in school environment, with no behavioural issues in lessons. He likes talking to teachers. He goes into school with a smile on his face and comes out in a good mood.

But I don't know what intervention the school could provide to integrate better with the other children, other than what they have provided - supportive staff, taking his side in any bullying situations, giving him a lot of slack with homework problems etc, encouraging him in class.

Is there more they could do? He also goes to Nurture Group some breaktimes. Or is it me...should I be pushing a social story about singing at appropriate times?

[bialystockandbloom]

Hmm it's a difficult one isn't it. You don't want to prevent him from doing something which helps him, but hard not to want to do something to stop him being targetted or isolated.

I would veer towards finding an alternative I think, actually to protect him. Is there anything you could find together to replace the singing with something less visible but which would still give him the same feeling of comfort? It may be partly just from having no other activity to occupy him too, iyswim, if he's only really doing it when he's not engrossed in something else. I notice that my ds is definitely more fidgety when he's at a loose end.

I'd probably speak to the school too actually, just to make them aware of it so they can keep an eye on anyone picking on him because of it. Is he aware of his dx, and are others at school?

[Swanhildapirouetting]

Thank you Bialy. Today the school is re-directing him to Nurture Group every day, where he would chat and play board games, as it may be the two clubs are too structured. We are also cutting down on touchtyping, as I think things were getting a bit pressured with all these literacy interventions.

[OneInEight]

There is a scene in the novel/film "About a Boy" ( reveals addiction to trashy novels ) with boy of very similar age doing the same and being ridiculed out for it. Now solution in the film/book being befriended by Hugh Grant is probably not feasible but I wonder whether you could watch the film together and talk about how his singing might be perceived by others.