9 year old makes an mmm noise when eating

[TulipVictory]

Our 9 year old daughter makes an "mmm" almost like satisfied sound when she's eating her dinner. She does this repeatedly as she's eating. It's only started in the last few months. We only just brought it up with her yesterday and she's adamant she's not making any noises so she obviously isn't even aware she's doing it. Does anyone know what this could be? Thanks

My son’s main happy stim in sniffing the fingers on both his hands. I find it so incredibly cute!

My Autistic child doesn't do anything like this? Otherwise would be told very firmly until it stopped. Would drive me nuts

Everyone with autism is different. Some don’t stim. But depending on the child telling them to stop can be majorly counterproductive

You’re being rude

NoOrdinaryMorning sounds like you need more understanding about ASD. Why would you try and stop your child from doing something they possibly have no control over? Why would you highlight it as an issue and embarrass them? Your responses here are just rude and odd.

You must be a joy to live with. Your poor dc.

@Jioyt you've hit the nail on the head here, in that it's almost like a hum. Is your child autistic?

That's just mean. Most kids who do this don't even know they are doing it.

No OP, my dc is not autistic. Reading the comments above, however, has made me start to wonder. But he's 11 now and doesn't do it anymore.

This has now escalated in that she doesn't just do this when she's eating. The last week or so I've noticed her doing it when she's talking to me 😫 even inbetween words? I'm worried this could escalate even further. I'm not even sure she's aware but I'm really worried she will be bullied for it as it's very noticeable.

Her little sister has also spoken out about it, asking why she makes that noise while she's eating, drawing and in bed 😳

Do I try to correct her or will this make it worse?

My son did it, it was noticed that he did it during school dinner. I just took it that he liked what he was eating! He just stopped one day. It’s not something to be anxious over, and jump to conclusions like autism. It sounds very common.

I'd ignore it for now. Nobody is being harmed by it and it's likely she'll stop in the end.

You should have her assessed for autism, OP.

@Apileofballyhoo I'm not sure how I'd go about this? and I don't mean to be rude but will it actually achieve anything? I'm worried about giving her a label she may not want?

I'm not in the UK so I don't know the steps, but it's usually easier for children to understand why they feel differently about things and for caregivers to accommodate.

It’s a diagnosis, not a label.

Being called weird or naughty or away with the fairies is a label. My labels only lost their power after I had a diagnosis.