Hi all,
My 5 year old son has autism. He's semi-verbal.
It sounds like such a non-issue to those who haven't experienced it, but every so often he's prone to (what I'm guessing is) playing a "mind movie" and then zoning out and bursting into incessant giggling.
Now, far be it from me to want to tell a child to stop laughing! But there are times when it's extremely challenging to cope with. For example: if he's eating and starts the giggling, he has been known to very nearly choke on his food unless I manage to calm him down or physically remove his food. Let me be clear that this is never a punishment, I just say "okay calm down, then finish dinner" reassuringly.
Or if I have a time sensitive instruction - leaving for school, wiping bottom etc. If I don't try to distract him he will zone out to the point where he cannot even look at you, and it escalates to what looks genuinely quite intense.
Another time it's problematic is bedtime. He giggles so much that it keeps him awake and if I try to deviate from the bedtime routine he gets (understandably) upset.
It seems to occur after days where he has more than 2 hours of screen time ( for example watching a film/rainy day/if I'm unwell) . I usually limit his daily screen time to 30 mins a day when we get home from school or the park so he can more easily decompress and settle into the home time routine. I limit his screen time because he becomes obsessive and it puts him in a very strange mood.
I'm hoping someone has a familiar experience with any helpful tips to share.
Thanks so much in advance.