Does jumping and running when excited indicate autism

[Fuckfucketyfuckfuckfuck]

Hi all

my DS is 5. He’s wonderful in every way - he’s very talkative, articulate, funny and clever. He’s doing well academically at school (reception), he is making friends (although does seem to have attached himself to one main friend but the teacher says he also plays well with others), he is fine with transitions/routine changes etc, no sensory issues around food or texture or noise (although he is a hearing aid user and so he does get a bit overwhelmed sometimes in noisy situations), great sleeper. He has however been doing a running/jumping/galloping thing since he was quite young, usually when he’s very excited or stimulated about something, particularly when he’s watching something exciting on the tv or if we’re talking about something he’s particularly excited about. If I ask him why he’s doing it, he usually responds straight away to say it’s because he’s excited and he can stop himself doing it quite easily. My question is whether this a sign of autism or whether it is just a 5 year olds quirky behaviour? Teachers haven’t mentioned anything, nor did pre-school, DS says he doesn’t do it at school when I’ve asked him about it. He was also seeing a paed for his hearing issues as a youngster and I remember asking about autism then as I was concerned he was on the late side to talk (around 2) and they weren’t concerned at that stage either. I should add that I am a massive worrier/over thinker/catastrophiser/obsessive thinker so I am well aware this could just be the latest thing in a long list of stuff I’ve fixated on but from your experience, should I be concerned? Thanks all for your time x

I still do it 😳 Not as much as a five-year-old, I hope, but it is quite normal. Have you never seen teenagers jumping & yelling/squealing? (When they're not being moody/chilled, of course.)

He sounds like a lovely little boy. Can't see what you're worried about.

SEND mum and Autusm TA here- no, that's totally normal behaviour for a lovely happy 5 year old.

Thanks @Garlickit he absolutely is a lovely little boy. I’ve just fallen down a bit of a rabbit hole reading about autism and might be finding things to fit where perhaps they don’t. He does seem to do it more than some of his peers (from what I have seen, obviously I don’t know what they are like at home) but then he’s always been one of those children where it doesn’t take much to get him excited. He’s also super into trains (which I know is another typical autism characteristic) but then he also likes cars, planes, lego although probably not on the same level as trains.

@Kikisweb thank you so much, you’re right, he is 💙

The other thing I forgot to add was that there were an odd few incidences of him being aggressive to other children at school. The school (and we) think it’s likely due to him being overwhelmed by noise. As he is a hearing aid user, this can be extremely tiring and over stimulating as every single noise in that classroom is amplified - not just the kids chattering but the scraping of chairs, the banging around of toys etc. We were told that it usually happened if he didn’t have an obvious way to remove himself from the source of noise, for example if another child was blocking his way. Since the audiologist adjusted his hearing aids and turned them down, it seems to have improved massively. Relevant?

Does anyone else have any thoughts/input?

Does anyone else have any thoughts/input?

Has the school requested input from the specialist teaching team/ToD? Have they looked at the sensory environment and how they could improve it? What support is DS currently receiving? Does he have an EHCP?

Running/jumping etc. sounds typical of many young children.

@SearchingForSolitude yes TotD goes in to school fairly regularly but not in response to any issues raised by the school or at least as far as I know. They are talking about putting some kind of sound field in place to help with the acoustics and sound regulation in the classroom which I think will be beneficial for my DS. No ECHP.

He, by and large, seems just like all the other children. The only issues I have seen that cause me slight concern (as I said, no concerns raised by anyone else) are the running/jumping when excited or overly stimulated, some minor lashing out incidents in response to being overwhelmed by noise (which has massively improved/stopped since his aids were adjusted) and something that has just come to mind which is that he sometimes whispers to himself/repeats part of what either he or someone else has just said, but usually only if it’s something he finds particularly interesting. It seems almost like he’s trying to retain the information/conversation for later or he’s processing the conversation. He doesn’t do it all the time but at the moment, it’s at least a few times a day. Sometime I hear him once I’ve put him to bed lying there whispering away. It doesn’t seem to stop him sleeping though, it’s almost if he’s going over his day before he sleeps. His speech and communication in every other way I would say is faultless. He communicates and understands extremely well. Sorry to drip feed but these things are just coming to me as I type.

The school need more input from the ToD/specialist teaching service. I would speak to both the school and the ToD about this.

You should also look at requesting an EHCNA.