Many kids and teens with autism make frequent sounds and noises when excited or anxious. These vocalizations — which can sound loud or quiet, high-pitched or low-pitched, happy or upset — are often a form of self-stimulatory behavior (stimming).
Children with autism spectrum disorder have good vocabularies but unusual ways of expressing themselves. They may talk in a monotone voice and do not recognize the need to control the volume of their voice, speaking loudly in libraries or movie theaters, for example.
For example, children might: make repetitive noises like grunts, throat-clearing or squealing. do repetitive movements like body-rocking or hand-flapping. do things like flicking a light switch repeatedly.
Hyperacusis (say it with me: HY-per-uh-CUE-sis), is an increased sensitivity to sound that is commonly found among people with autism. This means that certain noises, such as classroom bells, the radio or the TV, may be uncomfortable for your child to hear.
Kids with autism may screech or yell when overwhelmed or frustrated. Some autistic children bolt from the room, hit others, or even injure themselves when upset. Children on the spectrum may not look directly at a person when speaking. Autistic kids may rock, flick, or pace when they are expected to sit still.
Likewise, a child with autism may not speak, look at other people or play with their peers. Both shy children and those with autism may appear quieter and more reserved than other children, and may find it harder to make friends.
Why does this happen? Making excessive noise can indicate auditory sensory-seeking tendencies. Usually children with a hyposensitive auditory system are unable to register sound until they have additional input.
Our 12-year-old son has autism, mild intellectual disability and anxiety attacks so severe that we end up in the emergency room. Loud noises are the worst – for example the school fire alarm, thunderstorms, a balloon popping, fireworks.
Here's the reality: every child will throw a tantrum at some point, whether they have an autism diagnosis or not. But for children with autism, tantrums can be more frequent, distressing, and difficult to quell.
Someone with autism may process information from their senses differently. He may be unable to filter out irrelevant noises or sights, such as, in the previous example, the microwave or flickering light. Or he may find certain sounds, lights, or textures to be severely distracting or uncomfortable.
Some early signs of autism include: Problems with eye contact. No response to his or her name. Problems following another person's gaze or pointed finger to an object (or "joint attention")
Some children with ASD develop language after age 5. “There is a burst of kids in the 6 to 7 age range who do get language,” says Wodka, who currently leads recruitment and research efforts for the SPARK study at the Center for Autism and Related Disorders at Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore.
Some children with autism may start talking at 12-16 months. Most don't start talking until later. Some will start talking between the ages of 2-3 years. Other children talk even later, and some children never learn to talk.
Many autistic people experience hypersensitivity to bright lights or certain light wavelengths (e.g., LED or fluorescent lights). Certain sounds, smells, textures and tastes can also be overwhelming. This can result in sensory avoidance – trying to get away from stimuli that most people can easily tune out.
Many autistic people enjoy spending time alone and consider it important for their wellbeing. Loneliness is different though. You might feel lonely if you don't have opportunities to socialise, or find this difficult. You might have friends/colleagues but feel misunderstood, or like you cannot be yourself around them.
Social anxiety, or the fear of new people and social situations. While social anxiety is very common in children with autism, in the case of high functioning autism, it may increase as the child ages and becomes more aware of their own difficulties surrounding social interaction.
Mild autism is level 1 autism spectrum disorder. It means a person does not have severe symptoms and needs a lower level of support than someone else with autism. People with mild autism still have a hard time communicating and interacting with others.
As much as autistic children have a different way of learning, they can also have a different way of moving. When walking or running, the child's coordination can be immature with a gait that lacks fluency and efficiency.
Children with autism can be silent or chatty, bright or intellectually challenged. Their behaviors can range from quirky to aggressive. They may do well academically or face serious learning disabilities. All that said, though, children with autism do have certain qualities in common.
At times, that helps them manage their symptoms. And sometimes children seem to age out of some autism signs. Interestingly, researchers say that around 30% of children with autism have less-severe symptoms at the age of 6 years than they did at the age of 3 years.
Yelling at children with autism can cause depression and negatively impact the emotional wellbeing of the child. Depression is associated with several negative outcomes, including functional impairments beyond those associated with autism itself and significant burden on the family system (Pezzimenti & et al., 2019).