Hi, Sean does this too. He is really funny when he does it he tells me to be quiet and whisper. I think its ok, just a funny thing they do. Denise

Just a couple fo thoughts.
I know kids with Autism often have problems modulating their voices so they either speak too loud or too soft.
My son went thorough a phase where he spoke so quietly we constantly had to say "say it again in a loud voice" which would bring him up to barely a normal tone.
The other issue is that hearing can often be sensitive so speaking softly may be a sign that their hearing is sensitive.

good points. thing with adam, when he is whispering, he is not talking to anyone, other then himself. he talks in normal voice to us and everyone else, but sometimes he will just start whispering as if he were talking to someone else that isnt there. its not frightening or anything, but a little odd. it has just started happening the last few weeks. i have tried to listen to him but it is hard to understand what he is saying and if he notices anyone trying to listen he stops. i wonder what is going on in his little head when he does this. imaginary friend maybe?

ok Pricilla, I know what he is doing now. Sean and Brett for that matter do the same thing. He is doing a little scripto to himself. He is rehearsing a line and or a phrase he heard someplace on TV something. Sean especially does this, it is scripting I am almost sure of it. I most times can't understand what Sean is saying, but sometimes he will spill one word and bamo I know it was something he watched. Sometimes I will even ask him what are you talking about and he will tell me. You can talk to a behaviorist about this. I try and just engage Sean and or Brett and try to get them to talk to me. I even tell them talk to mommy not yourself. Good luck, but if I had to bet money I would say it's a script. Denise

denise: whoa! i bet your right! i am going to listen to him closer and see, oh, and try to get him to tell me about it. makes sense, thanks so much! i was getting a little afraid for him, didnt even want to think about 'the boy' showing back up, that would have sucked for adam and us!

ok, now, what is scripting? what does he get out of it? is it a good thing or a bad thing? do i need to redirect? tell me all you know about it please. would love to hear from anyone with autism that has done this, hint, hint, Herding ;)

Well, scripting is a repetative behavior and I redirect Sean when he is doing this. Although it can be a good thing too. Sometimes when I know what he is talking about a show, I try and capitalize on it and start to talk about it with him. Sean likes the line from the incredibles when Mr. Incredible says I like to work alone. I will work with that and say no one wants to work alone that's silly and try and build onto the scrip. Sometimes, though Sean is so involved in the script that he won't have it and will try and go off someplace to do it alone. I just follow him and find something for him to do. Sean scripto goes as far as sometimes he gives me my lines for the script. He will say,"mommy say this," and give me my line. Hope this helps. Hugs Denise
Well, didn't they say that Steven Spielberg was on the spectrum? Maybe we have a bunch of actors on our hands LOL.

mine did this more often a while ago, but still does it at time. I found that if he wasn't sure of what he was saying (the words etc) or wasn't sure at school that he got the answer to the question right he would mumble under his breath or whisper. I guess he felt if his answer was right someone would hear him, and if he was wrong, well at least he didn't say it out loud and get rejected. Now that he has more words, he doesn't do it as often, although sometimes he just doens't say it anyway (in some environments) because he doesn't want to get rejected. So not at home, but at places like school. He is really fearful to be socially rejected, poor thing.

Sometimes too kids are processing something they heard. Repeating it over and over to themsleves helps them process what it means. Kind of like if someone give you their phone number and you don't have a peice of paper to write it down so you keep saying the numbers over and over. Not exactly the same but similar know what I mean?
Also I have seen MANY kids who process information this way either right away or later. My son does this from time to time and it has been great for increasing his understanding of the world.

Daniel does this, too. He used to do it a lot more when he was younger, now he uses it to understand a new concept, especially when he learns new words for emotional states. I never mess with it--it works for him.

hi, just read your post. my son sam does the same, repeating what he has heard in a movie, especially lord of the rings. its incredible that he cant read, write etc but he can retain info that is relavant to him.its called delayed echolailia.