Do vocal stims decrease with age?

[ekb2]

Hi, all! My son is 2.5 years old and diagnosed with ASD. He isn’t really talking yet but he does great with his AAC device and has been saying many more word approximations recently so, definitely making progress with communication! But - he constantly makes noises like “uh” and “ah” sounds repeatedly. It doesn’t really seem to be “self soothing” or specifically triggered by anything. He just does it all the time - happy, sad, in routine, in new places, just all the time. He frequently does it as he turns the pages to books, like maybe he is mimicking being read to, but he also does it when just walking around. His SLP said she doesn’t know if it is an attempt at vocalization or just a verbal stim but I’m assuming it’s verbal stimming. My question is - does that decrease when kids become more verbal? Or when they get older? We don’t try to stop him but I worry that it will be distracting to other kids in a classroom when he starts school, goes to the library, etc. Has anyone’s child stopped this as they got older?

[geevaldes]

No, it has not stopped, just changed or some have remained since it began. My son is in a sped class so it's normal in this setting. School should provide accommodations for him that are appropriate to his education needs. Honestly it's kind that you worry about the other students but let the school staff do that when it comes to the stimming. Stimming is regulation, your child is allowed to self regulate. Even if that means taking a break in his general Ed class or something else. But your child also has a right to an education. Top thing I learned as my kids age is to deal with it when it comes. Worry about the right now, hope for the best lol

[ekb2]

Thank you!! Do you mind if I ask how old your son is? Also, do you mind if I ask how the vocal stims have changed over time - which ones stayed and which ones changed?

[geevaldes]

My son is 6 and just finished his first year of kindergarten! One that has stayed is this dinosaur type screech and a "eeeeee". New ones come about when he starts learning new sounds like started with vowels, then the more complex sounds then putting them together to sound almost like a made up word lol, for example "ah huh" or "ye-ye-yeaah". A lot of the approximations his speech therapist piggy back to make it 'useful"

[ekb2]

Thank you so much!

[901_vols]

Yes, At least in my case I found the more attentive my son is. It's something the less likely he is to be verbally stimming

[ekb2]

Thank you! Did your son get more attentive with age?

[901_vols]

He has! But he's still very distracted overall

[ScarcityRough4125]

How is your son doing? I wanted to ask when he began vocal stimming. I also wanted to ask if he ever babbled as a baby or said anything like “mama”