My Son, the Race Car

Last updated on: June 5, 2018 at 6:30 am by Abby Christianson

My Son, the Race Car 2018-06-05T06:30:36-06:00 Abby Christianson

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

I am a planner. Before my son was born I planned for him to be popular and smart and funny. I did not plan the Autism. But he sure is smart! And funny. But the other day he came home from school and told me that nobody liked him. I know that isn’t true because he is always invited to play dates. And when we walk to school a lot of kids are saying hi to him by name. But he felt that nobody liked him.

kids-2579639_640 You may have heard that Autistic kids (and maybe adults) like to make noises. They are self-soothing noises and are harmless. But they can be annoying. My son loves to make race car sounds. Loudly. The louder the sound, the faster his little car is going in his head.

It’s cute. But it gets annoying very fast, especially when he does it for a long period of time. Well guess what, that’s what he was doing at recess at school. And of course, no kids are going to want to be close to that level of noise. So I asked his ABA therapist what to do.

One suggestion was to let my son know that he can make the noise to his heart’s content- in his room. That way he is away from us and has to make the choice to go in his room, so it’s a conscious way of acknowledging an unconscious habit. Well, he hates being alone, so I have yet to see him take me up on the invitation to go be a car in his room.

The other suggestion was to bring his attention to the behavior and ask him to stop. So I have been doing that- a lot. He will take a lot of reminding because right now this is almost like a tick. He isn’t really aware he is doing it as often as he is. And it feels good- the vibrations in his head and throat are soothing. So we will have to keep reminding him.

children-2755601_640 The one good thing that has come out of pointing his behavior out to him, is that he often stops when I mention it. Now I can walk beside him without the building annoyance. And he is mentioning the kids at school less often. So I am hopeful that he is feeling less pressure to be exactly like everyone else.

I have also learned that there is a lot of little kids who make funny noises. I was watching the playground the other day before school started. And I saw a bunch of first graders running around making similar noises to what my son does. He is also in first grade. So I am learning that I need to step back and ask myself if what I am observing is Autism, or just being 6. I have a feeling a lot of it is just being 6.

For anyone reading this and wondering about their child, I would suggest you ask an expert. Often teachers have seen enough ‘generations’ of students to know if there is any concern about your child. I took my son to get evaluated because we have a heavy family history of Autism, and he was struggling with several things at once. And I have been very impressed with how much more is known about Autism. The therapy and support services just get better and better with awareness.

Autism

Previous Post

October 25, 2017

Recognizing and Helping an Autism Meltdown

Next Post

November 9, 2017 Autism Brings You Superpowers

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category About Life Autism Church History Jesus Christ Keeping Our Covenants Overcoming Trials Preparing For The Second Coming Uncategorized

Select a Month July 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 November 2025 October 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 June 2024 April 2024 March 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 March 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What year was the Temple in Jerusalem destroyed by the Romans?

Select your answer to see how you score.

586 BC 120 AD 70 AD 33 AD