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Autism and television

619 views 9 replies 8 participants last post by  fullermom02 
#1 ·
Howdy,

Have a question for those of you with kids with ASD dx. Do you find that the symptoms (echolalia especially) worsen when your child watches television?

Thanks,

K in Raleigh

DS 7/21/03 dx ADS and SID
DD 3/16/06
 
#2 ·
Yes. BUT, one caveat with our ds, he is/was essentially nonverbal, so echolalia is a welcome change. At least he's saying SOMETHING. One of his favorite programs is "Signing Time," and it's a hoot...he doesn't sign the words, he says them instead.

Whatever works. LOL.
 
#3 ·
Like the pp echoing was a welcome change for us back at the beginning of this year. And up until the probably Late May he did not copy anything from the TV. TV has helped him associate names and activities with some burgeoning imaginary friends and helped him with songs. He loves music but We have tried things like mommy and me and he can not deal with or sit through any live music sessions. Now he knows all the words to many songs and he can initiate them with us. So in that regard it's a plus.

Like you I have a baby in the house and ds can take advantage at feeding time and other times when she needs just a few minutes 1:1 to get down for her nap. That is when I let him watch TV. Or just before dinner.

We bought some Baby Bumblebee dvds from Amazon and Ebay (you can rent some of them from Netflix too). They are very calm. And while they encourage echoing he does carry 'lessons' through the day. Just as an example with counting he really has taken it to heart. He's not just repeating the numbers any more. He's counting. Maybe because he sees kids do it and not just me. And I'll tell you I'm not really one to push for counting or ABCs but he seems proud of himself and that jusy warms my heart. We also like their action words DVDs which has helped him self-narrate more "Mommy, I drawing a picture." Again, he seems proud.

I am interested in your signing video. What's the full title of it?
 
#5 ·
I have had a big problem with this lately. DD has the type of "delayed echolalia" that interferes with speech. She has language for requests and simple comments, but she starts to do this "scripting" when she repeats lines from programs verbatim instead of engaging in interaction with another person. TV definitely does aggravate it.

For that reason I tend to limit the types of programs I allow her to watch. She's got a rediscovered interest in baby einstein, so she's been seeing a lot of that lately. No scripting material there since it's just music. I let her watch tapes like "The Wiggles" because it doesn't bother me when she sits around singing songs as it does when she sits around repeating scripts. Plus, then we can use the songs as interactive games where we take turns singing lines and I think that's kind of neat. The STs say it's good practice for having an actual conversation also.

I'm definitely interested in some of the more educational stuff because I do think that it helps to demonstrate ideas; they say that kids with ASD are very visual learners after all. May have to check out the Baby Bumblebees and signing time too...
 
#6 ·
We had a love-hate relationship with the TV for a long time. Loved it because it seemed to be an effective way for my child to learn things like social interactions and expressions -- he just didn't seem to get it when real people worked with him. Hated it because it did increase the echolalia and such, but this also seemed a part of his process for internalizing lessons, so we let it go unless he was approaching the obsessive level.

It's been interesting for us to watch my son's progress concerning play and television. We turn off all videos, DVDs, games every summer. 2 summers ago, my son's version of "pretend play" was acting out scripts from Dora and Blue and the Wiggles. Last summer, he expanded to using the same characters but coming up with his own scripts. This summer, he did that for 2 days, and then he was suddenly in the kitchen to get a gravy ladel so he could fight dragons (not something he ever saw on TV). So we've had to be cautious with TV (obsessive issues), but it seemed to help my son learn, too.
 
#7 ·
I agree, I definitely have a love-hate relationship with the television. But the programs my son watches (Baby Einstein, Signing Time, Jack's Big Music Show, Sesame Street) have made him dance, talk, and do other things that no therapist could coax him to do, so I'll take it.

He signed "walk" and "swing" and "run" this weekend...for the first time...ever. Because of Signing Time. I swear he loves that woman. LOL. He developed an interest in music and dancing because of Jack's BMS. He never danced until he saw that show. Suddenly he's dancing, "playing" the piano, banging on his bongo drums...it's unreal.

I hate the tv because...well...it's tv. Duh. But it has helped ds in ways I didn't expect.
 
#8 ·
I like Signing Time and so does ds but he never does the signs or says the words when he watches it. I think it's because there is more talking in those than in Baby See n Sign. After watching those videos (there are only 2) his vocabulary went from 6 words to over 50!! It was amazing.

But when we watch Signing Time, he just watches with a big smile so I stopped renting them.
 
#9 ·
my son does not have an official dx yet, but he does have problems with echolalia and it gets a lot worse when he watches movies (we only have movies here). He repeats phrases from the movies over and over again, and he'll also sing little bits of songs from the movies (always the same little bit) over and over. When he gets very excited he starts repeating the same phrase over and over, and it's from a movie (usually a phrase from one specific movie).

He also seems to get a little more aggressive after watching movies. I don't like movies or television at all. It also has bad effects on our NT dd (she totally loses imaginative play, just runs around screaming madly). I just try and stay away.

The phrase repetition is almost haunting and it I don't like it at all. It's much better when we haven't been watching anything for awhile.
 
#10 ·
I have found the same thing but like the other ladies it is a double edged sword. I have found also that it has prompted my daughter to have a greater imagination (along with reading) it has also prompted her to begin talking more on her own. She now sings and dances she is more "in tune". In my son's case he is still in the echolia stages. The television is closey monitered and they only get 2 - 3 hours a day the rest is filled with other activties. Don't know if that helped but trust me echolia is not such a bad thing for me it let me know that there is actually something behind those eyes (those of you with autistic children know what I mean). And that alone is wonderful and worth the 2-3 hours a day of tv.
 
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