Autism, the Soundtrack

Its well known that music sets a mood.

What’s this one?

Or this one?

Or, this one?

Did you know Autism has a soundtrack too? At least around here it does. Pookie sings alot and what Pookie sings conveys a mood. Its not as simple as it sounds. His songs might not mean what they should mean, but they have meaning to him.

For example, in moments of frustration he sings “Crazy Bus” from the Arthur (PBS) kids CD. Why? Because Arthur hates that song, but his little sister DW keeps trying to sneak it on to his CD. Several times thru the CD she sneaks it in and he yells “No Crazy Bus on my CD!” Clearly, he is frustrated.

In moments of creativity, he sings “The Silly Pizza Song” which he has learned at school. In this song, the toppings on the pizza get pretty weird! He makes up his own lyrics to make it even more weird. You can tell he is trying to be creative.

In moments of quiet and calm play when he just needs some background noise, he sings “Blueberry Hill” by Fats Domino.

In moments of pure play, he sings things that remind him of fun experiences he had in the past, like watching Yo Gabba Gabba. Then, he might sing the theme song or “Party in My Tummy.”

And this is only the actual songs he sings. Remember, he has full-blown echolalia, so he talks almost constantly, repeating phrases and scripts that may or may not be apropos. When he says “Later! I have to practice!” that means he wants to do something, but has been denied (just like Arthur who wants to go play baseball but has to stay inside and practice the piano). When he says “No way! Forget it! Give yourself a break!” that means he wants something and cannot have it. Is that the same as “Later! I have to Practice”? No, its not. “Practice” is reserved for things he thinks he has a right to have. “No way! Forget it!” seems to be for things he expected us to say “no” to.

He gets sloppy with his soundtracks. The longer something has been in his playlist, the more likely he is to begin to slur it together and replace syllables with noises. Its like they become broken in and he no longer needs the words, just the rhythm. If you did not know “Mapet Bavees shamaka drecanto” was “Muppet Babies, you make your dreams come true” you would have no idea that he was singing one of his happy songs and remembering the good old days when I used to let him watch old VHS cassettes of that cartoon, before it became a stim.

So, you can see how it becomes easier to read him, if you pay attention to these things. That is not to say that he is an open book. He is not. He says alot of things that still make no sense, regardless of the situation. He asks me several times a day if he can “call the letters out.” We do not know what that one means, but he seems to be acting out a script and needs my response. Same with “You should try the shampoo”.

In our journey, we have seen the singing and the echolalia change alot. In the beginning, we hoped for the day when he would turn his scripts into productive language. And he has. He is perfectly capable of expressing his basic needs. He answers questions with short responses. Sometimes he answers incorrectly, but he is getting better. He uses creative language when he needs to (like when he struggles with how to explain that, yes, he has a glass of milk already, but he needs more for his cereal). He makes random observations (Wow, that’s alot of weeds!”). He says hello and goodbye unprompted. Alot of the time, his tone and inflection is not correct; its as if he is a bad actor and he is reading a script about a boy noticing the neighbors weeds (sometimes he is!).

Through all of this, I think its interesting that he has so many “tells”…little things that give away his mood. His soundtrack has always been one that fascinates me.

Related posts:

1. Autism Thought for the Day Pookie is always paying attention, even when it appears that...
2. Morning Trouble Pookie used to be so good about getting going in...
3. But I am a really good singer. Everytime I sing anything around the house Pookie always says...
4. Stumbled Ever see a bunch of birds on a telephone wire...
5. Team Building I let Geetle skip school yesterday. I told her to...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.