Does anyone else's child do this? DS8 is constantly either talking, singing or making some sort of noise with his mouth. A lot of it is nonsense or repetitious - like singing a phrase from a song over and over. I don't think its a vocal tic, because he can stop when I ask him - but then he'll start up again with something else. Some of the talking is nonsense - like he just enjoyed hearing different syllables and how they sound together. Some of it - he seems to just be talking to himself about - I don't know what.

He's had tubes in his ears, but they are gone now, and his hearing is normal (was just tested).

His only diagnosis so far is DCD and vision issues (convergence insufficiency which we are doing VT for).

It is part of an OE? He does have other sensory issues - he is sensitive to loud noises (for which we have ear muffs), is constantly moving, and has a tendency to chew his shirt.

These things seem to have intensified during the summer - I think he really misses school and his routine, although he is enjoying his camps so far.

Any thoughts appreciated!

I think it's part of an OE. I have noticed my two year old does this too. near. constant. and sometimes it is the same word/s over and over again.

I've just assumed it was part of a self regulation thing; maybe self-generating a consistency. I haven't looked into, because she's two... but that's what I assumed.

I was told that I did this all the time as a kid. Even in my sleep.

If your son is anything like me, he's an audiophile and constantly has music going through his head.

Is he a musician?

You are right - he probably does have music in his head almost constantly. He is a singer - he has an excellent musical ear, loves pop songs (ugh! got to work on that)

He's been taking piano, but is struggling with it probably due to the vision issues and co-ordination disorder. I have him signed up for singing lessons in the fall - hopefully that will help!

My dd who had vision issues used to sing or talk constantly. She was a highly sensory kid too - still is. Now that she's a teen she's constantly plugged into her phone listening to music so that's cut down quite a bit on all the out-coming noise The other thing that happened was as she got older, the world started sending her quite a bit of sometimes not-so-subtle messages that you can't make noise all the time

She's also very much still an auditory learner even though her vision challenges have mostly been resolved or remediated - I think the early years of relying on audio input influenced her tremendously.

Best wishes,

polarbear

I have a household of nonstop music-making children, but one of them also talks, dances, plays instruments, and vocalizes constantly, so much so that even the others find it excessive! It's just an ongoing conversation about respecting other people's personal space--physical, visual, and aural. That, and some of our favorite family aphorisms: Fit the size of your sound to the size of the space you're in. Keep your volume low enough that the people at the next table in the restaurant can't hear you.

We've seen some moderation in adolescence, but not as much as you'd think...singing and dancing in the aisles of Target earlier today! DC has such an ebullient personality, though, that people typically smile.

Nonstop singer here too. She denies that she does it though so I guess it's unconscious.

She's a musical theater kid so it's usually show tunes - today's combo has included several shows done over the past 3 years with 4 different theater companies, songs from her chorus group, songs from the past 3 summers at camp as well as her own personal compositions. Oh and some from '1776' thrown in for good measure since the Fourth of July recently passed... No idea how she decides on them - I don't think she even realizes she does it. At a surprise slumber party for her 10th birthday she was in the bathroom singing opera while her friends were hanging out in the next room. She had NO idea what they were laughing at and adamantly denied she had been singing... especially that it was opera!

When she was younger she was usually dancing but that has pretty much stopped. She also went through a period of time when she liked to spin but doesn't do that anymore either.

She is drawn to any type of performance. Even as an infant she would pay rapt attention to music, dance or theatrical performances. She likes to sit front and center and barely even blinks. Months later will come out with lines from a play or lyrics from a song she heard just once.

I like George C's explanation above. I assume there is indeed constantly music in her head. Imagine if this is the edited version.... Oy!

ETA I just remembered when she was younger she had imaginary friends - she called them her 'kids' and said she had 97 of them. Constantly engaged in conversation doing all the different voices. Constantly. I remember listening intently to be sure each one had a voice and that she wasn't hearing them in her head... BTW as I was typing that she came into the room singing "You Can't Get a Man With a Gun" from 'Annie Get your Gun'. I thinks that's at least the 10th musical she has sung a song from today... And no she was never in it and I think it's been a few years since she saw it. Now singing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star"... Ah that brain of hers...

My son, who is almost seven, is the same. I even posted on here several times, complaining that he has gone through phases of beatboxing, non-stop talking (about rube goldberg machines), and making airplane noises. Now he constantly exclaims "bang! boom!" and makes a variety of explosive noises, complete with dramatic flourishes.

Honestly, it drives me crazy. We also have an extremely chatty four year old and the two of them are both talking and making noise non-stop.

My kids' babysitter, who was my DS7's preschool teacher and knows him well, thinks it's a way of self-regulating. When I ask my son why he's booming and banging, he says that he's acting out a story in his head.

My son has also had a verbal tic over the last six months and I'm beginning to wonder if some of his noises might also be tic-related?

Like your son, mine is sensitive to sound and dislikes noisy, chaotic situations. I do, too, and find the constant talking and noise making overstimulates me.

DD3 is the same. Constant noise, repetition of phrases, making up songs, sometimes just making nonsense sounds, anything to keep her mouth going. Having said that, she's always spoken very clearly, so maybe all the constant noise is/was good fine-tuning for her vocal chords. It does my head in though. I'm an only child from a single parent family, grew up in the country and wasn't allowed more than an hour of TV per day. There was a lot of peace and quiet. I don't handle chaotic noise very well.

Anyhow, I'm still new to this site, so I don't have any useful info/insight, but I'll be following this thread

Well my DS17 likes to play his harmonica or recorder constantly. He just tootles, I guess I kind of find it normal by now. It's a bit odd since he does it while doing homework. Kind of difficult to write & play recorder at the same time. He's gone for a month and it's oddly silent around here. But we tend to just play music in other parts of the house & I've learned to ignore it.

My sister was like this growing up. Like GeorgeC, she is a musician, but growing up it was mostly chatter and talking, IIRC. And yes, she did it even in her sleep. As the very quiet, introverted sibling with some noise sensitivity, it drove me crazy, and is something that still colors my memories of our sibling relationship. I used to believe it was a ploy for attention- she was insatiable in that regard (though obviously talking and humming in your sleep doesn't fit that theory).

My dd10 is like this, she is gifted with a beautiful voice and superior auditory memory, however the tapping, clapping, humming, talking, interrupting, dancing, etc., etc finally resulted in our seeking a drs opinion on the behavior. She also has difficulty staying on task in the morning, getting out the door on time (though usually has everything she needs, when she does finally get going). Some issues with finishing work in a timely manner at school, also.

Your child might not have any of the distraction issues, but ours certainly did/does (it is easier to overlook being on time in the summer, but boredom can result in LOTS Of needing to talk nonstop, etc).
She has a diagnosis of adhd - and we are educating ourselves on what that will mean for her education going forward; right now she has a few accommodations at the school, which have been helpful.

Oh yes - that sounds like DS.

I've been avoiding thoughts of ADHD, but it's a possibility. He has psycho-ed testing coming up in a month - so we'll see.

I know last year his teachers had a problem with him wandering around the class and singing - and then denying that he was singing. Interesting to hear that other kids are also unaware of this behaviour....

Yes, this is part of the problem - I find that I can tolerate it and I try not to get on his case about it too much. But it drives my DD11 nuts (although she sings too, just not as much or as repetitively).

It leads to much sibling squabbling - which I have a harder time tolerating.

My husband, DD7, and DS2 are all like this. DD5 and I both live in a constant state of frustration and exhaustion. I try to teach moderation and respect for boundaries and limits, but it's difficult to win the battle when outnumbered. We have a whole house full of various OEs, so "never a dull moment" barely covers it.

The irony in our household is that DS6 talks almost incessantly about every topic under the sun and makes tons of noise all the time, but is the one who gets most frustrated on those rare occasions when DS5 is talking a bit too much or humming an annoying tune. The OEs will be the death of me.

I know someone with the ADHD - DCD combo who makes a lot of noises like that-- I think it keeps him on track, in a way. But yes, troubling to others.

Yes, DD6 is always talking, asking questions, singing, humming, or making what sound like nonsense noises of some type or another. She is also a singer and has been performing (by her choice) since age 3, although I think this choice is a result of the behavior rather than a cause. She has excellent pitch, fortunately, but I am an introvert, so I am often challenged to expand my patience.

She does, however, also exhibit attention challenges very similar to those described by chris1234, so I often wonder how much of the behavior is possibly related to undiagnosed ADHD vs OEs.

I get really frustrated with ds9 talking to the computer screen but I know I talk to myself, especially when I am struggling to maintain focus/ignore distractions.

This is really similar to one of several school-behavior complaints we've received about my own kid -- constant noisemaking, sometimes seemingly unconscious, sometimes apparently a bid for attention. I'm trawling through this forum looking for anything that sounds familiar, so was relieved to see this question. School is bemused, deeply irritated, and all out of behavior management ideas.

OP or others in this thread: if you're still hanging out here, how does this look for your kid, three years on? Has anyone had any success in teaching a kid like this to zip it in school?