It's My Turn

Recently I've gotten a few comments from Michael's first grade teacher about him getting angry and frustrated because he doesn't get enough turns to talk.  There is a communication journal that goes back and forth between Michael's teachers and home, so we can share if he's had a good day, bad day, or if something just set him off.  Not being able to talk and share his stories while the teacher is teaching, has really set him off lately.

I guess Michael has been mad at the teacher because she doesn't give him enough turns to "tell stories".  According to Mrs. B, Michael wants to share what is happening and is making a lot of connections to what they are talking about at school.  This is a good thing in my opinion.  I am happy that he is trying to share and that he is connecting to the world around him.  On the other hand, I can see what Mrs. B is saying, that she doesn't have time to listen to all sixteen of her students share their stories.  She often lets Michael share a story, but he sometimes wants to share two or three stories.  She has told me that she gives him more chances to share than most of the other children.  If Michael doesn't get to be heard every time he raises his hand, he gets mad and has a fit.

I tried talking to him about this the other day.  I said, "Michael, if Mrs. B lets all of you share stories all of the time, then the whole day would be sharing stories and there would not be a lot of learning going on."  He seemed to understand this concept.  I'm not sure if he's fully "digested" it yet.

My oldest daughter had a great idea.  She said that we should supply Michael with sharing sticks.  These popsicle sticks would say, "Share a story".  When Michael is out of sharing story sticks, he is not allowed to share anymore stories.  This would give him a finite limit on talking and perhaps since it is so visual, he will not get as mad or frustrated. 

I think I will recommend this strategy to his teacher.  Perhaps this will work, perhaps not.  Anything is worth a try.  It is hard for me to watch my child get mad and frustrated over a simple situation.  I guess for someone over the spectrum, it isn't a simple little thing, it is a big deal. 

Many autistic children that I have dealt with in the past do not have this problem.  They usually do not share comments or stories so freely.  In my opinion, Michael is breaking the mold again for what I've come to recognize as typical behaviors of autistic children.  Sometimes he baffles me, because in one moment he shows lots of autistic idiosyncrasies, and in another moment doesn't seem to be autistic at all.

I would like to hear from other moms with HFA children.  Does your child want to talk a lot and share stories?  Are the stories relevant to the conversation or are they totally off topic?  Does anyone out there have any experience with this problem?  Does your child get mad and frustrated if he/she doesn't get enough turns to share?  Is this solely an attention seeking issue?  Please feel free to comment!