Expert: Catherine Ridenour - 2/5/2010

Question
My grandson is 5 yrs old, & his teacher thinks he has a very mild form of autism. He talks and communicates well (after a late start & speech therapy).My question is, when he asks a question & it is answered,& he continues to ask the same question, how do I respond? I don't want to frustrate him,but I don't want to reinforce repetitive habits.This is one of the "signs" he has. He also occassionally puts objects in the same place if they get moved (photo albums,etc)if he thinks they are out of place. Do you think he'll need special consideration in school? His teachers feel strongly he is ready for kindergarten, he meets the standards, but I worry that he'll get behind, which will cause trouble down the road. Thanks for any help.

Answer
Hi Becky,

I am guessing the teacher who identified his difficulty is his pre-school teacher. It is great she/he is so "on the ball."

Starting kindergarten is a hard call. If he is a "young" 5, that is his birthday is late in the year but early enough to meet the deadline, you might want to wait. However, if he is going to be nearly 6 by the time the following school year starts, you might not want to wait.

I think you're going to have to "go with your gut" on that. If he is very bright, communicates well and seems to get along with his pre-schoolmates, I would go ahead. Having a child be bored in school is as bad as having him struggling to keep up.

The repetitive questions are a behavior that can be "extinguished" with training. What gets attention is reinforced, what is ignored goes away.  So, when he asks a question, try a "reflective listening" technique. "Why is the sky blue?" he asks. "You want to know why the sky is blue." you respond. Now, he has to affirm that's actually what he wants to know. "Yes." This does two things. It clarifies that he really asked what he wanted to know and it interrupts the repetition because he has had to think of the response to your reflection.

Then, go ahead and answer the question at his level of understanding. If he still asks again, tell him that you have given him the best answer you can. Ask him to repeat what you told him to check and see if it "got in." If you find that he is not truly receiving information, he may have a receptive auditory processing disorder (very common in autism). Try using visual information as much as you can.

If he still repeats the question, just tell him you are done with that question. Move on to another activity. Don't keep trying to answer. Getting sucked into the loop does not help.

I would contact the school district and ask them about readiness assessments. Tell them your concern about autism. They may decide to test him right up front. If they do not, don't hesitate to ask for testing if things are not going well in kindergarten or at anytime during his school life.

Best wishes,
Catherine