• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Geek Club Books

Autism Education, Awareness, Acceptance, Advocacy

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Home
  • About
    • Autism Storytelling for Hope and Change
    • Speaking
    • Creative Team & Educational Specialists
    • Advisory Board
    • Our Benefactors
    • Press
    • Privacy Policy
    • Disclaimer
  • Blog
    • All Articles and Interviews
    • Articles By Author
  • Families
    • Welcome Autism Families!
    • Autism Resources Bundle!
    • Freebies
    • Mighty League Autism Moms
  • Educators
    • Welcome Educators!
    • Autism EDU
    • Bluebee TeeVee, Autism Information Station
    • School Visits
  • Comics
    • Autism Comics Overview
    • Autism in Real Life Comic
    • Autism Spectrum Comic
    • End Awareness Comic
    • Understanding Autism Comic
    • Mighty League 1: Autistic Hero Comic
    • Mighty League 2: Autistic Hero Comic Book
  • Resources
    • How to Find Resources
    • Asking Autistics
    • Autistic Self-care
    • Amazon Autism Book Shop
    • What is Autism?
    • Books By Autistic Authors
    • What is Autism Awareness?
    • Autism Glossary
    • Autism Myths
    • Autistic or Person with Autism?
    • Speech and Language
    • Autism Business Ideas
  • Zoom Magazine
    • Issue 18: The Black Autistic Experience
    • Issue 17: Health
    • Issue 16: Travel
    • Issue 15: Powerful Women
    • Issue 14: Trailblazers
    • Issue 13: Family
  • Take Action
    • How to Advocate for Autism
      • #Activate4Autism
      • Activator Heroes
    • Make a Difference
  • Contact
  • Donate

Are Your Children Watching Your Every Move?

March 5, 2019 By Jodi Murphy Leave a Comment

Share on TwitterShare on FacebookShare on PinterestShare on LinkedInShare on RedditShare on WhatsApp
Image of young girl looking through telescope
Autistic mom, Megan Amodeo, uses her autistic daughter’s watching, listening and mimicking her as a teaching opportunity.

By Megan Amodeo

Do you ever feel like someone’s watching you? Like maybe someone is watching and recording everything you say and do?

Guess what, if you have a child on the spectrum, someone is always watching your every move. It’s not as creepy as it sounds. This isn’t Psycho. No one is peeking into your windows. Children on the spectrum are extremely observant. In fact, you may not even know that they are paying attention to you. They may be in the same room as you doing an entirely different activity, but they are still taking in every detail.

When my youngest daughter was about four, there was a commercial that seemed to be on TV constantly. It was an ad for a new antidepressant. I guess I didn’t really pay attention to the ad until my daughter started reciting it. The first time she repeated the commercial word for word, I realized that she was always paying attention to everything going on around her.

She was like a tape recorder.

Even when I thought she wasn’t listening, she was. This can be a double-edged sword. But it can be more beneficial than you might think. When I realized that she was always watching and listening, I decided to use it as a teaching tool.

Autistics, like myself and daughter, frequently mimic the behaviors and actions of those around them. Which means we can mimic good and bad behaviors. If I screamed and yelled, that’s what she’d end up doing too. I tried to focus on my positive behaviors so when she watched me, she would mimic them. (It was also a benefit for me and a reminder to always practice being positive.)

Did you forget what you said to that telemarketer that called your house ten times a day for the last month? Guess what, if your autistic daughter was listening, she can recall and repeat the conversation word for word. Now I’m not suggesting that you should fret over every little thing you say and do around your children. That would be nerve racking and literally impossible. I’m only suggesting that when your child starts repeating everything you say, use it as a teachable moment.

It is true that some of us on the spectrum repeat the same sound, word or phrase as a form of stimming.

This is known as echolalia. If this is what your child does, hopefully your child is not repeating something unmentionable. When my daughter was younger, she often repeated words and phrases because she liked the way they sounded.

I often role-played social situations with my daughters when they were in elementary school. We’d talk or act out appropriate ways to handle emotions instead of repeating an inappropriate word or phrase. We’d play around with facial expressions and non-verbal cues to understand them better.

Don’t fret if your child is repeating what you say and do.

All children to some degree mimic their parents. Although this behavior is sometimes more pronounced with those of us on the autism spectrum. I remember when my oldest daughter was little, she overheard me saying that cigarette smoking is bad for your health. For the next several months she’d shout “Smoking is bad for you!” to anyone she saw smoking. We got a lot of dirty looks.

The behavior didn’t stop but eventually started whispering this phrase instead of shouting it. It was something she needed to say, but she learned on her own to adapt. Eventually, she stopped saying it altogether. I let her be her and learn through her watching, listening, and mimicking. That is really the victory.

Read about Megan

If you liked this post, you may also like:

  • More of Megan’s Autism Insider essays
  • Autism and Echolalia: 4 Tips for Using it Productively
  • Autistic Self-Care
Share on TwitterShare on FacebookShare on PinterestShare on LinkedInShare on RedditShare on WhatsApp

Filed Under: Autism Insider, Blog Haps, Penfriend Project Autism Columns Tagged With: autism insider, autism writer, Megan Amodeo

About Jodi Murphy

Jodi Murphy is the founder of Geek Club Books, a registered nonprofit committed to creating a world where autistic individuals are fully accepted, valued and have a voice. Her priority is bringing autistic individuals creative and leadership opportunities that are meaningful, empowering and support their advocacy. She works with a creative autistic team to produce pop culture-based autism awareness education that is innovative, engaging, positive and opens hearts and minds to a new way of thinking about autism. Sign up for Geek Club Books mailing list for free apps, resource guides, curriculum, audio stories and more: https://geekclubbooks.com/autism-bundle.

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Join Our Neurodiverse Community:

Read Our Current Issue:

Search

Latest

  • Why My Autistic Daughter’s College Experience will be Better than Mine
  • Why I’m Letting Go to Let My Transformation Happen
  • #AskingAutistics: What Triggers Your Meltdowns?
  • #ReadYourWorld – How Does It Feel to Have Sensory Differences?
  • Why are Black Disabled Activists Being Ignored or Forgotten?

Topics

  • 501c3 Mission (8)
  • Anxiety (8)
  • App & Product Reviews (12)
  • Autimisms (29)
  • Autism Acceptance (13)
  • Autism at Work (9)
  • Autism Entrepreneurs (17)
  • Autism Resources (6)
  • Blog Haps (542)
  • Buzz (6)
  • Classroom (15)
  • Curious Interviews (117)
  • Day in the Life (9)
  • Dorktales (4)
  • Impactful Blogs (9)
  • Labels (4)
  • Love (5)
  • Mighty League (31)
  • Neurodiversity (2)
  • Our Personal Autism Journey (28)
  • Penfriend Project Autism Columns (221)
    • Adriana's Awesome Autistic Book Lists (2)
    • Aspierations (16)
    • Autism Insider (77)
    • Autistic Speaks (27)
    • Being Brave (26)
    • Chloe Rothschild (3)
    • Fidgets and Fries (3)
    • Happy Aspie (9)
    • My Shaynanigans (8)
    • Neurodivergent Rebel (21)
    • Positively Autistic (17)
    • Proud Autistic Living (6)
    • Tud Sense (5)
  • Pop Culture (8)
  • Safety (8)
  • Self-Care (7)
  • Self-Esteem (3)
  • Self-Improvement (10)
  • Sensory Needs (10)
  • Social Skills (4)
  • Speech and Language (6)
  • Tell Us Your Story (29)
  • Zoom Autism (64)

Footer

Stay Connected

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Copyright © 2021 Geek Club Books

To improve your experience on our site we may use cookies. Find out more.